Curses Against the Pharisees, by James Tissot (1886–1896). Brooklyn Museum, accession no. 00.159.142.
Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, by James Tissot (1886–1894). Brooklyn Museum, accession no. 00.159.209.
Elizabeth's New Life Center is a Christian nonprofit organization whose professed commitment to compassion, human dignity, and biblical principles makes my experience with its leadership a particularly revealing case study in religious contradiction. One might reasonably expect an institution devoted to Christian ministry to possess at least a passing familiarity with the principles it publicly proclaims. My experience suggested otherwise. During my employment at the Dayton Women's Center, I encountered what I consider an extraordinary combination of questionable management, religious inconsistency, professional incompetence, and the sort of sanctimonious hypocrisy that would have earned favorable reviews from the Pharisees. The organization appeared quite comfortable proclaiming Christian values. Applying them when accountability became inconvenient was another matter entirely. The organization maintains its corporate office at 2201 N Main St, Dayton, Ohio, and operates online through its ministry website. Its Women's Center Dayton location, where I worked, is located at 359 Forest Avenue. It was there that I discovered an especially peculiar interpretation of Christian service: employees appeared expected to extend grace, patience, and understanding toward management, while management demonstrated considerably less enthusiasm for extending the same courtesy in return.
I joined Elizabeth's New Life Center on January 6, 2025, as a Consultant after being promised approximately ninety days of training. The position involved assisting women experiencing pregnancy-related crises, administering pregnancy tests, providing information and resources, and offering prayer when appropriate. My responsibilities, however, soon acquired a distinctly custodial character. Bathrooms required cleaning. Urine required attention. Documents required shredding. Errands required running. Apparently, Elizabeth's New Life Center had advertised a Consultant position while reserving the right to utilize the successful applicant as a general-purpose utility worker whenever convenience demanded it. The irony became particularly striking when the institution later expressed such confidence in evaluating my professional competence.
Virginia served as my manager, Abby as Lead Consultant, Emily as another employee, and Meg as Virginia's supervisor. During approximately my fourth week of employment, Abby informed me that Virginia had instructed her not to train me as extensively. Meanwhile, Cedarville University interns continued receiving training opportunities that were not being extended to me. The arrangement was remarkable in its simplicity. The organization promised instruction, restricted access to it, and later expressed dissatisfaction with my performance. Apparently, Elizabeth's New Life Center had developed a training philosophy in which employees were expected to acquire professional competence through osmosis. Virginia's management style proved equally fascinating. Whenever I raised concerns regarding Abby's conduct, Virginia responded by reminding me that Abby was a "sister in Christ." Apparently, Christian fellowship had become a substitute for managerial accountability. Why examine conduct when one can invoke spiritual kinship? The reasoning was undoubtedly convenient, although considerably less impressive from a biblical perspective. James 1:22 declares, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." A sister in Christ remains responsible for her conduct. A manager remains obligated to manage. And an institution invoking Scripture should not be surprised when someone expects it to follow the instructions.
Elizabeth New Life Center Website. www.enlc.life
Women's Center Website. www.womenscenterohio.com
Virginia's theological judgment soon provided another illuminating episode. During a team prayer, I quietly prayed in tongues under my breath. The prayer was so quiet that Abby and Emily later confirmed they had not even heard it. Nevertheless, Virginia called me aside and informed me that I could not pray in tongues because other employees might become uncomfortable. The objection was particularly curious because Virginia had previously told me that she herself prayed in tongues. Apparently, the Holy Spirit enjoyed unrestricted access to Virginia's personal testimony but required managerial clearance before appearing in anyone else's. I informed Virginia that I would not compromise my convictions and that, if my participation created such concern, I would simply withdraw from group prayers altogether. Her position changed remarkably quickly. The urgency of the alleged problem seemed to evaporate the moment I declined to accommodate it. The entire episode became even more absurd when viewed alongside the fact that a Catholic event coordinator openly played Catholic hymns in the workplace without objection. I had no issue with her music. My concern was the spectacular inconsistency of a Christian ministry in which audible religious expression was perfectly acceptable, while an inaudible prayer required supervisory intervention.
Acts 5:29 declares, "We ought to obey God rather than men." The distinction is not particularly difficult to understand. Virginia was a manager at a women's center, not the administrator of Heaven. Her authority extended to workplace operations, not the governance of another person's relationship with God. Somewhere between the employee handbook and the prayer meeting, that distinction seemed to have become slightly confused. Then came February 7, 2025, when the institution's understanding of human dignity reached its lowest point. Virginia was absent for heart valve surgery when Abby, laughing, informed me, "Yeah, Virginia said you are our slave." My immediate response was, "Excuse me?" Abby explained that Virginia meant I was the "office slave," the person responsible for the jobs nobody else wanted to perform. She added that Virginia was "old school" and sometimes made questionable statements. Emily was present during the conversation. Virginia's reported description of me as the "office slave" was a remarkable exhibition of arrogance masquerading as managerial authority. Apparently, assigning undesirable tasks had inspired the belief that supervisory responsibility also conferred the right to diminish the dignity of an employee. The remark revealed a level of arrogance that would have been laughable had it not been so disgraceful. Abby's response was scarcely more impressive. Rather than recognizing the obvious implications of the statement, she found it amusing enough to repeat while laughing and then attempted to excuse it by describing Virginia as "old school." How convenient.
Apparently, the passage of time had become a substitute for judgment. Apparently, age now transformed foolishness into wisdom. One might expect individuals entrusted with serving vulnerable women in a Christian ministry to possess an elementary understanding of human dignity. The remark suggested otherwise. Virginia was a manager, not a plantation mistress, and Elizabeth's New Life Center was a workplace, not an estate upon which employees could be casually designated as slaves. The distinction should have been obvious without requiring a history lesson, a theological dissertation, or divine intervention. The explanation became even more revealing when connected to the duties I had repeatedly performed. I had been cleaning bathrooms, dealing with urine, shredding documents, and running miscellaneous errands. Abby's attempt to clarify the remark therefore accomplished the opposite of what she apparently intended. Rather than making it less offensive, she supplied the context that made it particularly disgraceful. Ironic, as my ancestors were never slaves but sold them to the Europeans.
The biblical irony was difficult to ignore. John 8:34 declares, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." I was never Elizabeth's New Life Center's slave. The more interesting question was whether its leadership had become enslaved to the pride, hypocrisy, and complacency Scripture repeatedly condemns. A managerial title is not an exemption from moral accountability. James 3:9-10 declares, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God." The passage is especially uncomfortable for an organization whose public mission concerns the dignity of human life. Evidently, human dignity remained a valuable institutional principle until the human being in question happened to be the employee responsible for cleaning the bathroom. That same day, I emailed Virginia and Meg (Virginia’s supervisor) to report the slave remark, the prayer incident, and my concerns involving Abby and Emily, including Emily's repeated attempts to show me photographs of her children despite my complete lack of interest. I requested a meeting under the organization's Matthew 18 conflict-resolution policy, asked to take February 10 off, and indicated that I intended to return on February 11. In other words, I followed the procedure Elizabeth's New Life Center itself had established.
Slaves Cutting the Sugar Cane on the Island of Antigua, 1823. Historical illustration shared by the British Library (2019). Unsplash. Licensed under the Unsplash License.
White and Black Brick Wall, by SAKO Sarah Koenig (2020). Unsplash. Licensed under the Unsplash License.
Matthew 18:15 declares, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." The instruction is neither obscure nor particularly difficult to implement. It requires direct engagement, honest discussion, and an opportunity for reconciliation. Elizabeth's New Life Center, however, apparently developed a rather innovative interpretation of the passage. On February 10, 2025, Terri, the Human Resources Director, informed me by voicemail that my employment was being terminated because I was "not able to meet up with the task at hand." The meeting I had requested never occurred. Apparently, the organization had discovered an exceptionally efficient method of conflict resolution: remove the employee before the conversation can take place. One imagines this approach would significantly reduce meeting attendance. Elizabeth's New Life Center appeared to have developed a uniquely modern interpretation of Matthew 18. The employee requests reconciliation. Human Resources skips directly to termination. The process was certainly efficient, although its biblical credentials remain open to debate. Terri's explanation was a masterpiece of bureaucratic emptiness. What task? What deficiency? What documented failure? I had received no formal warning, no performance improvement plan, no written notice that my employment was in jeopardy, and no indication that termination was being considered. Virginia had previously told me I was doing a good job. I had completed approximately five weeks in a position for which ninety days of training had supposedly been contemplated. Yet Terri delivered her conclusion with the confidence of someone who apparently believed details were entirely optional.
The explanation became even more remarkable when viewed alongside Abby's earlier disclosure that Virginia had instructed her not to train me as extensively. The organization restricted training opportunities and then cited inadequate performance. The reasoning possessed all the intellectual rigor of refusing to teach a student, administering an examination, and then expressing disappointment with the results. After listening to Terri's voicemail, I discovered that my work email access had been revoked. Shortly thereafter, the termination notice arrived at my personal email address along with instructions to return my uniform (which ended up in the trash can). The organization's administrative efficiency was suddenly impressive. Curiously, this same efficiency had been nowhere to be found when I requested a meeting to address my concerns. The contrast was difficult to miss. On May 7, 2025, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services issued a determination finding that I had been discharged without just cause for unemployment-benefits purposes. Apparently, the state's review found the employer's account insufficient to establish the level of fault necessary to disqualify me from benefits. How inconvenient when an outside institution expects an actual basis for a decision.
Proverbs 18:13 declares, "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." The passage serves as a reminder that authority and wisdom are not interchangeable concepts. A managerial title does not transform assumptions into evidence. A Human Resources designation does not convert vague assertions into legitimate reasoning. And the power to terminate an employee does not establish that the decision itself was justified. Some organizations become so impressed with their own authority that they begin to mistake the ability to make a decision for the ability to defend it. The two are not the same thing.
The biblical account of Eli and his sons provides a particularly uncomfortable illustration of what happens when religious leadership confuses institutional position with divine approval. Hophni and Phinehas occupied sacred offices within Israel's priesthood, yet their conduct was so disgraceful that First Samuel 2:12 declares, "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD." Imagine occupying a religious position while being described by Scripture as not knowing the God whose ministry one supposedly represents. A rather devastating performance review. Their status did not protect them from scrutiny, nor did their religious titles transform misconduct into righteousness. First Samuel 2:17 records that "the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD." Their behavior damaged the credibility of the ministry itself. Eli's failure was equally significant. He knew of the misconduct, yet failed to restrain it. First Samuel 3:13 declares, "because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not." The lesson is difficult to miss. Religious authority is not demonstrated by occupying a position. It is demonstrated by exercising that position with integrity. Eli's household illustrates the danger of leaders who become more concerned with protecting relationships than confronting wrongdoing. Virginia's repeated invocation of Abby as a "sister in Christ" was never a substitute for examining the concerns I had raised. Personal loyalty may be comfortable, but it is not accountability. First Samuel 4 records the collapse that followed. Hophni and Phinehas died, Eli died, and the priesthood discovered a truth that many religious institutions eventually learn the hard way: God Almighty is not impressed by titles unsupported by obedience.
Bonfire, by Ricardo Gomez Angel (2018). Unsplash. Licensed under the Unsplash License.
The Death of Ananias, by Raphael (1515). From the Raphael Cartoons collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The same principle appears again in the account of Ananias and Sapphira. Their offense was not merely dishonesty but the attempt to cultivate an appearance of righteousness while concealing the truth beneath it. Acts 5 stands as a warning that God cannot be deceived by religious performances, charitable reputations, or carefully managed appearances. Christian institutions may impress the public. They do not impress God by appearance alone. Christ delivered perhaps the most devastating warning of all in Matthew 23:27: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." Jesus reserved some of His harshest criticism not for tax collectors, sinners, or unbelievers, but for religious leaders whose public image concealed private contradiction. The warning remains relevant because the principle remains unchanged. A Christian institution's branding, website, charitable mission, or public reputation is not evidence of righteousness when its conduct contradicts the values it advertises. Scripture repeatedly distinguishes between appearance and character. Unfortunately, not every religious institution appears equally interested in that distinction.
In approximately May 2025, I unexpectedly encountered Madonna, a senior figure associated with Elizabeth's New Life Center, at the Huber Heights Library. She approached me, apologized for how my employment had been handled, and expressed disappointment with those involved. She stated that she had confronted the individuals responsible and told me she had "fired Terri for firing" me. She also made it clear that I had done nothing wrong by requesting a meeting after learning of the slave remark. The conversation was particularly noteworthy because it came from someone occupying a senior position within the same organization. Unfortunately, the acknowledgment arrived after the damage had already been done. Getting the answer eventually is considerably less impressive than getting the decision right in the first place. The most significant development in this entire affair, however, occurred beyond Elizabeth's New Life Center's organizational chart. Prophet T. B. Joshua, my second role model after Jesus Christ, taught a principle that has remained with me: God may permit affliction not to destroy His children but to redirect them toward the purpose He has established for their lives. Whether one calls it a setback, a disappointment, or a termination, not every closed door is intended as punishment. Some are simply redirections. In the University of God, a spiritual attack means a spiritual elevation is on the horizon.
Fashion has always been my calling. Long before I entered Elizabeth's New Life Center, I had studied it, worked within it, and built my creative identity around it. My employment there (Elizabeth New Life Center) was a brief chapter in my professional journey, not the defining moment. The institution may have viewed my dismissal as the conclusion of something significant. In reality, it was little more than an intermission. In November 2025, I founded OSAROMWENYEKE, an American luxury fashion house headquartered in Ohio and serving a global clientele. As Founder and Chief Executive Officer, I built the company upon Colossians 3:23-24: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." The company reflects my commitment to craftsmanship, timeless elegance, luxury, and biblical conviction. While Elizabeth's New Life Center was attempting to determine whether I was capable of meeting "the task at hand," I was preparing to build an institution of my own. I subsequently earned a Master of Science in Fashion Business & Entrepreneurship from Lindenwood University, graduating with a 4.0 GPA and inducted into Alpha Chi National College Honor Society. The contrast requires very little commentary. An organization concluded after approximately five weeks that I could not adequately perform a Consultant position, while I later completed a graduate degree with a flawless academic record and established my own luxury fashion company. Evidently, Elizabeth's New Life Center's assessment of my potential proved considerably less accurate than its leadership appeared to believe.
Romans 8:28 declares, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." I regard the direction of my life as evidence of precisely that principle. What appeared at the time to be a professional setback became part of a larger redirection toward the work I was ultimately called to pursue. Genesis 50:20 records Joseph's words to the brothers who betrayed him: "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good." The power of that passage lies in its recognition that human actions do not determine divine outcomes. Joseph's brothers influenced his circumstances, but they did not determine his destiny. Likewise, Elizabeth's New Life Center determined the end of my employment. It did not determine the future that followed. The institution's role in my story was ultimately much smaller than it imagined. It possessed the authority to revoke my email access, request the return of a uniform, and terminate a position. It never possessed the authority to define my capabilities, determine my future, or limit what God intended me to accomplish. That distinction became increasingly obvious with time. The organization's verdict was temporary. The consequences of God's redirection proved far more enduring.
The downfall of a priesthood rarely begins with a public scandal. It begins when those entrusted with spiritual authority become more devoted to protecting positions than pursuing truth, more interested in preserving relationships than exercising judgment, and more concerned with appearances than accountability. Exposure merely pulls back the curtain.
Galatians 6:7 declares, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Eli's household, Ananias and Sapphira, and the Pharisees all stand as reminders that religious authority does not exempt anyone from accountability before God. The Holy One of Israel has never been impressed by titles, organizational charts, charitable reputations, or carefully managed appearances. He is the God who defended Joseph in Egypt, vindicated Daniel in Babylon, and promised His people in Isaiah 49:26: "And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob." The message is unmistakable. God is neither blind to injustice nor indifferent to it. Those who imagine that authority, reputation, or religious respectability place them beyond His scrutiny eventually discover otherwise.
I AM OSAROMWENYEKE AND MY NAME MEANS GOD ALMIGHTY IS MY PROTECTOR!
For reference, the unemployment determination letter issued by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is embedded below.
Authored by Osaromwenyeke King Osemwota