Dr. Jane Beal is the founder and director of JSASSN International as well as a professor, poet, and musician. She received her BA (Sonoma State University), MA (Sonoma State University), and Ph.D (University of California, Davis) in English Literature, with specializations in medieval literature, classical mythology, and the literature of the Bible. From 2004-2009, she taught in the English Department at Wheaton College just outside Chicago, Illinois. She has worked as a doula (a birth support partner and patient advocate), helping to deliver four of her seven godchildren. She currently attends Church of the Resurrection, a charismatic Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) Church in Glen Ellyn, where she enjoys serving in the children’s ministry.

Jane is also an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse and assault. Since 2002, using Cates, Markell, and Bettenhausen’s “At Risk for Abuse,” she has instructed teachers on how to identify signs of child abuse in K-12 students. In 2007, she established JSASSN International (Jane’s Sexual Assault Survivor Support Network), a Christian ministry that seeks to stop sexual abuse, assault, and trafficking world-wide through prayer, education, and networking. Her missions work in this field has taken her to Moldova, Eastern Europe and Ghana, West Africa and connected her to many other Christians around the world who are seeking to deliver those who would otherwise remained trapped in suffering and torment.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

References

Dr. Jane Beal’s homepage!
sanctuarypoet.net

Dr. Jane Beal’s Wheaton College English Department homepage:
wheaton.edu/english/faculty/beal.htm

Church of the Resurrection homepage:
http://www.churchrez.org/

JSASSN website:
jssasn.wordpress.org