Pastor Michelle Francis comes a long way from being a woman who was abused by her husband to being a public speaker, a businesswoman and a pastor for 20 years.
Pastor Michelle is married with three children and lives in Shastripark. She supports the underprivileged in the community with hampers and weekly bread distribution. She does feeding schemes on a weekly basis where she feeds from the church in the Zwelisha and Amaoti communities. She deals with a group that started 17 years ago called “Woman with a Difference”. “I work closely with abused women and children and also drug addicts. We try to help families with food and other needs. Through my life as an abused woman, I have embarked on this project to protect other women and their children. I lived in poverty and now in prosperity. I share my profits with the needy. I also have workers that I have taken off the streets and they had a turnaround point in their lives. I support old people in areas of directing them to a safe place from people who try to take their properties,” said Pastor Francis. She’s driven to help other women as she was abused by her husband and was “beaten to a lifeless moment”. “I dusted off to be a sharp, smart, active and vigilant woman. I will not allow the women that I come into contact with to be abused. I walk with my head held high, so other women will follow. The people who inspire me are my kids and family. My kids and I had a hard life and they were in it when their father left us. We grew up in poverty. So I don’t want to see another woman go through this. In my ‘me time’ I love doing renovations to my church and visiting friends for a meal. Talking to people daily helps me live life,” she said.
During the unrest she helped the men on the forefront by informing them about what’s happening, doing blockades with them and keeping an eye on who was coming into the area. “I had sleepless nights when the government did nothing,” she said. Pastor Francis said one of her challenges is dealing with women who live on the streets. “I just try to help but it’s not all. It’s where they sleep that disturbs me.” She says she supports women by “feeling their lives”. “I help them irrespective of who they are. I have joy in guiding people in life. My message to women is to stay focused. You are a woman with a difference. Change is good. Only you can change yourself. I love every woman. God bless you,” said Pastor Francis.
