Posts Tagged ‘Health & Nutrition’
Love Rejoices with the Truth
Combatting Harmful Beliefs
This is a story about a small village in Mzimba, a northern district in the Southern African country of Malawi. It is a story about love and the relentless pursuit of the truth—a truth that has set the village of Jenda free and paved the way for love to flourish.
Five years ago, the Ngoni people never could have imagined the transformation their district was about to experience. Though amongst some of the poorest people in the world, the Ngoni are a proud people, rooted in age-old traditions, closed to outsiders and cautious of change.
Before World Relief began working in Mzimba, life was dictated by tribal traditions that oftentimes perpetuated, or worsened, the cycle of poverty and suffering in the community.
The Ngoni people lived their day-to-day lives believing that:
- A malnourished child meant there was infidelity within the marriage.
- Girls were valuable solely for their bride price and should not attend school.
- Upon puberty, girls foreheads should be cut and scarred to reveal their readiness for marriage.
- If women did not bear sons, men may continue to marry as many women as they like. (Polygamy was commonplace.)
- Upon the death of their husband, widows must walk on their knees to the closest river without food or water.
- Pregnant women must not breastfeed or eat eggs.
- Witchdoctors were the only solution to sickness and challenges.
In many cases, these beliefs lead to chronic malnutrition, child abuse or gender injustices that could often mean the difference between life and death. Yet, this way of life went unchallenged for the Ngoni people, who had no expectations or hope of a different way — no opportunity to act on their natural instinct to love, and no relief for the suffering they endured.
Change Takes Root
In 2012, when local World Relief staff first arrived in the village of Jenda, villagers were guarded. They sent local pastors and leaders to meet with the outsiders, doubting the significance of the gathering, in some cases even fearing it was a scam. Little did they know, this meeting would be the beginning of a vibrant transformation. One that revealed life-altering truth, rooted in love and that would lead to the renewal of their lives, their people and their entire community.
As leaders around Jenda came together with World Relief staff in vision-casting seminars, community-based needs assessments and cross-denominational conversations, a wave of excitement and optimism began to spread. Like wildfire, 15 churches soon became 22, spanning 10 denominations and multiple villages across Mzimba as community leaders realized that a different life, and future, for their people was possible.
“We began to understand God’s vision for our community. A truth that had been obscured from us due to age-old cultural practices and mindsets. We learned God had a desire to see us and our community working together in unity to serve one another, love one another and to lift up our community. We learned to work together, to realize our part in helping the most vulnerable, to become self-reliant and to shed harmful beliefs that were hindering us.” — Church Network Committee Chairman
As community leaders and increasingly, community members, began coming together in conversation around these new truths, the tide began to shift.
“We began to understand poverty in a deeper way. We came to realize the power of knowledge, and of self-reliance. And we realized some of our practices must change if we were to lead better lives. — Modesta, Jenda Savings Group Participant
A Flourishing Community
As the people of Jenda gathered to discuss the needs of their village and their vision for the future, the community began adopting changes that gradually gave way to community-wide flourishing.
New cash crops were planted to include soya beans and groundnuts, yielding added household income. With the pooled profits, seedlings were planted to regrow trees that had been lost to deforestation, hundreds of thousands of bricks were molded for the construction of a new school and homes for teachers, a clean-water well was dug, and savings and agricultural groups were formed.
As each new need was identified, the community gathered together to raise money and invest back into their collective vision for their lives and the lives of their children.
But the changes were not just physical. Love and appreciation for the children of the village was instilled as community members began to understand the meaning of Imago Dei—each child created in the image of God and possessing inherent worth.
The value of the girl child and the importance of education for both boys and girls began to take root. Community members began looking out for their friends and neighbors, and families began to repair once broken relationships, thriving in a growing love, care and respect for one another.
Little by little with each passing year, leaders and community members alike began speaking out against harmful practices of polygamy, rites of passage, child brides and witch doctors.
Mothers groups were formed to keep children in school and protect the rights of children, especially girls.
Leaders from other districts began to visit Jenda to witness what, why and how such positive transformation was taking place. And Jenda’s influence was so great that even local government Village Development Committees took note—putting in place by-laws that forbade marriage under the age of 18 and required mothers to give birth in health-centers or local hospitals so as to ensure proper care.
A Flourishing Future
Today, the village of Jenda is unrecognizable. As you enter the center of the village, you pass a deep-water well, three primary school blocks, five well-constructed teachers’ homes, three large enclosed cultivation plots, two brick-molding kilns and a large field of newly planted trees.
The church, which sits as the center of the community with two classrooms, continues to be a place of planning and dreaming toward a flourishing future. Community members plan to build more schools and child care centers, a library and a recreation hall. They want to ensure all girls attend school and every disabled child has access to wheelchair and wheelchair accessible classrooms. And so much more.
Ten years ago, these plans were not even a thought, let alone an aspiration for the Ngoni people in Jenda. Yet today, they stand before us, proclaiming the gospel and the truths that have opened their minds, encouraged love and instilled a bright and bold vision for their future. It is a truth we can all rejoice in.
*At World Relief, our goal is to see local churches continue to serve the most vulnerable long after World Relief transitions out of the area. We do not seek to establish a long-term, ongoing presence in the areas we serve, but instead build capacity among local leaders to sustain the progress they themselves initiated. Once a community is able to meet their target goals, World Relief begins the process of graduating the community, which includes a time of reflecting and celebrating together. The Jenda community is currently set to graduate in 2023! Join us in celebrating and praying for this continuous transformation.
Francesca Albano currently serves as Director of Branded Content at World Relief. With a background in Cultural Anthropology and a graduate degree in Strategic Marketing Communications, she connects her interests in societal studies and global cultures with her training in brand strategy and storytelling. Francesca is especially passionate about grassroots community development and the treatment and advancement of women and girls around the world.
COVID and the Issues: Food Security & Nutrition
Last month, Oxfam projected that the number of people experiencing crisis-level hunger could reach 270 million in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic – an increase of over 80%.
The number is shocking.
Today, in the fifth of our six-week series, COVID and the Issues, we’re talking with Prava Chhetri and Rafael Flores, World Relief’s Technical Advisors for Food Security & Nutrition.
They will share about this concerning projection, as well as how COVID is impacting our nutrition work on the ground.
In the discussion that follows, Prava & Rafael give a brief overview of our food security and nutrition programs and discuss how COVID-19 is impacting global food production and access, as well as the nutritional consequences of this change.
They also open up about how World Relief’s programs are adapting in the face of this crisis, ensuring we do all we can to prevent the next major global famine.
Francesca Albano currently serves as Director of Branded Content at World Relief. With a background in Cultural Anthropology and a graduate degree in Strategic Marketing Communications, she connects her interests in societal studies and global cultures with her training in brand strategy and storytelling. Francesca is especially passionate about grassroots community development and the treatment and advancement of women and girls around the world.
COVID and the Issues: Health
Women, men, children and entire communities across the globe have been dramatically impacted by COVID-19. In order to stop the spread of the virus, businesses, land and air transport, as well as essential services, have been forced to lock down.
Without the ability to continue treatment and a six-month disruption in access to antiretrovirals, AIDS-related deaths could double in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 alone.
80 million children are at risk for contracting preventable diseases because immunization services at many health centers have slowed or stopped.
Essential maternal and child health interventions are being reduced and could result in maternal mortality rising from 8% to 38% and children under 5 mortality from 9.8% to 44.7%.
With no access to these life-saving health services, COVID-19 could undo years of progress. Today, in the third of our six-week series, COVID and the Issues, we’re talking with Allison Flynn, World Relief’s Senior Health & Nutrition Program Advisor. Allison gives an overview of our health and nutrition programs and sheds light on the vital importance of creating and providing access to health care and information to individuals and communities, especially in the midst of a pandemic when the normal channels of access are closed.
Come back next week to learn more about how COVID-19 is affecting our US programs. And to join us as we fight back against the residual effects of COVID-19, visit worldrelief.org/covid-19.
Dana North serves as the Marketing Manager at World Relief. With a background in graphic design and advertising and experiences in community development and transformation, Dana seeks to use the power of words and action to help create a better world. Dana is especially passionate about seeking justice for women and girls around the world.
Leveraging Relationships to Serve the Most Vulnerable
A Critical Moment
We are facing a critical moment in the global COVID-19 crisis. While many parts of the U.S. are reopening, the crisis continues to unfold in Africa and other parts of the developing world. While official case numbers remain modest in many countries (due, in part, to limited testing capacity) the severe effects of the pandemic are being felt.
Our international staff are reporting growing signs of economic strain and increasing poverty. Economically, local currencies are losing value, bread and other staples are becoming scarce commodities, and many of those living day-by-day on a day’s wages are going without food because they’ve been unable to make sales in local market places. In many parts of the world, families live on less than $2 a day and children struggle with malnutrition.
In April, Oxfam predicted that the pandemic “could push half a billion more people into poverty” in these regions, “[setting] back the fight against poverty by a decade.” Similarly, the World Food Program has forecasted famine of biblical proportion with the potential for the number of people facing life-threatening food insecurity doubling.
In the countries we serve, we are seeing concerning signs. Even though testing capacity is extremely limited, many countries are seeing sharp increases in the number of confirmed cases — some as high as 50% in a single week. And in countries where cases aren’t officially growing at high rates, other signs of virus spread — such as increased cases of pneumonia and other illnesses — continue to rise.
Learning from the Past
I saw firsthand the lasting effects of disease during the AIDS epidemic when children were left orphaned, and when World Relief served communities in DRC severely affected by Ebola. Without action, there is potential for similar devastation from COVID-19. But there is also hope — local churches, community health workers and local leaders are in the fight daily. Like AIDS and Ebola, this crisis is bigger than something each village can take on by itself. With effective global partnership, we can equip these men and women to help prevent exposure, recognize and treat the infected and mitigate the social and economic vulnerabilities associated with COVID-19.
Now is not the time to withdraw from our global responsibility to love our most vulnerable brothers and sisters abroad. Instead, it’s time to lean in with compassion and justice.
Leveraging Relationships
At World Relief, we are committed to serving and empowering the world’s most vulnerable. That commitment was true before the COVID-19 crisis, and it will continue to be true long after case numbers have declined. Our international teams have already taken steps that could greatly reduce the number of deaths worldwide. They’ve trained local churches and health workers, improved health facilities, provided lessons on proper handwashing and educated households about COVID-19 symptoms.
We believe education and awareness will continue to be our greatest ally in fighting the effects of COVID-19. As we’ve seen in the U.S., rumors spread easily, prompting FEMA to build an entire website dedicated entirely to coronavirus rumor control. Internationally, we’ve encountered superstitions in places like Cambodia where scarecrows have been erected in some communities to scare off the virus. In several countries, we’ve heard reports of individuals with respiratory illness fearful to seek treatment or testing because of stigma. As a result, ongoing efforts to saturate communities with accurate public health information through public awareness campaigns is imperative. Leveraging trusted community voices such as religious leaders is essential in overcoming rumors and stigma.
In the past, this approach has proven invaluable in containing disease. At the onset of the AIDS crisis in Africa, World Relief worked extensively with churches to help break stigmas associated with the virus. And in recent Ebola responses, local churches played a critical role in dispelling rumors, locating and protecting the most vulnerable, training medical personnel and educating the community. As we respond to COVID-19, we are continuing to leverage our relationships with over 3,000 local churches in Africa to share critical, accurate information about how the disease is spread and what should be done if someone suspects a case.
Respond With Compassion
While many countries in which we work continue to have a wide range of varying restrictions, our local network of volunteers and community leaders are using creative solutions to continue our existing life-saving and life-improving services, while also honoring social distancing requirements. The already vulnerable populations we serve are the most at risk of increased hunger, poverty and violence as a result of the social and economic effects of the pandemic. Continuing agriculture and food security programs, economic development activities and child protection activities are crucial.
As we move into this next phase of responding to the coronavirus, our local networks will continue to play a vital role in addressing the economic, health and food security concerns that the virus has brought on. Our commitment to empowering and equipping them in this fight remains steadfast, but we cannot do it without the continued prayer and support of our donors.
To learn more about how we’re responding to COVID, go to https://worldrelief.org/covid-19/, and be sure to follow our live updates here.
Myal Greene has a deep desire to see churches worldwide equipped, empowered, and engaged in meeting the needs of vulnerable families in their communities. In 2021, he became President and CEO after serving for fourteen years with the organization. While living in Rwanda for eight years, he developed World Relief’s innovative church-based programming model that is currently used in nine countries. He also spent six years in leadership roles within the international programs division. He has previous experience working with the U.S. Government. He holds B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and an M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Global Leadership. He and his wife Sharon and have three children.
Frontline Report: South Sudan
This year, we will be launching a new Perspectives series called Frontline Reports. This series is intended to provide updates on the countries, contexts, and situations in which we work as they continue to evolve. The reports will be written entirely by program experts and local staff on the ground.
So, how is South Sudan? It’s a question that I get a lot these days. From other humanitarians in different countries, from friends who caught a rare headline, from family members who just want to know what is it that I do all day when I say I am going back. It’s a question that is so much more complicated than it seems. I usually say something about security; well, there are roadblocks in Juba, but they seem to be leaving NGO cars alone, or the weather, rains are coming so we are enjoying some seasonal cool, and maybe a few lines about the peace process or a funding proposal I’ve been working on.
But, how is South Sudan, really? Let me start with a brief recent history. When the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005, allowing the southern Sudan to vote for independence, the referendum was overwhelmingly supported. South Sudan was born on July 9, 2011 with much celebration and high hopes for the world’s newest nation. Sadly, the celebration was short-lived. On December 15, 2013, gunfire rang across Juba when the former Vice President was accused of a plot to overthrow the President. Since then, violence has been ongoing in many parts of the country, with atrocities against civilians perpetrated by all parties. The war is far more complicated than an ethnic conflict or simply a struggle for power or resources. It is one with countless actors and proxies and continuously shifting alliances.
The conflict in South Sudan has devastated a country which was already severely underdeveloped after decades of war. More than 2.45 million South Sudanese have fled the country, 65% of whom are children younger than 18. Another 1.75 million are displaced internally. 6 to 7 million South Sudanese are projected to be food insecure.
World Relief’s story in South Sudan began in 1998, and some of the areas where we have worked since then are now on the front lines of the fighting in Unity State. We are working among communities who have been forced to flee into the bush countless time when fighting erupts. They have watched their towns change hands only to be retaken by the other side the next week. They have seen their farms and their livelihoods destroyed and survived on only water lilies and other native plants for weeks at a time. They have seen their health facilities and their children’s schools destroyed.
In these communities, World Relief is responding with lifesaving health and nutrition services, as well as working to restore education and livelihoods. We are also responding to the needs of those who have had to flee these communities to the internally displaced persons’ camp in Bentiu, which currently hosts over 110,000 men, women, and children.
In Bentiu camp, we are responding with the following services:
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A primary health care facility that provides treatment for malaria, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases and other life-threatening ailments. In the last nine months, we have provided over 45,000 consultations. The facility also includes a  24-hour maternity ward, serving vulnerable mothers and their infants.
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A school which enrolled over 7,000 children this school year, over 40% of whom were girls. Our back-to-learning campaigns were so successful that we even had to enroll some children in partner schools because our registers filled so quickly!
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Two nutrition feeding sites that have treated nearly 4,000 young children and mothers for malnutrition and reached over 20,000 caretakers of young children with nutrition and feeding education in the last nine months.
Indeed these immediate interventions in Bentiu and the surrounding counties are vital in responding to the basic needs of the South Sudanese people and the needs abound.
Yet, we believe we can do more. Stability must be achieved to end the suffering, and to begin to address the underdevelopment in South Sudan. In addition to responding on the frontlines of crisis, World Relief is working to preserve peace in Ibba and Maridi Counties in Western Equatoria, where strong church leaders are standing up and say NO to conflict within their borders. There, we are working with churches of all different denominations to unite them with one another and call them back to their mandate to serve their communities not just spiritually, but also physically, economically, and socially. Â And they are doing it together. Congregations are caring for their sick, planting gardens for their elderly and sending their orphans to school. They are coming together to pray and host peace dialogues between armed groups before tensions escalate into violence. At World Relief, we have seen that churches have the power to sustain peace and to revitalize their communities. They will be the leaders and influencers when stability comes. And our brothers and sisters in Ibba and Maridi will be ready to teach others.
Though this work is slow and complex, we believe the impact will be transformative for thousands of vulnerable men, women and children in South Sudan.
As my team and I pray for peace, we ask you to join us in our vision for peace in South Sudan. We cannot do this without you.
Heidi Dessecker joined World Relief in 2010 and has served in both the US and International Programs. She currently serves as the Program Officer for Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan. Heidi is passionate about gender issues and reaching women in some of today’s most complex crises.
Responding to the AIDS Epidemic in Rwanda
April 7th is World Health Day. A significant day for the international community and the global population. Indeed, we have made great progress in the last few decades, yet today at least half of the world’s population still lack access to essential health services. As the international community is reminded today of its commitment to achieve universal health coverage by 2030 (as part of the Sustainable Development Goals), we too reflect on our responsibility to this global health agenda, and the potential of our innovative grassroots programming to transform the lives of many more men, women and children across the globe.
HIV/AIDS in Rwanda
The history of World Relief in Rwanda is an inspirational case study which we often seek to learn from as we develop our health programming around the world.
In 1994, World Relief began working in Rwanda. Though initially providing immediate aid and relief after the genocide, our role in the nation quickly transitioned into sustainable development work.
As the nation of Rwanda began the slow process of rebuilding, healing and reconciliation, there were many issues that relief and development agencies needed to address. Following the genocide against the Tutsi, hundreds of thousands of survivors, mostly widows, were infected with HIV as a result of the systematic rape that took place. Estimates were that between 250,000 and 500,000 surviving women and girls were raped, and in 1994, the HIV prevalence rate was estimated at 13%. As HIV/AIDS became more prevalent across Rwanda, and more broadly, Africa, World Relief Rwanda (WRR) saw a critical need to raise awareness of the disease and work to reduce stigma towards those affected.
The Role of the Church
During the 1990s, the world was only just beginning to understand the causes and scope of the global AIDS pandemic. Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs were not yet developed for distribution and stigma was widespread in Rwanda. So, in 1998, WRR launched the beginnings of a program specifically to address the perspective of the church in Rwanda toward the AIDS pandemic, and to mobilize churches to serve persons living with AIDS. WRR began HIV/AIDS engagement through first conducting surveys, where they discovered the great need for awareness about the disease. Out of 40 church leaders surveyed, WRR found that only 4 were willing to respond to the crisis, and only one was actually serving those suffering with AIDS.
“Out of 40 church leaders surveyed, WRR found that only 4 were willing to respond to the crisis, and only one was actually serving those suffering with AIDS.”
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So, WRR sponsored the first gathering of over 50 denominational legal representatives, church leaders, ministry of health officials, relief organization leaders and members of the press to discuss the problem and the church’s response. At the close, church leaders made a joint commitment to fight AIDS.
They stated, “we the church leaders…together make a commitment to join hands with the government in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We acknowledge that we have the belief systems, moral authority and local presence necessary for effectiveness in HIV/AIDS prevention and care. We need training, guidance and advocacy to change belief to action and apathy to compassion…”
This statement is what paved the way for WRR’s work to train church leaders across the country. Three to five-day training sessions were instituted across the country, where pastors could be educated about HIV/AIDS, and trained to counsel people living with AIDS. Pastoral counseling manuals were also translated into Kinyarwandan, and a curriculum was developed on the Biblical call to serve those affected by the disease.
Mobilizing for Life
Working with churches overtime turned into one of the best networks for raising both support and awareness. Demands began to quickly grow, but funding was often a barrier. Through this time, WRR began to work with larger grants, such as USAID, and also work locally with smaller NGOs. The relationship between church and government leaders was strengthened, leading to close collaboration during the years that would follow. As the context changed due to reduced stigma, increased church engagement, and the accessibility of ARV drugs, WRR moved toward a greater focus on mobilization of youth and abstinence training.
Mobilizing for Life (MFL) was launched in Rwanda in July, 1999. The MFL program provided general training to pastors and volunteers, and selected volunteers were trained in counseling and home-based care. By the fall of 1999, there were 7 staff working full-time with the MFL program, and by 2003, 1256 total church members had been trained in some capacity of the MFL program.
Then came PEPFAR.
Launched in 2004 as America’s commitment to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, US President George W. Bush’s program opened up significant programmatic funds for World Relief’s work in Rwanda. With the beginning of the PEPFAR grant, WRR’s HIV/AIDS programs expanded from three provinces into all 12 provinces of Rwanda with 17 full-time staff members. The program goal of reaching 181,950 people in FY 2005 was far exceeded, reaching at least 403,560 people. By 2006, the Mobilizing for Life program was also launched in Kenya, Mozambique, and Haiti.
A Hopeful Future
For over a decade, World Relief Rwanda has now been mobilizing churches of all denominations to participate in a national multi-sector fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. WRR’s work with HIV/AIDS has had a tremendous impact in reducing stigma across the country, caring for persons living with AIDS, mobilizing youth to practice abstinence, encouraging faithfulness among couples, and training parents and church leaders to engage the fight against HIV/AIDS in their communities.
The situation in Rwanda has changed dramatically during the thirteen years that WRR has been engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The HIV infection rate has decreased significantly as a result of the combined efforts of the government, health care, churches and organizations including WRR. According to 2009 statistics, the updated estimated adult prevalence rate in Rwanda is 2.9%, with an estimated 170,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS. And the rates are continuing to decrease.
Today, World Relief Rwanda is continuing to replace stigmatization with love, care and a message of prevention and eternal hope through its programming across the nation.
*(Parts of this piece have been adapted from a 1999 article by Laura White)
Emmanuel Ngoga is the Director of Church Empowerment at World Relief Rwanda. Ngoga has been with World Relief Rwanda for over 20 years, serving in different capacities. He is a Medical Laboratory Technologist (Microbiology) and MBA with long-term experience in HIV/AIDS project management. Ngoga has been instrumental in establishing and developing the church’s role in combating HIV/AIDS by implementing programs in partnership with churches across denominations, networking and participating in government forums on the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. He has actively disseminated lessons learned to churches, PVOs, government officials and donors through presentations at national and international meetings. He is now charged with building, improving and maintaining relationships with churches in Rwanda, and mobilizing and empowering the local churches to serve the most vulnerable. Ngoga is married to Mary and they have a son named Barnabas.
Thank God for Women — 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 Hope—compiled by Hope Through Healing Hands’ Faith-based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide.
Deborah Dortzbach currently serves as World Relief’s 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 world—including Deborah’s. 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. Here’s 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 except…soldiers, 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 other’s strange expressions. I put their weathered hands on my bulging bump of baby, and they seemed to curiously question, “What are you doing here?”
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. “What have you done, for us?”
The Tigre moms and millions like them, let us know that before us is a choice—to 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 it’s 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 go—but 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.
How Do We Help Our Kids Stand with the Vulnerable?
At World Relief, it’s in our DNA to stand with the vulnerable. With school back in session and all of the dynamics that come along with this season, how do we teach our kids to stand with the vulnerable?
This week, as many children in America start a new school year, I can’t help but think of the thousands of immigrant and refugee children starting the academic year at a new school, in a new country, learning a new language and adjusting to a new culture with the hopes of making new friends.
These kids may be scared, excited, happy, sad or—at times—all of the above. But, like all kids, they mostly want to feel included and welcomed in their new environment.
As a parent myself, the start of the school year always proves to be chaotic as we go from a free-for-all summer, to trying to assemble some sort of routine that will carry us through the day—from the morning mayhem to the afternoon witching hours of homework, hungry bellies, and dinner—before doing it all over again in Groundhog Day-like fashion.
As caregivers, we want the kids in our lives to do their best in school. We also want to raise children who help the world be a better place. And as engaged parents, even during this chaotic season, we can do this. We can envision our children to help those around them who may be vulnerable, so that their school is an environment where they and their peers can experience hope, confidence, possibility, growth and opportunity.
At World Relief, we talk a lot about standing with the vulnerable. In kid language, I would define a vulnerable person at school as someone that is being picked on or left out.
Amidst the chaos of a new school year, how do we help our kids think bigger than themselves as we try to raise global citizens? We pause the whirlwind—if only for a brief moment—to circle the wagons over dinner or pre-bedtime routines, to engage in intentional conversations with our kids. We help them understand how to identify a peer that may be vulnerable, and ask them if they’ve noticed anyone in their classroom or school who seemed vulnerable today. We ask how they can help make their classroom or school an environment where they and their peers can experience hope, confidence, possibility, growth and opportunity.
We know life is busy. So to help, we’ve created a free, downloadable, ready-to-print coloring page that we hope serves as a conversation starter for you and your kids. Together, we can help our kids not only be more aware and welcoming to the thousands of kids new to school in America, but also have the courage to stand with anyone who is vulnerable by simply being kind to them.
Who knows? Maybe plopping a few coloring pages and crayons on the table before dinner will help turn the after-school chaos into a meaningful evening, if only for a few moments.
I’m going to try this at our dinner table tonight.*
*Provided there isn’t too much homework.
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Spanish