Posts by worldrelief
The Oven of the World â Food Crisis in Turkana North
It is hard to imagine a more isolated, inaccessible or hostile terrain than Turkana North, right up on the Kenyan border with Ethiopia, where World Relief is the only international NGOs to have a permanent presence in many parts of the region.
The farm at Katong’un is empty because of lack of access to water, due to a rainy season that never came, and rabbits that have foraged on their crops. [Photo courtesy GI-INC ]âJust another field trip,â I said to myself before we set off for Turkana. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
âThe oven of the worldâeven the stones on the ground are blackened by the heat of the sun,â one pastor said to me as temperatures soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Travel between communities is difficult. Distances are considerable and there are no real roads and no cars, except for those belonging to aid workers or security forces.
In Turkana North, the animals that the people rely upon are often the first to suffer and die when a drought hits. [Photo courtesy GI-INC ]Â
And this is not the best of times.
The people of Turkana face devastation in the face of a drought that began almost a year ago when the long spring rains fell only sparsely. Each passing month without rain has made their lives more precarious. For 18 months, there has been almost no rain, so that now inexorably an impending crisis has graduated to an immediate and acute one.
Livestock and villagers drink from the well built by World Relief in Katong’un. [Photo courtesy GI-INC ]
As we drive from community to community we see dead and dying animals in many places; we see children suffering acute malnutrition; we hear stories of wells dried up and we hear prayers for rain. But even if the rains come now, it is too late. It will be months before the impact of the rains will return life to a sustainable level. More likely, the rains will simply make more places inaccessible, as flash floods in the dry riverbeds sweep away what few bridges there are and make the dry riverbeds impassable. And if the rains do not fall again later this spring, it is difficult to imagine the scale of suffering we will see unless the international community steps in.
This is not the first time the people of Turkana have faced such a crisis. Since the last drought in 2011, World Relief has been working with both U.S. and local church partners to build community resilience by developing more year round water supply through drilling wells and building sand dams to save and store water, as well as by introducing desert farming techniques so that the Turkana can grow vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, onions and watermelon to improve nutrition and make the population less dependent on their livestockâtheir animals who are the first to suffer and die when a drought hits. And there has been visible progress in many places, simply not enough and not in enough places to withstand this climatic onslaught in a region that too easily could be seen as âGod-forsaken.â
But God is here.
A mother and her infant child retrieve water from a well in her village built by World Relief and its partners. [Photo courtesy GI-INC ]
The poverty and rigors of life in Turkana North are hard to imagine, but there is resilience and pride too. The children are the same as children everywhereâcurious and ready to smile and engage at the first sign of interest. And they love to sing and dance. It is a reminder that we are all made in Godâs image and all precious to Him.
The task ahead seems gargantuan, but the the Church is present, growing and bringing hope to these people. There are leaders in local churches in Turkana whose desire to bear witness to Jesus and to change the lives of their peopleâboth spiritually and physicallyâis palpable. Those whose receptivity to learning is impressive and who welcome the expertise of World Relief and our partners on the ground.
As one partner put it: âThere is a future. And although the future is uncertain, one thing is certainâthese people have been touched by the love of Christ.â
A flourishing farm from a World Relief-trained farmer who has access to water because of a local dam. [Photo courtesy GI-INC ]
For much of the last year, a food crisis of epic proportions has been growing across much of the African continentâin places like Malawi, Mozambique, Burundi and Sudan as well as Kenya. Tens of millions are at risk. But with so many crises in the world today and more turmoil in the world order we have seen since the end of the Cold War, the food crisis in Africa has largely gone unreported.
My prayer is that the vivid images we captured in Turkana last week will capture the hearts of Godâs people everywhere and that we will rise up in compassion not just for the people of Turkana, but all the starving people across Africa.
Donate to provide immediate food assistance and nutrition outreach to the people of Turkana.
Tim Breene served on the World Relief Board from 2010 to 2015 before assuming the role of CEO in 2016. Timâs business career has spanned nearly 40 years with organizations like McKinsey, and Accenture where he was the Corporate Development Officer and Founder and Chief Executive of Accenture Interactive. Tim is the co-author of Jumping the S-Curve, published by Harvard Publishing. Tim and his wife Michele, a longtime supporter of World Relief, have a wealth of experience working with Christian leaders in the United States and around the world.
In Honor of International Womenâs Day, World Relief Unveils âProverbs 31â Video As Part of Organizationâs Thank God for Women Campaign
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
MARCH 8, 2017
CONTACT:
The KAIROS Company for World Relief
MediaInquiries@theKcompany.co | 434.426.5310
Â
In Honor of International Womenâs Day, World Relief Unveils âProverbs 31â Video As Part of Organizationâs Thank God for Women Campaign
In a show of solidarity, 12 prominent female influencers recorded their own videos for the project, joining many other advocates in promoting and endorsing the organizationâs global campaign.
BALTIMORE, MD â Beginning March 1st, global humanitarian relief and development organization, World Relief, began the roll out of the Thank God for Women campaign which focuses on empowering women and elevating their invaluable contribution in transforming families, communities, and cultures around the world.
In support of the initiativeâand in honor of International Womenâs DayâWorld Relief will release the âProverbs 31â video on Wednesday March 8th. The video features real women in various scenes and settings around the world, juxtaposed against the famous Bible verseâblending the words with the moving imagery.
In a show of solidarity with women everywhere, more than 10 leading female influencers lent their own voices to the campaign by recording videos expressing why they personally thank God for women, including:
- Latasha Morrison
- Maria Goff
- Lindsey Viducich
- Ashley Goff
- Shauna Niequist
- Jo Saxton
- Esther Havens
- Keisha Polonio
- Amena Brown Owen
- Jeanne Stevens
- Ann Voskamp
- Rebekah Lyons
- Jenny Yang
“When each woman shows up and does her brave thing, she actually wins a thousand other battles because she makes a thousand other women brave,â states New York Times bestselling author, Ann Voskamp.
“When I see a group of women get together, I know they mean business. I know that they are going to get it done, I know theyâll bring life and hope,” says Jo Saxton, speaker and director of 3DM.
Author and Vice President of Advocacy for World Relief Jenny Yang adds, “I’ve seen women around the world in some of the most difficult places on earth, they are the ones transforming the world.”
Other publications and leading advocates for womenâs empowerment will also feature the Proverbs 31 video on their online platforms including leading faith outlet Christianity Today Women; Catalyst, the nonprofit which seeks to expand opportunities for women and businesses, and many others.
In most of the countries where the organization works, women often face disproportionate levels of discrimina-tion and hardship. World Relief works through local churches to protect, celebrate, and raise the value of wom-en by taking a holistic approach, addressing immediate needs and harmful belief systems simultaneously.
World Relief has economic development, maternal and child health, anti-trafficking, and peace-building pro-grams throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, along with refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. In fact, more than 80% of the beneficiaries of World Reliefâs programs are women and children. Across all of the organizationâs international initiatives, World Relief has been witness to a myriad of circumstances that have marginalized women for generations, including deeply engrained belief structures, misinterpretations of the Bible, socioeconomics, violence, and war.
The campaign launched on March 1st with the beginning of Womenâs History Month, and will highlight International Womenâs Day on March 8th. âWorldwide, women remain vulnerable when affected by war, violence, and humanitarian crises. Yet theyâre also incredibly resourceful and resilient, often becoming the glue that holds families, economies, and societies together. They are indispensable for a community to thrive,â said World Relief President Scott Arbeiter.
Part of World Reliefâs strategy is encouraging men, especially through the church, to serve as the change-makers in society to raise the value of women. âThis campaign is about empowering women, but itâs also about the role of men in championing them,â said World Relief CEO Tim Breene.
The Thank God for Women campaign will include social media initiatives, including a Thunderclap campaign, and a series of blog posts to highlight stories about women throughout the world who are making a difference in their communities.
For more information, please visit: worldrelief.org/women
To view the Proverbs 31 video, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/WorldRelief/videos/10156131190752037/
Help spread the word by downloading the #ThankGodForWomen Toolkit: http://bit.ly/TGFW_Toolkit
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Download PDF of this press release
World Relief is a global humanitarian relief and development organization that stands with the vulnerable and partners with local churches to end the cycle of suffering, transform lives and build sustainable communities. With over 70 years of experience, World Relief works in 20 countries worldwide through disaster response, health and child development, economic development and peacebuilding and has offices in the United States that specialize in refugee and immigration services.
Website | worldrelief.org Twitter | @WorldRelief
Thank God for Women â Heroes in the Fight for Justice
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate.
A few years ago, a dear friend gave me a book titled, Women Are Heroes. It is filled with beautiful portraits and stories of women around the world whose very existence is heroic. I flip through it often and I am constantly inspired by the resilience, strength and grace that women posses.
You donât have to look very far to find disturbing statistics about women across the globe. Women, on average, still make less than men. We are more prone to being victimized by sexual violence. We have less access to education. The list goes on. But somehow, despite all of the data, there are women who continue to defy the oddsâfighting for justice in their communities, raising families with inadequate resources, building businesses out of nothing, and striving for educational opportunities to not only better themselves but the people around them as well.
My line of work has afforded me the privilege of traveling all around the world and wherever I go, I am always in awe of the women I meet.
I have visited with women in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Women who have lived through atrocities of war and sexual violence against their bodies. But in spite of all they have experienced, they continue to work towards the healing of themselves, their own, and the healing of other women in their communities. These women speak of forgiveness, hope and peacebuilding in their communities.
I have listened to women in Kenya share how they started a savings group so that they could pay for their kidsâ uniforms and school fees. They were soon able to start their own businesses, and then began to pay the school fees for other children in the community who were in need.
I have sat with women from both Israel and Palestine as they shared their painful stories of loss, what forgiveness looks like and how they can begin to lead their communities to understand the narrative of the âother.â
I am surrounded by countless womenâmany whom I am honored to call friendsâhere in the United States who have committed their lives to advocate for those who suffer under the oppression of racial, gender, and economic injustice.
When women are not allowed to fully express their God-given potential, it is affront to our Creator and a disservice to all of humanity.
Throughout history, countless women have ignored the limitations that society has placed on them and fought, against all odds, for the opportunity to flourish. Women like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Malala Yousafzai, Yuri Kochiyama, Berta CĂĄceres, Katherine G. Johnson, Septima Clark, the millions of refugee women around the worldâthe list goes on. These women have blazed trails, smashed ceilings, fought countless battles so that the next generation could dream bigger, soar higher and achieve things they never thought to be possible.
The fight for women’s rights means equal rights for all. Women work for the betterment of families, communities and nations. There is a deep understanding that we are all connected to each other and we all rise and fall together.
So todayâand every dayâI thank God for women. The dreamers, troublemakers, peacemakers, bridge builders, trailblazers, ceiling crushers, and image bearers of the Creator. The women who see injustice in our world and refuse to stay silent. Those who work to infuse radical love and hope into our world.
Women are heroes and I stand on the shoulders of the ones who have gone before me, and I link arms with the present day warriors. Together, we continue the fight for justice for all people.
Chi Chi Okwu is a Senior Church Advisor for World Vision USAâworking with churches and parachurch organizations to build strategic partnerships focusing on community development and relief work globally. She is passionate about issues relating to faith and justice specifically in the areas of race, gender and reconciliation, and enjoys speaking and writing on those topics. Chi Chi currently resides in Chicago and enjoys traveling, cooking, watching sports and spending quality time with friends and family.
Thank God for Women â The Village Nearby
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate.
The Village Nearby is an chapter from The Mother & Child Project: Raising our Voices for Health and Hopeâcompiled by Hope Through Healing Handsâ Faith-based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide.
Deborah Dortzbach currently serves as World Reliefâs Senior Health Advisor. Her extensive background in international public health has equipped her to oversee maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, child development, adolescent health, and anti-trafficking programs for over twenty-five years.
In 2015, Zondervan published The Mother & Child Project: Raising our Voices for Health and Hope, featuring personal stories from women around the worldâincluding Deborahâs. Her story covers her work in the late 1970s, and journeys through a time when she was held hostage while pregnant. She applauds the strength of the women who surrounded her at that time. We thank God for Deborah and the work she continues to do to empower women. Hereâs an excerpt her story…
I thought I would deliver my firstborn child by myself in a makeshift lean-to on a windswept hill far from a health facility. I was terrified.
There was no one to give me prenatal care. No one to coach me. No one to talk to about my fears. No emergency backup for complications. No one exceptâŠsoldiers, hovering.
I am a nurse and was taken hostage while pregnant by the Eritrean Liberation Front and held in a remote, desolate location near the Sudan border. One day, as I wandered in allowable short distances, I discovered others like myself in a nearby village. They were Tigre women, clustered around each other as they framed their nomadic huts. Some were pregnant; some had children tugging at their long, faded skirts as they stretched straw mats over simple poles. One woman stood alone. She had no children and looked sad and abandoned.
I went to them, and we chatted, each in our own mother tongue, as together we thrust grass mats over the acacia sticks, bounced babies in our arms, and laughed at each otherâs strange expressions. I put their weathered hands on my bulging bump of baby, and they seemed to curiously question, âWhat are you doing here?â
I have had many years now to reflect on that question. I was eventually released, received good medical care, and delivered a healthy baby boy. But my newfound friends were never freed from the captivity of unsafe motherhood and the future opportunity to participate in decisions about their families and their own well-being. Were I to return to the same hill today, I wonder if they would ask me the very same question, in the past tense, and what my answer would be. âWhat have you done, for us?â
The Tigre moms and millions like them, let us know that before us is a choiceâto improve maternal health, or to actually increase maternal harm through just doing nothing. While we get genuinely interested for a brief season or for some project silos in maternal health, we all know the deeper issues of behavior and structural change take time and perseverance. Our commitments must be unswerving and unending.
Fundamentally, as Christians, we work and strive to improve maternal health because itâs about valuing who a woman is as God made her and treasures her, not because of a role or function, marital status, maternal status, or even because of need, as great as that may be. Needs and resources will come and goâbut the intrinsic worth of woman as God sees her, will always warrant our highest efforts to esteem her and fight for her equality and full expression of honor, dignity, safety, and health.
The account in the Gospels[1] of the bleeding woman healed by Jesus demonstrates this. The unnamed woman, bleeding for 12 years, was stigmatized, spiritually ostracized, extremely weak, and economically impoverished. Yet, drawn by the working of Christ in her life, she ventured into a crowded social space and touched Jesus. He cared so deeply and so thoroughly for her, that He allowed her blood-impure status to spiritually defile him. It instantly healed the woman.
What a beautiful picture for us of the spiritual healing soon to come through the defilement Jesus took upon himself on the cross! God chose the body of woman through which to be born (Mary) and now the body of a woman to bring a foreshadowing of His healing power through death. Can there be any doubt He loves, treasures, honors, and redeems women and seeks to bring His redemption and completeness to all humankind in brokenness and suffering?
[1] Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48
Join us as we support those whose work raises the value of women and provides the opportunities for growth and progress.
World Relief Responds to Revised Trump Executive Order
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
MARCH 6, 2017
CONTACT:
The KAIROS Company for World Relief
MediaInquiries@theKcompany.co | 434.426.5310
Evangelical Relief Organization World Relief Says Revised Trump Executive Order is More of the Same, Expresses Dismay at Ongoing Suspension of the Refugee Resettlement Program and Asks for Greater Commitment to Welcome Worldâs Refugees. World Relief Appeals to the General Public to Stand in the Gap.
âWe stand with refugees. Standing with us are many thousands of American citizens in congregations and communities across the nation who have joined us in this cause.â
âScott Arbeiter, World Relief President
Â
BALTIMORE, MD â World Relief expresses ongoing concern at the Trump Administrationâs decision to maintain a 120-day moratorium on the Refugee Admissions Program, excluding refugees from many of the worldâs most vulnerable populations.
âThe issuance of a new executive order on refugees and immigrants acknowledges that there were significant problems with the first executive order that caught up green card holders and others as they tried to enter to the United States. However, this new executive order does not solve the root problems with the initial orderâthe cutting of refugee admissions by 55% and the inability for some of the worldâs most vulnerable refugees to come to the United States, it is more of the same,â said Tim Breene, CEO of World Relief.
Just two weeks ago, World Relief released a letter, which, at the time, had 650 church leaders signed on in support of refugees from every state in the country. As of today, the letter has garnered over 6,000 signatures from church leaders all across the country in support of refugees. âThe breadth of support of church leaders across the country is astonishing,â said Arbeiter.
âWhile we support our government in ensuring our safety and security, we believe that compassion and security do not have to be mutually exclusive. We believe that the order simply remains disproportionate. In our national experience, the actions mandated by this executive order are inconsistent with the security record established by the refugee program since its inception and even since 9-11,â said Arbeiter.
World Reliefâs mission is to empower the local church to serve the most vulnerable. The organization has done so, in part, by resettling refugees under seven different Presidential administrations for nearly forty years. World Relief calls on the administration to commit the resources and coordination needed for a rapid restoration of this life-saving program, which represents the historic compassion and courage of the American people. This includes carrying out the security review process as quickly as possible to ensure the program is not delayed any longer than necessary. We continue our commitment to being pro-security and pro-refugee.
âWe stand with refugees. Standing with us are many thousands of American citizens in congregations and communities across the nation who have joined us in this cause,â said Arbeiter. âWe will continue to appeal to churches throughout the U.S. to continue to support refugees.â
World Relief has publicly and privately expressed its willingness to work with the incoming administration to improve the program while ensuring greater understanding and greater confidence in its existing strengths.
To learn more about World Reliefâs efforts to care for refugees already in the United States and in vulnerable communities through the world, visit: worldrelief.org/welcome.
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Download PDF of this press release
World Relief is a global humanitarian relief and development organization that stands with the vulnerable and partners with local churches to end the cycle of suffering, transform lives and build sustainable communities. With over 70 years of experience, World Relief works in 20 countries worldwide through disaster response, health and child development, economic development and peacebuilding and has offices in the United States that specialize in refugee and immigration services.
Website | worldrelief.org Twitter | @WorldRelief
Thank God for Women â Saving Funds and Communities
*Some information has been changed to protect the individualâs identity.
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate.
As a pastorâs wife in rural Kenya, Elizabeth Ewoton saw glaring financial needs all around her community. She decided to lead by example, using her influence to mobilize 15 local women to join a community savings group at Full Gospel Church in Lokitaung, Kenya, which had implemented World Reliefâs Savings For Life back in 2014.
Savings For Life is a holistic, community-based savings and credit program that offers safe and reliable financial services to people who are often excluded from more formal banking institutions. As time goes by, consistent savings allow participants access to appropriately-sized loans, without impossible fees and interest rates. This allows members of the group to take care of daily household needs and to establish and invest in their own income-generating activities.
Prior to Elizabeth’s involvement, no one had ever heard of working together as a community to save their own funds. But one woman, Hellen Esekon, caught Elizabethâs vision and decided to give it a try.
Both womenâs families soon benefited substantially from the Savings For Life program, as each gained access to money to pay unexpected school fees for their daughters. Both Elizabeth and Hellen say there is no way they would have been able to pay the feesâwhich were demanded on very short noticeâif it werenât for the savings group.
Elizabeth, who is now chair of the group, and Hellen have become bold advocates for the Savings For Life program at Full Gospel Church. They have experienced first-hand the transformation and security that comes with financial stability, and they want that experience for others as well!
Give to World Relief to create a better world for women.
Thank God for Women â Defiant Love
*Some information has been changed to protect the individualâs identity.
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate.
Six years ago, I was sitting at a small, unsteady table, in a room that was oppressively hot. Aamiina, a young refugee woman sat across from me. A few months prior to that, the word ârefugeeâ had not really been part of my vernacular, but it was now an everyday term.
We opened the roomâs small window to try to let in a breeze, and the cacophony of the streets soon invaded any sense of peace and quiet. Aamiina began to share her refugee journeyâa story of sorrow, suffering, and loss.
To this day, I have never been able to repeat what I heard, though I can still remember every detail. I still think of the two daughters Aamiina lostâone to death, and one to kidnapping. I wonder if her daughter is still alive somewhere, and if she knows how her mother longs to find her.
When Aamiina finished her story, she said something that I will never forget: âAll the people that did these things to me, they want me to hate. But my act of defiance is to love.â
Amiinaâs love and gentleness defied all odds. Despite such loss, Aamiina later took young women under her wing and loved them as if they were her own daughters. Her love changed these women. Her love changed me.
Since that day, I have met many women like Aamiina in some of the most violent corners of this earth. I have connected with mothers from Syria, who have made dangerous journeys across deserts and seas to seek refuge for their children. I have cried with women who have pulled their children from beneath the rubble of destroyed homes, schools, and hospitals. I have witnessed young women who have had to discontinue their education because of conflict, and instead have chosen to invest in the education of children in their communities. I have seen young women return to their destroyed homes, and begin the courageous work of rebuilding, even in the midst of uncertainty. I have seen women volunteer long hours to serve others, even when their own needs were profound. I have watched my friendâafter ISIS killed everyone in her family except for her younger sisterâwork long hours to pay for her sisterâs education.
These women inspire and fuel much World Reliefâs work in the Middle East. We work with Syrian women who volunteer in Child Friendly Spaces, providing psychosocial, education, and health support to children. We partner with women in Iraq who provide support to children and youth in their communities. We stand with women that are working to rebuild their communities and restore livelihoods to their families as they return to cities in Iraq.
Women are leading, creating, and defining the work that we do across the Middle East. I am profoundly grateful to know these women and to witness the work that they are doing.
The women World Relief partners with and serve have taught me to love courageously. Love is not weakness in the wake of hatred and violence. Love is not passive. Loveâlike my friend Aamiina sharedâis an act of defiance. The love of women across the Middle East is driving out darkness, and making the way for peace.
I thank God for women because women defy the darkness.
I thank God for women because in places of destruction, women rebuild, restore and reclaim peace.
Give to World Relief today.
Together, we can create a better world for women like Aamiina.
Maggie Konstanski has been a part of the World Relief team for over 4 years, and currently serves at the Middle East Programs Technical and Operations Coordinator. With a passion for international human rights, Maggie often uses work-related travel as a platform to tell the powerful stories of the vulnerable families and communities we serve.
Thank God for Women â A Conversation with Rhona Murungi
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate.
Rhona Murungi was born and raised in rural western Ugandan by a single motherâwho, Rhona says, was her biggest cheerleader while she pursued an education. After finishing graduate school at Vanderbilt, Rhona was looking to begin her career in economic and country development. With a passion to address the needs in her home country, she was connected to World Relief, where she now serves as Program Officer for the organizationâs Developing Countries Unit. Recently, Cassidy Stratton, World Reliefâs Marketing Coordinator, spoke with Rhona about her story and her passion for working with women around the world:
Cassidy Stratton: From Uganda to Taylor University, and then to Vanderbilt. How did you get connected to World Relief?
Rhona Murungi: I had just finished graduate school at Vanderbilt, and I was looking for a job! And I knew that I wanted to do development work. I knew that I wanted to do work that was in some form or fashion directly connected to Africa, because thatâs where Iâm from. Thatâs what I know. Thatâs what Iâm passionate about.
I got this email from World Relief, looked it up and got really excited about the Program Officer role and applied. The rest is history.
CS: Could you tell us more about your work within World Relief?
RM: I was a Program Officer, stationed in the U.S., working for the East African region for close to 3 years. And then I was itching to get back to [Africa]. I had been away from home for 9 plus years. I really wanted to go back home. I wanted to grow and be challenged, and get the opportunity to do this work in the African context. So, when the [Directors of Programs] role became open again, I jumped at the chance to fulfill it and go to the region, and the Rwanda office welcomed me for 2 years.
Iâm doing a PhD program at the moment, so I decided to come back to [World Reliefâs Baltimore] office so that I could better balance my school work and the service opportunities within World Reliefâsort of similar to the Program Officer role, but in the Developing Countries Unit.
Itâs really exciting to plug back in. Iâm grateful that the role that Iâm in at the moment still allows me to have a significant opportunity to support programs in the region. I [now] oversee Haiti, Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya.
CS: What work have you done with women throughout your time with World Relief or even before?
RM: I could talk about that for ages! Our work, actually, is very heavily focused onâand targetsâwomen. Women and children, in many ways, make up a significant portion of beneficiaries.
CS: Why is it important for our work to intentionally address the needs of women?
RM: If your programs are intentionally involving and welcoming the participation of women (not at the exclusion of men by the way) itâs most likely to not just succeed, but actually benefit beyond the individual woman to the household and entire community. Itâs proven, but I can also really attest to that from my own personal upbringing. Women glue the home together.
CS: Could you provide some examples?
RM: For example, one of my favorite programs in World Reliefâand to be honest, I have a little personal bias to itâis our Savings For Life work. Seventy-two percent of our beneficiaries are women in this program. Which, in a way, makes sense because women areâat least in the communities in Africa that Iâm from and have been exposed toâ the backbone of households. And when you target women, when you empower women, when you engage women, and bring them in and allow for their participation, it actually benefits the entire householdânot just one individual.
CS: Has there been a particular experience within the Savings For Life group you can recall?
RM: A few months ago, I was doing a field visit in one of our Church Empowerment Zones in Rwanda, and visited a savings group. I shared with these women that this [moment] took me back to when I was little. My mom was part of a savings group growing upâsaving a little at a time, investing in setting up a small business, putting food on the table for my siblings and I, and sending us to school. I am, in many ways, a product of this program.
And I tell the women, âLook, Iâm a product of what you are doing. And the Lord remain, 15 or 20 years from now, your kids, that are running around your feet, are going to be meâapproaching the very work that youâre diligently doing in order for you to feed them, send them through school, and support your family.â
This particular program brings me to tears because it is a full-circle momentâthat I have the privilege and honor to approach work that actually transformed my family and my life.
CS: Youâre very passionate about the work youâve done with women, children, and men. Has there been a specific time when your life has been transformed because of a womanâs impact?
RM: There is not two ways about it for me; by far the most impactful woman in my life has been my mother. She is just an incredible example. To be honest, we could sit here for a couple of hours and I would be able to exhaust the stories about my mother and the ways in which she has shepherded our family, and brought us so far and as single mother, too.
CS: You said yourself that âevidence shows that women tend to think beyond ourselves, beyond our own interestsâto the interests of others.â Thatâs powerful. Why do you thank God for women?
RM: I thank God for the resilience of women and the way God has and continues to use women to be the backbone and the lifeblood of many households, communities, and nationsâin ways that go both recognized and unrecognized.
You too can make a difference in the lives of women around the world.
Thank God for Women â The Remarkable Story of Beatrice, A Tangible Experience of Joy
Thank God for Women is a blog series rooted in gratitude for the strength, courage, and incredible capacity women demonstrate.
Occasionally, in life, we are blessed to experience joy in its purest, most unadulterated form. It can come in a quiet moment of prayer, an incredible experience, or even through a person.
For me, one of these precious moment of joy came in the form of a beautiful wife and mother, named Beatrice, who lived in the Bushenge district of Rwanda. Beatrice is an individual who radiates the love of Jesus. When I think of her, I immediately think of Proverbs 31âclothed in strength and dignity, laughing without fear of the future.
For Beatrice, however, that was not always the case. For years, she longed to repair the broken relationships within her family to prepare her children for their future. Beatrice spoke with a tangible sadness when she explained how isolated she was from her children. âI was too shy to talk to them about their health and their bodies, or to counsel them on difficulties of being a teenager. They were lost, and I continued to build a wall between us, higher and thicker with each passing year.â
As Beatrice struggled to understand how to relate to her new adolescents, she joined a parenting group run by a local church as a part of World Reliefâs “Mobilizing For Lifeâ program. She began learning about Godâs vision for family, and the opportunity and gift sheâd been given in motherhood. Beatrice learned to rise above her embarrassment and enter into discussions with her children around health, dating, sex, and HIV/AIDS. And it wasnât long before Beatrice broke through yet another social barrierâencouraging her husband, Gracian, to join her.
Less than five years later, Beatrice and Gracian are pillars of inspiration and faith in their community. Today, Beatrice and Gracian lead kids-clubs throughout their community. Each week they spend time with nearly 100 adolescents, counseling them and fostering a safe and open environment where kids from all walks of life can share their struggles and ask questions. And what they have achieved is truly remarkable. In her own words, through a smile that reached ear to ear, Beatrice told us about their work.
âIn 2014 we started a kids club counseling youth. We teach the kids the word of God, but we also talk about how to make good decisions. We focus on how to pick good friends, to stay away from drugs and alcohol, and avoid HIV and early pregnancy. We even started hosting soccer games and offering free HIV testing at matches. Last match we had over 80 kids come to play and get tested!
It is truly amazing, and our initiative is only growing. We are fostering an environment of openness where everyone comes to us for advice. We are so happy that weâve been able to learn and share so much and be a part of change in our community.â
I truly believe that supporting, celebrating, and investing in women like Beatrice is the most effective and impactful way to change lives. To watch a once-struggling wife and mother in rural Rwanda be transformed by a renewed understanding of Godâs calling for her life has an unparalleled beauty and power.
To be in her presence is to experience God in a beautiful and tangible way.
Beatrice is why I Thank God for Women each day.
Women of incredible faith, uniquely and purposefully placed to experience and reveal Godâs plan for the world in the most unexpected ways and places.
Capable of restoring brokenness with one smile.
Laughing without fear of the future. Rather, embracing it. Transforming it.
These are brave kingdom warriors, beautiful and courageous women of God, stepping out in faith to transform their families and ultimately, their entire communities.
Give to World Relief today. Together, we can create a better world for women like Beatrice.
Francesca Albano currently serves as Product Development Lead at World Relief. With a background in strategic marketing communications, she connects her interests in brand strategy, audience engagement, and storytelling around her passionsâchildren, disaster and humanitarian relief, human rights, and poverty alleviation. Francesca best describes herself as a storyteller, writer, foodie, globetrotter, and humanitarian.
World Relief to Highlight the Strength of Women in 2017
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
MARCH 1, 2017
CONTACT:
The KAIROS Company for World Relief
MediaInquiries@theKcompany.co | 434.426.5310
World Relief to Highlight the Strength of Women in 2017
âThe purpose of the âThank God for Womenâ campaign is twofold: to inspire men and women everywhere to feel gratitude for women, and to tell the extraordinary story of how women bring an invaluable contribution to the world, even when they often have to overcome adversity and, through grit and strength, carve a place for themselves.â
-Tim Breene, CEO of World Relief.
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BALTIMORE, MD â Global humanitarian relief and development organization, World Relief, is starting 2017 with a focus on empowering women and elevating their invaluable contribution in transforming families, communities, and cultures around the world. In most of the countries the organization works, women often face discrimination and hardship. World Relief works through local churches to protect, celebrate, and raise the value of women by taking a holistic approach, addressing immediate needs and harmful belief systems simultaneously.
World Relief has economic development, maternal and child health, anti-trafficking, and peacebuilding programs throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, along with refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. More than 80% of the beneficiaries of World Reliefâs programs are women and children. Across all of the organizationâs international initiatives, World Relief has been witness to a myriad of circumstances that have marginalized women for generations, including deeply engrained belief structures, misinterpretations of the Bible, socioeconomics, violence, and war.
Starting March 1st, the organization will roll out âThank God for Women,â a global campaign to express gratitude toward women and raise awareness of the invaluable contribution they bring to the world.
The campaign will launch with Womenâs History Month on March 1st, and build up to International Womenâs Day on March 8th. âWorldwide, women remain vulnerable when affected by war, violence, and humanitarian crises. Yet theyâre also incredibly resourceful and resilient, often becoming the glue that holds families, economies, and societies together. They are indispensable for a community to thrive,â said World Relief President Scott Arbeiter.
Part of World Reliefâs strategy is encouraging men, especially through the church, to serve as the changemakers in society to raise the value of women. âThis campaign is about empowering women, but itâs also about the role of men in championing them,â said World Relief CEO Tim Breene.
The âThank God for Womenâ campaign will include social media initiatives, including a Thunderclap campaign, and a series of blog posts to highlight stories about women throughout the world who are making a difference in their communities. Short crowdsourced films, featuring influential women saying why they are thankful for women, will accompany the nationwide campaign, releasing on March 1.
For more information, please visit: worldrelief.org/women
Help spread the word by downloading the #ThankGodForWomen Toolkit: http://bit.ly/TGFW_Toolkit
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World Relief is a global humanitarian relief and development organization that stands with the vulnerable and partners with local churches to end the cycle of suffering, transform lives and build sustainable communities. With over 70 years of experience, World Relief works in 20 countries worldwide through disaster response, health and child development, economic development and peacebuilding and has offices in the United States that specialize in refugee and immigration services.
Website | worldrelief.org Twitter | @WorldRelief
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