Empowering Women and more...

I wonder how much Mary felt like celebrating as she struggled down the road toward Bethlehem with her labor pains beginning. Maybe the contractions were getting stronger as each innkeeper refused them a place to stay. Perhaps she was totally exhausted and feeling hopelessly trapped as she entered a stable to deliver her baby, Jesus.

I doubt that the birth of Jesus was the experience Mary had hoped it would be.

Now 2000 years later the plight of many women and new babies around the world is little different than what Mary experienced. Perhaps it is worse. Sharia law of some Muslims leaves nearly one billion women vulnerable to beatings, shame, and death. Many world religions and tribal societies place women in positions that are nearly as bad. So where is the hope and joy the angel promised to the shepherds the night of Jesus’ birth? Where is the peace on earth and the good favor of God in their lives?

The problem is that many women have no confidence of being truly valued by God or anyone else. In many places around the world, missions are trying to do things to help women and children. Sometimes doing things for women confirms their suspicion that they could not have done these things for themselves. The result is further worsening of the way women see themselves. They may begin to feel the way Mary might have felt in labor – things are bad and will probably get worse.
Read more> http://lifewind.org/empoweing.html#empower

How can donors aid quake-hit Haiti?

by Henri Astler
BBC News

Wednesday's UN conference in New York on co-ordinating assistance to eacthquake-hit Haiti raises an awkward question - what has foreign aid ever done for Haitians?

The country has received an estimated $5bn over the past decade.

Thousands of charities have been operating there - yet even before the quake devasted the capital, Haiti was a wretched place.

It is the poorest country in the Americas. About 80% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and nearly half is illiterate. Jobs are scarce, publis services woeful and corruption rife.

Haiti, says US political scientist Terry Buss, is largely run by "an army of NGo's and some international development organizations" whose programes "cost a lot of money and don't make any difference". To read more> http://www.tinyurl.com/2717bo3

Culture, Scaffolding, and Lasting Hope

Imagine living in a culture that places the blame for most problems of life on the women, especially the daughter-in-law. Women from chilodhood are taught that they are the cause of all difficulites of life, from not producing a male son to birth defects. Daughter-in-laws are particularly singled out. Since they leave their homes when married and go to live with their husband's family. Their new mother-in-law now owns their life and often works them to exhaustion. They are the last to get to eat, rest or health care, and are denied the basics of life.

Our arrival to this community was welcomed because the team working there had built a foundation of trust with these women. They of course were shy and a bit hesitant to get started, but as we spent time together and began to laugh and share experiences you could feel the bonding I believe only occurs between the sisterhood of being a woman. No matter what culture the women are in we share the same heart for our families.

The subject of childbirth and women's health is not normally discussed in the culutre and there are many beliefs that are not accurate. It is a slow process, but as the teams teach and gain trust in the communites their world view begins to change, exchanging truth for lies.

As we began this week in a community center where the team has been working, the women were few in number and not sure why we would want to be there with them teaching. We sat in a small circle, laying our drawings on the floor. Some people from the community were walking in and out and working in this large room with very tall windows. I especially notices a woman up on scaffolding washing windows. She was so curious about the lessons she kept moving closer and closer, leaning over to see what we were talking about. As the discussion livened up she moved the scaffolding closer and leaned down to ask a question about a physical problem her daughter was experiencing. Finally when we got to the breast exam she got down from the scaffolding and joined the group. The women were so interested they didn't want us to skip Wednesday as planned. They are so hungry for any information we can give them.

I asked the team leader to evaluate how the work the team has been doing had changed the women's lives.

• They have become closer to their neighbors and more helpful


• They have learned about good hygiene and how to prevent simple diseases and decreased visits to the clinic


• They increased their knowledge regarding disease prevention


• They learned how to take care of their children


• And, they increased their self esteem

“We will let you live but……we can’t have you among us.”

Report from Kenya- Savanna Village:
“We will let you live but……we can’t have you among us.” They burnt down his house along with everything he owned, and almost burning the whole family inside. The family did managed to escape, but with nothing but the clothes they had on. This Muslim sheikh had just declared he had converted to Christianity and couldn’t continue leading the over three parishes under his care. The consequences—burned out.

But this man's faith has continued to grow. He has cut trees to burn charcoal and sell to not just support his family, in the new village he moved to, but to also pay back the Ks.200,000 that had been allocated to him when he was Siekh. Though he used it to help the people, the Muslim leaders still insists he has to pay it back. He had just paid about $450, but his hands were full of blisters and he couldn’t do that anymore.

We thank God that despite threats on his life and leaders from Iran coming to talk to him out of His faith, he has withstood the test.

A missionary to Ghana succeeds in his bid to 'dig a little deeper'

Posted: 11 October, 2010
Ghana (MNN) ― "Christianity is a million miles wide and one inch deep." When Michael Mozley first came onto the scene in Ghana in 1999, he was struck by this impression.

Mozley had just joined The Mission Society for service in this region after having a tug on his heart grow stronger as he finished his education. "After our time of language and culture acquisition, I began to do ministry with a Ghanaian evangelist named Joseph Otsen. We helped to raise up in Ghana evangelists, pastors, and church planters; we did church planting, leadership training and leadership development."

The Mozleys invested themselves in the region where they were serving and were thrilled to see results. But again, the impression of shallow faith stayed with Michael. "The majority of people are Christian, by name, but I would say the greatest need is taking those that are nominally Christian into a deeper relationship."

Mozley began to come alongside other churches to share not only the vision for evangelism but also discipleship. Careful cultivation in least-reached areas took ten years. With his team, they trained and supported indigenous pastors and helped mobilize Ghanaians for mission. "We saw the church explode in their church-planting efforts; we saw a new vision and passion to do mission."
And then: God.

Mozley says one of the greatest gifts of his service was seeing growth. "They planted a church up in Burkina Faso--a French-speaking country just north of Ghana. It was exciting to see how that church exploded and the Ghanaian church rallied around those missionaries and the church that was being planted."

It seems that with the seasons of growth there also comes a season of change. Just as God called the Mozleys to Ghana, after ten years, He was telling them it was time to move on. "What we did leave behind was a real passion and vision for international missions and the people that we were called to work among. Fortunately, we have two missionary couples that continue to carry on the work."

The Mission Society's work in Ghana also includes the Ankaase Methodist Faith Healing Hospital, Community Health Evangelism (CHE), literacy projects and water sanitation projects.

Mozley says he's left his heart in Ghana. His hope is that God will use the strategically placed region to change lives in West Africa and beyond. "Pray for revival and for the mission vision to be carried out so that the Great Commission will continue to go forth." http://www.mnnonline.org/article/14824http://www.mnnonline.org/article/14824

A Solution To Drug Abuse Problems Around The World

In the city of Santiago is a slum called El Ejido, which simply means “an enclosed space.” In this case, El Ejido was a slum area where illegal drugs were openly sold and used, causing much crime and violence as well as destruction to people.

People of El EjidoIn El Ejido, however, there is also a committee of local leaders trained in CHE. This committee decided to try to do something about the drug problems in their area.

They began by dedicating themselves to two months of intensive prayer. This might not seem very “practical,” but remember that CHE is built on the principle that every problem has spiritual as well as physical dimensions. Effective solutions require an integrated approach, and so they prayed.

During this period of dedicated prayer, things began to happen. One drug lord was shot by a rival. Another was arrested by the police. Even more amazing, they saw a change in attitude among the people living in El Ejido, who normally are antagonistic to efforts to change the situation. Many of them accepted invitations to participate in a Christian summer camp. At this camp, 60 of the most difficult characters from the slum accepted Jesus as their savior!

Of course, when you’re dealing with drug addiction, the process of overcoming the problem is not as simple as “salvation equals freedom.” After discussing possible ways to address drug issues, the committee decided to invite a group called Teen Challenge to visit El Ejido and share about the power of Jesus to transform lives affected by drug abuse. They used a flatbed truck as a stage, and various young people told their stories of a joyful life which had been set free from drugs by the power of Jesus.

Many more victories in small battles will need to be achieved before the war against drugs is completely won in El Ejido, but the body of Christ there is committed to an ongoing relationship with those who are struggling with addiction.

These positive steps triggered additional ideas among the people of El Ejido. They realized that one of the reasons people turn to drugs is the despair they feel. So they asked themselves, “What can we do to show that this place is changing, and that God brings hope?”

The drug problems in El Ejido are not completely gone, but God has used the CHE vision and program to make a huge impact. When people who used to feel hopeless despair start to achieve enough success to look beyond their immediate problems to the needs of other people, it is a very positive sign. El Ejido is no longer merely “an enclosed space,” but has begun to open up to the wider world, a brighter future, and most of all to the presence and power of God.

Finding A Solution To A Major Problem -Camp Luka, Kinshas

One of the biggest social issues in the Camp Luka, Kinshasa is that people do not have latrines. Those who have ones are built in bad conditions. As result, some times there is a little bit of exposure because the toilets are made of sacks. For the majority of the people, to relieve themselves they go outside under trees or nearby buildings.

Since the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) program started in 2008, committees and trainers have been working to mobilizing the community to come up with solutions, but in vain.

But last year, success. First, the CHE trainers had to do home visiting so that every family will be aware of the situation. Secondly, another team of CHE trainers and committees visited churches, schools, and hospitals. Third they organized a two day workshop for key leaders of the community. Finally they had to come up with a model of latrine that can be cheap and useful to everybody.

The campaign of awareness went well. There was a good response from families, students and local leaders. The workshop took place from July 25 to July 28th, with a good participation. Also, the community came up with local initiatives to raise funds for the training.

All these efforts ended up paying off. For the first time everybody in the community as convinced that they should do something about this situation. Parents decided find means to help build new latrines. Key leaders decided to even build latrines in schools and hospitals. Most importantly, they all adopted the new model for their latrines and came up with creative ways to finance them.

On July, 30th, the whole community gathered to share this new discovery. Key leaders challenged the community to change their behaviour and a committee for following up was presented to the community which was led by two CHE community members. Above all, they were so grateful to the Lord for bringing the CHE program to their community.

Hope for Women

"In much of the world the plight of women is so horrific and the pain so deep that we must dig deeper into the lies of Satan (world view) planted in cultures that women live in and teach God's truth and love for women. The goal of Women's Cycle of Life lessons is to mobilize and train God's people to come to the aid of women and alleviate some of the suffering and lead them and their families into a life of faith in Jesus Christ."

Dr Robert & Michal Ann Haakenson
CHE Facilitators
LifeWind Internationa/MAI

Touching Lives Around the World

The Women's Cycle of Life Seminar has been an essential part of the teaching/training of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) World Mission. Our Community Health Educators/Evangelists love using the lessons provided and continue to touch the lives of many other women. Several home groups and churches have been planted as a result. Many women, both in villages and in cities, continue to grow in skill and self efficacy because of the knowledge gained via this training, and the program continues successfully today, under control of the National staff and volunteers of Lutheran Church Concordia. Women's Cycle of Life and other LifeWind courses and materials have been used by LCMS missionaries and volunteers in many countries around the world.
Marguerite Nickel, RN, MSED (Community Health Education)
Former Medical Missionary, LCMS World Mission.
Current Board Member, Lutherans in Medical Mission (LIMM)

Raising awareness, spreading hope

The Ball State Daily News Muncie, IN
By Sara Nahrwold

When 19-year-old Becca Schafer stepped off the plane, she was not only in a different culture or country but on a different continent.

The Ball State sophomore psychology major spent eight weeks this summer in Nairobi, Kenya, and worked with Missions of Hope International, a non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization that strives to meet the needs of underprivleged citizens around the world.

Schafer found out about the opportunity through the mission director at her church. She applied to the program and began raising the funds to go; the cost of the trip was about $6,000.

“I had to raise all my support and did a lot of research on where we would be going,” she said. The trip to Kenya marked her first trip to another country. She prepared for the journey for eight months and participated in a pre-departure orientation, which focused on what it would be like to live in a different culture and AIDS education. She got immunizations and a passport; she even learned some Swahili to better prepare for the trip.

“I read books on what it might be like and what it means to be cross-cultural,” she said.Before leaving the United States, she had mixed feelings.

“I was really nervous just because I hadn’t done much traveling in the United States or the world, and I hadn’t gone far from home,” she said. “But I was really excited to be going.”


A different world
In the capital city, she experienced “crazy” traffic and was overwhelmed by what she saw. The streets were lined with men with huge guns, and she thought they might have been policemen.

Schafer stayed in a guesthouse near the University of Nairobi campus. She said her room was similar to a dormitory but more private because each room had its own bathroom. The slums around the city were overwhelming for Schafer.

In one square mile, she said there were 1 million people living there. She said it was powerful to see such poverty in one place — especially compared to her home life — but she was hopeful about the work she was going to do.

“As we came in, we were bringing hope,” she said.

The culture shock for Schafer wasn’t as intense as others in her group experienced, she said. “I didn’t have as much [culture shock] as a lot of the people around me because I truly enjoyed every second of it,” she said. “It was just a shock of where I’m from versus where I was.”

Typical day
Schafer worked in the department of community health evangelism, where she went into the slums to help people with physical, emotional and spiritual needs. She walked around the slums to share HIV and AIDS education with people because of all the misconceptions that exist about it. She would take food to them and also helped lead some support groups for people living with HIV.
Read More>
http://www.bsudailynews.com/features/raising-awareness-spreading-hope-1.2305371

One Womans Impact

Regina Wudarski (to the left)

Where are you serving the Lord?
I serve the Lord at Betania Church of Curitiba.

How do you see CHE helping your ministry?
The CHE in my life unfolded important windows on organizational development of my ministry, added spirit, and strengthened in my life at work with the communities, breaking the myth that serving God is almost unreal, but we are individuals, with a look to a supernatural human need.

Some goal (with CHE) you might see performed at the end of 2011.
We are engaged in creating a local infrastructure with spiritual, social and very dynamic, with a view of life and kingdom to meet women (and all needs).

Collaboration: How to move from ideas to action

‎1. Find common ground on issues facing populations you serve

2. Look for mission alignment among potential partners and their stakeholders

3. Identify resources to leverage in your target communities

4. Identify action steps for exploration of deep collaboration

From the CHE Global Network

Small Steps-Big Impact

As a small project, the local committeein El Ejido, Dominican Republic, decided to clean up the slum and at the same time do something for their neighbors in Haiti. In an effort to collect plastic bottles for their Haitian CHE counterparts to have enough bottles for the SODIS (solar water disinfection), they campaigned on the alleys and homes of the slum, collecting 700 bottles to send to Haiti this coming week. To us it was a good example on how to effectively help someone in need with local resources. Way to go, El Ejido!
Sodis Technology
The Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) process is a simple technology used to improve the microbiological quality of drinking water. SODIS uses solar radiation to destroy pathogenic microorganisms which cause water borne diseases.

SODIS is ideal to treat small quantities of water. Contaminated water is filled into transparent plastic bottles and exposed to full sunlight for six hours.

Solar water disinfection - the SODIS method - is a simple procedure to disinfect drinking water. Contaminated water is filled in a transparent PET-bottle or glass bottle and exposed to the sun for 6 hours. During this time, the UV-radiation of the sun kills diarrhoea generating pathogens. The SODIS-method helps to prevent diarrhoea and thereby is saving lives of people. This is urgently necessary as still more than 4000 children die every day from the consequences of diarrhoea.

Men Asked for Forgiveness

At the end of this lesson, three men came into the group of woman at the training and asked forgiveness on behalf of men for the pain men had caused women. They then gave each woman a white rose. There was hardly a dry eye. Women in this part of the world suffer greatly and are blamed for quite a lot, especially the daughters-in-law: for family misfortune, for not getting pregnant, for not producing a male child, etc.

The response from one of the harsher conference attendees was: “We need to ask forgiveness on behalf of women for all the pain we cause men.” A realization that the unkindness and need for repentance goes both ways.

Keys To Global Impact

One of the keys to making a global impact is the expansion of Community Health Evangelism (CHE pronouced chay) ministries worldwide. One method where leaders are trained is through the CHE Internships. They are trained to be consultants who train and equip missionaries, churches, and non-profit organizations to implement CHE in their communities worldwide.

In 2002,an internship program was began for the purpose of training and equipping these leaders. Since 2002, 141 people from 58 different countries have graduated from the course. This year, another 16 will gather in Cebu on August 1 for the seven-week program.

Pray with us that God will use this internship to equip these emerging leaders for the work He is calling them to do around the world.

Mobilizing the African Church to Save Children

Infant mortality around the world has dropped nearly 30 percent during the past two decades. But that improvement in child survival is far smaller in West Africa. Fourteen of the 25 countries with the worst infant mortality rates are in West Africa. In Togo, one in ten will die before the age of five. In Liberia, this statistic is one in five. In Sierra Leone, one in four. The numbers are not much better in most of West Africa.

The majority of these child and infant deaths can be prevented through clean water, nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation. These are needs to which the church can respond through Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministries. The goal is to mobilize the church in Togo to minister to this need while sharing the message of eternal salvation through faith in Christ. At this upcoming conference there will be more than 300 pastors in Togo, casting a vision for what the church can do. Followup training will be offered to those who are interested. The goal of this effort is to help 25 villages out of poverty and plant ten new churches.

Cultural Lesson on Mother-in-law/daughter-in-law Relationships.

When a girl marries, she goes to her husband’s house and lives under the authority of her mother-in-law. In essence, s daughter-in-law often becomes a servant to the husband’s family. When we mentioned the need for rest during pregnancy and postpartum, the comment was always, “If your mother-in-law allows it.” Yet, the women who facilitated the lesson talked of women preparing to become mothers-in-law, and cultivating the ground, preparing to receive a daughter-in-law and allowing those things that will help the daughter-in-law be the best she cam be. This was a Believer, and those principles are not the usual cultural ones.
These comments came during a Woman Cycle of Life Workshop held internationally.

Some Beliefs are Healthful and Some Not So Much

The Women’s Cycle of Life Conference was attended by twelve women who work with other women in different parts of Albania and Macedonia and will pass on all that they learned in the conference, plus more, provided in the CD of the lessons and the DVD of a pregnancy movie. Each day began with worship and a lesson on Great Women of the Bible, then lessons on the many other Women’s Cycle of Life topics: puberty, conception, pregnancy related lessons, breastfeeding, postpartum care, infant care, menopause, etc. Five lessons a day. Each lesson was taught in the adult participatory style that Community Health Evangelism (CHE) uses, drawing out from participants all that they know, and adding to that. The women shared some of the Albanian beliefs surrounding pregnancy . I always find it interesting to learn what is passed from mother to daughter in different parts of the world. Some beliefs are healthful and truthful, some not so much. One of the more interesting ones here was the belief that a baby born at 8 months gestation will die and one born at 7 months gestation will live. We had quite a discussion about that. Many of the lessons began with a drama and each participant had opportunity to exhibit their dramatic skills.

A Quiet Revolution

“A Woman’s Cycle of Life” and “CHE Perinatal Support” are comprehensive training programs developed by LifeWind staff members. Charleen McWilliam is our specialist in these programs that address physical and mental health for women of all ages, with particular emphasis on pre-natal and post-natal care. They are making a direct and dramatic impact on the survival of infants and their mothers.

The role of women in bringing positive change to communities can hardly be overstated. Women make up seventy percent of the most financially needy adults in the developing world. Cultural traditions often leave them doing most of the work but receiving little in return.

In a country I cannot name for security reasons, the cultural pattern dictates that when a woman is married, she goes to live with her husband’s family. The new daughter-in-law becomes a virtual slave to her mother-in-law, who of course learned this pattern herself as a victim of a cultural system that institutionalizes bitter acrimony between generations.

However, women participating in the women’s seminar were amazed to discover the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi in the Bible. They were in awe of the mutual respect Ruth and Naomi had for each other, and the way that Naomi focused on helping Ruth develop to her greatest potential.

God’s Word transcends cultures and brings hope and a new vision for life to people everywhere—especially those who are most disadvantaged. When it is integrated with practical training that prevents disease and saves lives, a quiet revolution starts to take place.