When Rachel Halder began the Our Stories Untold website, she never expected to reunite two women who had not spoken for 30 years, following an incident of sexual violence.

In November 2012, Halder (pictured) posted an anonymous story from a woman who was raped by two male students at a Mennonite college in the 1980s on Our Stories Untold. In the story, the woman described a “dorm do-gooder” who found her after the incident and offered her support.

The “dorm do-gooder” found the story on Halder’s website and identified herself.

She posted a comment, “I am deeply sorry for my role in what you went through. I seethed with anger for the rest of that semester. I know it was nothing compared to what you went through, but I now knew that none of us [was] safe.”

Halder then connected the two women by sharing their email addresses, which led to them corresponding.

“I didn’t anticipate something that restorative happening,” Halder says. “It was amazing what came out of it.”

Halder began the Our Stories Untold website and blog in June 2012 as a “safe and open space to discuss sexualized violence within the Mennonite church.” Halder lives in Iowa City and attends area Mennonite churches. She graduated from Goshen (Ind.) College in 2010.

So far, the response is supportive and positive.

“I’m surprised by people who come up to me that I don’t know and tell me that they read my website,” Halder says.

Halder began this project out of working with Joanna Shenk and Hilary Scarsella on the Women in Leadership Taskforce with Mennonite Church USA.

They, along with several other women, are working on “Mennonite Monologues,” a collection of women’s stories. Shenk is communication coordinator and interchurch relations associate for Mennonite Church USA. Scarsella is associate for transformative peacemaking and communications.

Since launching Our Stories Untold, Halder has been speaking at Mennonites churches and peace-related conferences. In February, Halder spoke (see photo) at her former high school, Iowa Mennonite School in Kalona, where she said the students were very receptive.

She hopes to broaden her audience to other Christian denominations and is exploring founding a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based on Our Stories Untold.

Our Stories Untold website is at www.ourstoriesuntold.com and its Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/OurStoriesUntold.