CLEAN WATER FOR ALL
HOW WELLS AND SANITATION ARE CHANGING COMMUNITIES P. 20
CREATING SAFE SPACES IN KANSAS CITY P. 16
HOPE THROUGH SMALL BUSINESS P. 32
W INTE R 2018
N CM .O RG
NCM
MAGAZINE
WINTER ISSUE 2018
COMPASSION
NCM Magazine aims to tell stories of the church living out Christ's compassion. Our hope is that all of us would hear the call to compassion as a lifestyle.
is the Church in Action
Following the example of Jesus, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries partners with local congregations around the world to clothe, shelter, feed, heal, educate, and live in solidarity with those who suffer under oppression, injustice, violence, poverty, hunger, and disease. NCM exists in and through the Church of the Nazarene to proclaim the gospel to all people in word and deed. NAZARENE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362, info@ncm.org
Magazine Design | RUCKUS GROUP
THIS DECEMBER, LIVE COMPASSION TOGETHER. JOIN COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES MONTH.
Cover Photo | JEREMY SIPES
FOR A FREE SUBSCRIPTION visit ncm.org/magazine SUBSCRIPTION CHANGES email info@ncm.org or write to NCM Magazine, 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220 QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? email info@ncm.org
ncm.org/ncm-month
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright 1989 by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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FEATURES A PLACE TO BE | P.16 True Light Church of the Nazarene is building a community of presence and providing safe spaces in Kansas City, Missouri.
DIGGING DEEP | P.20 In rural Mozambique, local Nazarene churches are providing for their communities through water wells, sanitation and hygiene training.
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CULTIVATING COMMUNITY | P.28 In Argentina, a gardening-based minsitry, which also provides other outreach programs, is creating a family within a low-income neighborhood.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TAILORED FOR SUCCESS | P.32 Women in Liberia are learning new vocational skills, allowing them to provide for their families and dream with dignity.
DEPARTMENTS CONNECTION POINTS | P.5
GO DEEPER | P.37
VOICES | P.36
SNAPSHOT | P.38
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GOD'S CHURCH MOBILIZED BY LOVE By Nell Becker Sweeden Our Christian faith is active. It is alive. It is embodied. Too often we let our faith remain only inside—in our hearts and in our heads—without allowing it to influence every aspect of how we live our lives. But this issue of the NCM magazine inspires with stories of Christians who break out of this mold. It releases our faith to go deeper, not just personally, but communally through God working in His church. These are stories of a faith that isn’t dusty; it’s alive. Together, we celebrate how God is working through Nazarene congregations mobilized to demonstrate God’s reign right now. People around the world are joining together and rising up to demonstrate the love of Jesus in whatever circumstances they find themselves.
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another... Hebrews 10:24-25
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Compassion in the Bible is not just a passing feeling that comes when a need touches someone. Rather, it grows in us and is something that we cannot let go. The compassion demonstrated by God in both the Old and New Testaments is not something one has; it is an action and God’s way of being among His people. Compassion drives God’s covenant love for the people of Israel, and it is that by which God opens His reign to all families and nations of the earth through Jesus Christ. As followers of Jesus, this same compassion should motivate us to action. As Christians, we live out this compassion in our communities to bring good news where we find suffering or lack of hope. Living compassion does not mean we have the answers or solutions; it means we seek the Lord of the Universe to guide us in providing love and care to the most vulnerable. Compassion as action is hard work, but we must never forget that it is the Lord’s work. Lord, open our eyes to see and give us strength to bring your hope and love to those who most need it today.
C O NNEC T IO N PO INT S PHOTO COURTESY OF CONNOR LETTS
sponsorship spotlight
AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD Ani’s Story (Yerevan, Armenia) “When the time comes and I myself become a sponsor Ani has been sponsored for six years; she and her of a child, I will do the same thing that my sponsor did sponsor, Meme, write letters often. Meme, 84, has for me,” Ani* says. “I will really give attention to the often encouraged Ani. She also sends stickers, which details, and I will always send a correspondence.” Ani says she loves and is careful not to use all at once. Sometimes, encounters with God come through “I am really grateful to God because she is my relationships with others—a teacher, a friend, even a sponsor and for the ability to know her,” Ani says. stranger. For Ani, those encounters have come through Meme says she is very proud of Ani. She started her leaders at the Church of the sponsoring because she knew Nazarene’s Kids Club, a child it was something she could do “I WILL JUST HUG HER development center, and her sponsor. AND SAY, ‘THANK YOU FOR to help serve the Lord. Although she had heard about “I just think she’s wonderful,” THE SIX YEARS THAT YOU God, Ani was not a Christian the Meme says of Ani. WERE NEXT TO ME.’” first time she went to the Kids “I’m very proud of her, I love her Club. Now she is a leader in the very much,” she adds. “I think she’s children’s ministries and helps lead worship and VBS. going to make something wonderful with her life.” “The importance of the church is that the Right now, Meme is praying along with Ani for Ani’s church welcomes everyone,” she says. “We future plans. are the church and we are always united and “I would like to see her one day,” Ani says. “If I have encouraging each other in everything.” that chance, I will show her all the correspondences Five years ago when she began attending the camp that I received from her … I will just hug her and say and the church, Ani’s attitude was very different. She 'thank you for the six years that you were next to me.’” complained often and it was difficult for her to forgive *Children’s names are changed for their protection. people. “God was like a symbol for me,” she says. A personal encounter with God changed that for her.
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C ON N EC T I ON P OI N T S
global focus
FORMING TRUST
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NCM JAPAN
Addressing abuse in Japan Reporting by NCM Communications In Japan, abuse and the need for emotional support are very difficult to discover since perceptions are very highly valued. It is especially difficult to care for children who are abused; they may not know who they can trust, and so things remain unsaid. The Nazarene Compassionate Ministries office in Kyoto hopes to provide help through relationships. Rev. Shinozawa Shunichiro, the director of NCM Japan, says that this is part of why they want to develop relationships with children. “Almost all children try to hide the fact because they have no place to speak it and they don’t have a reliable person,” he says. NCM Japan is working to become a trustworthy place by building relationships with children. The office in Kyoto runs regular activities like meeting at playgrounds, visiting an aquarium, playing and fishing in a river, and more. Usually, they meet twice a week with about 15 children. “We play with children,” says Rev. Shinozawa. “Playing video games, playing outside, eating together, studying together—we do together what the children want to do.” The purpose is twofold: create a safe space for children in general and create an environment where children who are abused can seek help. If a child feels safe enough to confide abuse, the staff at NCM Japan reports it to local agencies helping stop abuse. The local government even puts information about the activities in some of their publications, notifying parents that the activities are available. Hiro* found the Church’s programs after his parents’ divorce. As a young child, he was suffering from stress-
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induced migraines. He coped by taking painkillers. After he began to open up to the staff and volunteers, his headaches disappeared. When he experienced further trauma as a teenager, his friends from the activities were able to help. They connected him with a local agency and visited often. Now, Hiro is studying hard for his high school exams. Unfortunately, children are not the only victims of abuse and trauma. Because of the shame associated with abuse, it also goes unreported for adults. In the same way that they help children report abuse, the office also connects instances of suspected domestic violence to the public institutions. The office in Kyoto has been praying for a way to help adults and has also committed to praying for another unseen issue called "JK Business." The acronym stands for jyosi kouse, or "school girl." According to the U.S. Department of State’s human trafficking office, teenage girls are particularly vulnerable to trafficking in Japan. “NCM Japan prays for these problems, and we hope to find a clue to solve them,” says Rev. Shinozawa. For now, the office is continuing to build relationships with children and their parents. Even relationships that seem small can help someone experiencing trauma feel more secure. Then, God can move. *Children’s names are changed for their protection.
around the world
At more than 1,500 MILES, Mozambique has the fourth longest coastline in Africa. Because it bisects a border, Monte Binga is both the highest mountain in Mozambique and the second-highest in Zimbabwe at 7,992 FEET.
MOZAMBIQUE
The Church of the Nazarene has been present in Mozambique SINCE 1922.
Currently, 205,512 people worship in 1,954 NAZARENE CHURCHES across Mozambique. The country’s rich ecological makeup, including mangroves, extensive coral reefs, and a UNESCO biosphere, makes Mozambique a SUBJECT OF STUDY by many scientists and conservationists.
To read about a ministry in Mozambique, turn to page 20.
C ON N EC T I ON P OI N T S
A LONG-TERM PLAN
CONTINUED EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY IN NEPAL
By NCM Staff
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRANDON SIPES
O
n the foothills of the Himalayas, overlooking a valley dotted with rice fields and smallscale farms, sits a newly constructed earthquake-resistant classroom where 60 children are silently engrossed in their books. Sitting on the floor in small groups scattered around the large room, they complete their homework, receive tutorials, play games, and eat together. All of these children are from families affected by the devastating 2015 earthquake that struck near the capital city of Kathmandu. It left approximately 9,000 dead, destroyed hundreds of thousands of structures, and left vast numbers of people displaced.
"WE OFTEN FORGET THAT THE NEED CONTINUES FOR WEEKS, MONTHS, AND YEARS AFTER A MAJOR DISASTER." Following the initial emergency response phase in the first few months after the disaster, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Nepal has focused on longterm rehabilitation. The project is mainly focused in some of the hardest hit rural communities in the Okhaldhunga and Sindhupalchok districts—remote areas many hours drive from Kathmandu. These villages had some of the highest numbers of casualties from the earthquake as well as the highest percentage of destroyed buildings. For this reason, they were chosen by the local church to reach the most vulnerable. In these villages and in Kathmandu, the church has been implementing a comprehensive project designed to assist families as they rebuild their lives. The project aims to impact the family as a whole–focusing on education, nutrition, and economic empowerment. Right now, 188 families across five communities
Local churches are involved with recovery, which will also help make sure people have safety nets when disasters occur.
in Nepal are directly impacted by this project. Part of the project are the seven child development centers now serving hundreds of children with tutoring and educational classes every day of the school week. The purpose is to provide a fun, safe, and nurturing space for children to thrive–nutritional education is also part of the curriculum. The extra educational support complements their regular schooling. Other pieces of the plan include self-help groups for women and men that have started in 4 villages, where families save money on a monthly basis and make small loans to each other out of their savings. The purpose of these loans is to support the start-up of small businesses, purchase tools or seeds, or meet other immediate needs that families face. Additionally, agricultural training has been offered to families to accompany the seeds they receive and plant in their home gardens and farms. Throughout these communities, children and families are working toward a future where they are more stable and less vulnerable than before the earthquake. When disasters occur, we often only think of those who are in immediate desperate need; those who have lost loved ones, whose homes have been destroyed, or those who do not have access to food and water. But we often forget that the need continues for weeks, months, and years after a major disaster. The great benefit of the church is that it exists before the disaster, and during, and for long after. The church is present and serving as people get back on their feet long after the disaster strikes. The earthquake rehabilitation project in Nepal is a five-year initiative with the aim of supporting lasting change in the lives of these families. It aims to address the needs of the whole family by creating chances for both children and parents to thrive educationally, nutritionally, and financially.
Self-help groups are helping men and women save money and make loans, addressing some of the areas that made recovery difficult after the earthquake.
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C ON N EC T I ON P OI N T S
IMAGINING A NEW FUTURE HOPE COMES FOR YOUTH IN SRI LANKA Words and photos by Tim Bowen-Evans
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Sujita’s* face beams as the ball drops into the hoop and her team scores again. Running wildly, screaming for the ball, and laughing at fumbled passes and missed shots—you could be forgiven for thinking this playground is like any other in the world. However, this is no ordinary playground. Landmines, invisible to the eye, had laid buried underneath the soil all across this area. Until recently, running freely was a privilege not afforded to the children here. Now, this small piece of land speaks of immense transformation. This community, along with many others in northern Sri Lanka, experienced intense fighting during a decades-long civil war. Vast numbers of people fled the violence in 2009, and many of the displaced families lived in refugee camps with the hope of one day returning home. After 2011, people began to return and rebuild their lives. The land itself had been demined and declared safe for people to walk, farm and play—but the journey to rebuild after war is a long one. Most afternoons the playground is filled with young people kicking soccer balls, spiking volleyballs, and batting cricket balls. This land belongs to the young people of Iruttumadu. It is theirs. Several months ago, the young people gathered together to transform an overgrown plot of land into a place fit for sports and recreation. They
volunteered their time and energy to pull up weeds and plants, dig up roots, remove old trees and clear enough space to house a volleyball court, a netball court, and space for cricket and soccer. A youth committee has been created to help manage the playground and organize events for young people in the area. They now have official registration as a youth society—with their own letterhead and rubber stamp—validating their existence as a group and their sense of agency. They are proud of their achievements so far and rightly so. Already this playground provides an important alternative to alcohol abuse, an issue impacting many underemployed young people in this community. This empowerment and support of young people is part of a broader initiative by NCM Lanka to partner with the whole community. The impacts of conflict and displacement are not quickly overcome, and this initiative is designed to address multiple issues that negatively impact people’s quality of life in the present, as well as the way they approach the future. Beginning with children, a child development center was established to meet their educational, nutritional, and psychosocial needs. Meeting five days a week after school, these children receive extra tuition, daily nutrition, school supplies, and the opportunity to play together in a safe environment.
The sports field, pictured here, is a place where young people can play together. But it's more than a field. It's also a place where healing can happen after years of warfare.
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The programs in Iruttumadu, including water and sanitation initiatives like the well pictured above, focus on reducing the impacts of displacement and conflict.
Parents within the community have been invited to participate in self-help groups—small groups of 10 or so individuals—where they can save money collectively and offer small loans to group members. Five such groups exist so far, and these groups also act as a support network and places for training in topics such as home gardening and nutrition. Anna, a mother of five, talks about how the parents take turns providing meals at the child development center and how she sees an improvement in her child’s studies. Her family had been displaced for several years and has since returned home. She highlights the positive impact of the playground, as well as the home gardening training she has been part of. She and her husband grow their own food to support their family’s nutritional intake and as a source of income. She is also an active member of one of the self-help groups.
"SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION BEGINS WITH THE ABILITY TO IMAGINE A NEW FUTURE."
The initiative aims to address the needs of the entire community through education, nutrition, empowerment, and more.
Back at the playground, the laughter and joy that this place brings are tinged with sadness. Someone special is missing. Ama was only 8 years old when she was killed in the war, and her family was forced to flee immediately after her death. When they returned, they decided to donate this land to the young people of the village in her memory. Her parents decided to give the project what would have been money for her future. This family’s generosity has enabled the young people to have a space to call their own that is fun, life-giving and most of all, safe. Social transformation begins with the ability to imagine a new future—and here in Iruttumadu, that’s exactly what’s happening. This initiative is a five-year commitment that aims to support existing community structures to continue some of these activities into the future and ensure a lasting impact. To support this project, visit ncm.org/Iruttumadu.
*Children’s names are changed for their protection.
12ParentsWINTER 2018involved are invited to participate in of the children self-help groups, which also act as a support network.
N A Z A R E N E C O M P A S S I O N A T E M I N I S T R I E S
HELP GIVE CHILDREN THE CHOICE TO DREAM.
Sponsor in Jesus’ name to help children thrive. NCM.ORG/SPONSOR I would like to sponsor a child for $30 a month: l Yes I would like to sponsor: l Greatest Need I would like to sponsor a child from:
l Boy
l Girl
l Greatest Need l Eastern Europe
l Africa l Asia l Latin America
l Asia-Pacific l Middle East
l Caribbean
Name / Group____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person (if different)_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address / City / State / ZIP_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone ________________________________________ Email ____________________________________________________________________ Church to receive 10% giving credit ______________________________________________________________________________________ You can mail this form to: Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Child Sponsorship 17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas 66220 No payment is due now. You will receive information by mail about your sponsored child and payment options. NCM.ORG
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Borscht C ON N EC T I ON P OI N T S
(Russia)
Photo by Aaron Phelps recipes
THE WORLD IN YOUR KITCHEN Children share favorite recipes By Stefanie Phelps, NCM Child Sponsorship Volya* lives in Russia with his father, mother, grandfather, and, of course, his beloved pet cat. He’s in the 1st grade and is learning to play the piano. When he gets home from school, he loves eating delicious food at home. His favorite is borscht, an Eastern European beet stew. “My mom cooks my favorite borscht,” Volya says.
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Often, so much of a family’s time revolves around the table—both food and family are so important to a child’s growth. That’s why we asked sponsored children to share their favorite recipes to make at home. Here is Volya’s*. INGREDIENTS:
• 1 lb. (500g) stew meat cut into 1 in. chunks • 14 cups (3.5 liters) cold water or broth • 1 Tbs. (15mL) kosher salt + extra to taste • 2 large or 3 medium beets, washed, peeled, and grated • 2 carrots, grated • 4 Tbs. (60mL) olive oil • 1 Tbs. (15mL) vinegar • 1 Tbs. (15mL) sugar • 2 Tbs. (30mL) tomato paste • 1 Tbs. (15mL) butter • 1 medium onion, finely chopped • 3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped • 1/2 head of a small cabbage, sliced • 8oz. (225g) can of tomatoes • 2 bay leaves • 1/4 tsp. (1.25mL) pepper, plus more to taste • 1/4 cup (65mL) chopped parsley, plus garnish • 2 tsp. (30mL) minced garlic
PREPARATION: 1. Wash meat in cold water and add to a large soup pot with cold water or broth and 1 Tbs. (15mL) salt. Bring to a boil and skim off foam and fat. Lower the heat and partially cover. Cook at a low boil for 45 minutes, periodically skimming. 2. In a large, deep skillet, sauté grated beets and carrots with olive oil and vinegar for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium/ low and add sugar and tomato paste. Sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. 3. In the same skillet, sauté onion in butter for 5 minutes, or until softened. 4. Once the meat has been cooking at least 45 minutes, add sliced potatoes and cook 10 minutes, then add cabbage, sautéed beets and carrots, onion, and tomatoes. Cook another 10-20 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. 5. Add bay leaves, pepper, and salt to taste. Combine chopped parsley and minced garlic and stir into the soup. Remove from heat and let rest covered for 20 minutes. 6. Remove bay leaves and serve hot with fresh parsley or dill and a dollop of sour cream. *Children’s names are changed for their protection.
everyday compassion
PAUSE FOR A MOMENT
Everyday compassion can start with the small things: how we interact with our families, how we respond to stress, or whether or not we’re ready for what God has to say. Stop and take a moment to practice making space for the small things that create compassion. St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote, “Little things done out of love are those that charm the Heart of Christ … On the contrary, the most brilliant deeds, when done without love, are but nothingness.”
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NOTICE YOUR SURROUNDINGS. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” Whether it’s water condensing on leaves or someone walking down your street, simple things can point back to God. Practice seeing, and then practice seeing people who you can show compassion through seeing. Throughout the day, pray that God will help you notice small things more often and respond compassionately to them.
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STOP AND LISTEN. Challenge yourself to close your eyes for a minute and listen. Note what you hear—ceiling fans, neighbors, airplanes. Pray that God will speak to you in the margins quietness creates. Practice quieting your thoughts to listen, and then practice listening to people. Allow yourself to truly absorb what they’re saying without jumping in to share your own stories. Offer them support and pray for God to give you words to respond.
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PRACTICE BEING NEIGHBORLY. We live with our neighbors, but how often do we show them compassion? Instead of feeling frustrated that they are noisy or hurt that they are quiet, take time to reach out. Bake bread, pick up trash, or just start by learning names. Pray for God to use those interactions to further the Kingdom. NCM.ORG
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A
Place to Be PEOPLE WHO ARE HOMELESS FIND A SAFE SPACE IN KANSAS CITY
BY CALLIE STEVENS
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Freedom House, a service of True Light Family Resource Center, provides a short-term home for homeless women.
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n a Friday morning, a group of women sits around a circular table, listening to a presentation on nutrition. They chat about eating habits that are both nutritious and economical. Later, they will make tuna salad together in a new commercial kitchen. The class participants, most of whom are without homes, are there for True Light Family Resource Center’s day shelter, a place to learn, to rest, and to be. True Light FRC has been ministering to people in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, since 2002. That’s when Pastor Alice Piggee-Wallack and the church she leads, True Light Church of the Nazarene, opened their doors to meet needs in an area downtown where approximately 30 percent of the population live below the poverty level. “We definitely wanted to create a safe space for women and children,” Piggee-Wallack says. “The first thing I know about the day shelter is that it wasn’t planned. I believe that God brought it about.”
Photos by Stefanie Phelps
EMANCIPATION STATION The idea for a ministry was born when PiggeeWallack drove to a homeless shelter to pick up a friend for some volunteer work at the church. When she arrived, the shelter’s doors were locked. Six women sitting on the building’s front steps caught her attention; one was caring for two babies. Curious, she introduced herself and discovered that shelter offered services overnight only, and the women had nowhere to go during the day. “So I said, ‘Get in the car!’” she remembers. Two trips later, all of the women were with PiggeeWallack at True Light Church of the Nazarene’s offices. As she spent the day with them, the pastor says their fortitude struck her. They used their time to look for jobs and housing. They looked after one another and helped care for the babies. In the following weeks, more groups came by. Realizing this was a problem without an easy solution, Piggee-Wallack sat down with church members to discuss what a day shelter would look like and pray for its creation. Emancipation Station—a day shelter for women—was born.
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Mona Lisa Crouch
Ginellis Thurman
Pastor Alice Piggee-Wallack
The True Light Family Resource Center began to provide a space for women who didn't have a safe space during the day. The ministry doesn't end there, though; the center has resources for everyone.
In the decade and a half since its inception, True Light has grown dramatically. The sheer scope of the center’s programs is impressive. In addition to Emancipation Station, they run a short-term residence for women called Freedom House. Men are also welcome at a number of other ministries, including a computer center, clothing closet, diaper distribution center, and at community breakfasts— all there to help people change their stories.
A SAFE HAVEN Emancipation Station is, at its core, a safe space. Once the night shelters close in the morning, there are few safe places for women to spend the intervening hours until the shelters open again around 6:15 p.m. In Kansas City, where both heat and cold are extreme, a comfortable, dry spot is a haven from the elements. According to Patricia Porsche, manager and mentor for Freedom House, the day shelter is open seven days a week to provide consistency. “We’re open for our homeless ladies no matter what the weather is,” she confirms. Women of all backgrounds and experiences are welcome, as are women in all stages of life; some of the women are in and out of homelessness or live in other forms of housing. “We don’t care where a person is, we don’t care what they’ve done, where they’ve been,” says Piggee-Wallack. “The only thing we care about is where they’re going. God loves you, and He has plans for you. Now if you can accept that, you’re welcome here.” Because the women who stay at Emancipation Station are multifaceted, the shelter has been developed to match. It offers places to do laundry, shower, rest, and join together for a meal. The shelter also hosts a variety of classes on topics such as on nutrition, 18
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sewing, and knitting, as well as bible studies and opportunities to hear from special speakers. “We want to get ladies engaged, and that helps us move them from where they are to where they want to be,” Piggee-Wallack says. Mona Lisa Crouch has been coming to the day shelter for a while now. She learned about it from a friend, who initially introduced her to the Saturday morning breakfasts. When she discovered the showers and classes, she began coming regularly. “It’s just awesome how everyone is treated up here, with such dignity and respect,” she says. “And nobody— nobody—thinks they’re better than anybody else.”
A DEPTH OF CARE The Freedom House is next door to the shelter in a well-decorated, two-story home, the first in a line of historic clapboard houses stretching for blocks. Up to five women can live there at a time, following an application and interview process. The program starts at 90 days, but women can stay up to a year if they’re making good progress. At Freedom House, each resident is assigned a social worker, who helps them set their own goals along with a plan for accomplishing them. Freedom House becomes a way station during periods of transition and change. “Going over there, it’s not a shelter,” says resident Ginellis Thurman. “It’s your home.” It’s easy to see that if you go in. Downstairs, leather couches and armchairs overflow with throw pillows. Upstairs, each room is tidy and unique to the woman who lives in it. A Bible lies open on a bedside table, the text almost entirely highlighted. “This is a safe haven for ladies,” Thurman adds.
ENGAGED IN COMMUNITY Part of the agreement at both the house and the day shelter is that everyone lends a hand; Thurman was helping in the kitchen and paused lunch preparations to share about her experience. If the women at the Freedom House aren’t spending a set number of hours helping at the shelter, they have to be working elsewhere or looking for work. Likewise, the women who come to the day shelter are expected to engage in the enrichment activities in addition to joining the community lunch. Crouch enjoys sewing, a class offered on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “[It’s] relaxing,” she says. “Therapeutic, basically, for me.” Wilma Postlewait and Ann Trent spearheaded the sewing classes four years ago. They have space for about seven women to be sewing at a time, using both sergers and sewing machines. The projects are simple but professional: pillowcases with perfectly straight edges, scented pot holders, and lanyards. Some women with housing make decor for their apartments, and others make clothes for themselves. The group has even started selling their work at a pop-up shop they share with a few other sewing groups from around Kansas City. “All Ann and I need to go home content at the end of our day is knowing that somebody was proud of what they did,” Wilma says. Sometimes, Ann and Wilma function as listening ears instead of sewing instructors. “When we first started, we were going to teach sewing,” Ann says. “But a lot of times, it just comes to listening.” “Or saying a prayer,” Wilma adds.
Creating a relaxed atmosphere is central to all of True Light’s ministries. “You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not, and you don’t have to put on a façade,” Crouch says.
A HARD ENVIRONMENT A single-night, nationwide count of both sheltered and unsheltered homeless people in 2017 revealed a total of 2,287 people experiencing homelessness in Kansas. About 85 percent were people who were sheltered in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens. But, as Piggee-Wallack discovered, those shelters aren’t always able to provide the necessary resources and protection. Some of the women who come to Emancipation Station are survivors of abuse, both past and current. For them, the shelter is a haven for many reasons. Others, like Crouch, come for the community. Sometimes, it’s the only place where women can rest. But every person who walks through the door will know one thing: they are valued. “Regardless of our race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, we share so much in common,” says Piggee-Wallack. “And when we can actually see that, it makes it easier to be able to care for each other and to worship together.” To learn more about True Light FRC, visit www.truelightfrc.org.
The True Light Family Resource Center goes beyond providing a safe space for women, although that is an important part of the ministry. At it's core, the center is about trust.
NCM.ORG Patricia Porsche
Ann Trent
Wilma Postlewait
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Digging Deep
IN MOZAMBIQUE, LOCAL CHURCHES SEE GOD IN WATER AND SANITATION
Helena, center, says that it's the gospel that gives good water and good health.
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BY CALLIE STEVENS PHOTOS BY JEREMY SIPES
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he beauty of the global church is that all over the world, to stand in the presence of God’s people is to be home. In Mozambique, that was made clear by the local Nazarene churches. Hoyohoyo people said. Welcome. Come share life with us for a time.
A LONG JOURNEY In the last decade, the discovery of offshore oil has incited an economic boom in Mozambique. The waterfront in Maputo, the capital city, shows the surge in growth. Multi-story skyscrapers are so clean and shiny that they’re difficult to look at directly. Cranes stretch skyward all over the city, and a half-built suspension bridge extends across the bay. Yet, most of this perceived windfall will never be felt by the average person living in Mozambique. According to the World Factbook, 46.1 percent of the population was estimated to be living in poverty in 2015. A few hundred miles north of Maputo in a community called Babana, Beatrice, a young mother of six, dreams of a local school. Her children have to walk 14 kilometers to the closest one, which means they spend about four hours a day in transit. Other rural communities have similar challenges, and often the roads to school are dangerous. Until recently, Beatrice had to walk almost as far to get water for her family. And one trip would never be enough—gallons and gallons are needed to cook meals, clean, bathe, do laundry, and stay hydrated. “Because my family is a big family, in the past we used to have three buckets of water that we were using for many people, and it was not sufficient,” she says. The water they brought back needed to cover the needs of 18 people between Beatrice’s six children and extended family members.
“It’s the church supporting the church here, but also the entire community.”
WATER FOR ALL Although there are communities like these all over the country, Babana, along with all the other villages in this story, is located in a district called Chibuto. It’s in this district that a new Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) project is beginning through a partnership between World Hope International and Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, part of which involved the drilling and installation of 10 borehole wells in Chibuto in 2017.
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Angela and her family live in a rural community. Since the WASH programs began there, she says she has seen changes for the better.
Currently, 6,000 people across 10 communities are targeted to benefit from the comprehensive WASH projects. In each community, 10 volunteers are trained in well-maintenance, hygiene and sanitation promotion, and upkeep; they will also help spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation in and through the local Church of the Nazarene. While each borehole was installed next to a Nazarene church, the water is available to the whole community. Miguel, one of the church members in Babana, notes the impact of both the global and local church. “The day we received this borehole, this is a gift of the church,” he said. “It’s the church supporting the church here, but also the entire community. So we’ve been rejoicing for this.” The churches that are near the boreholes are not large buildings. Sometimes, they aren’t buildings at all—one group is still meeting beneath a large cashew tree, although they requested prayer for a structure. Yet the churches are wellknown in the surrounding villages. It is true that the communities surrounding the boreholes are often small, and the churches may be known in the same way people everywhere know the buildings in their neighborhoods. But it goes deeper than cursory awareness. In another village called Mukotuene, Palmira, who has 10 family members living at home, says that the well there has made a difference in her church. “There are people that had given up the church, but then when this borehole was drilled they came back to be part of this church,” she said. “But also, there are new members that came because of what the church is doing in this community—because of the well.”
FINDING GOOD WATER At a glance, it could seem like water is abundant in Chibuto. Even in winter, the dry season, the ground is covered with growing things. Along with inedible plants, crops like sweet potatoes, cassava, corn, and red peppers are abundant. And although they aren’t in season, the
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“The fact that I have Jesus in my life— I will never get thirsty.”
canopies of the trees—mango, papaya, and banana, to name a few—are tall and lush. The danger, though, is whether or not water is safe to drink. According to the World Factbook, 48.9 percent of Mozambique’s population only has access to unimproved, or unsafe, water. In Palmira’s community, the closest water before the borehole’s installation was stagnant. Even that swamp was far away, and vulnerability begets vulnerability; drinking the stagnant water meant people often had to make the walk while they were sick. Lidia lives alone close to one of the new boreholes; her husband has passed away, and her children have grown up. She used to have to transport her water by herself, and so she had to choose between making many trips with a small jug or one trip with a large one. “Years before we used to fetch water far away, so with the 20-liter bottle it took many hours because I would have to walk and rest, and walk and rest,” she says. Now, Lidia fetches water three times a
“Sanitation is an ax who cuts every illness and everything bad.” day from the borehole, which is less than a five-minute walk from her house. As the name implies, boreholes are drilled deep into the earth, pulling up water via a twohanded pump. They are both more reliable and less dangerous to fetch water from than handdug wells, and they provide easy, fast water. They provide safe water and more reliable, too. It’s harder for the water to get contaminated, which means less sickness overall. One woman, Helena, is clearly full of the joy of the Lord. At one point, she gets all the other women in the community to dance with her, picking up the empty buckets near the borehole to use as props. She says that the gospel gave them good water and good health. Helena has also noticed that learning how to take care of the water helps cut down on illness. “There is a change, because since we received this water source we were taught how to take good care of it, how to use the water, and to keep the water in closed containers,” she says.
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“There is a change,” she confirms. “For example, the diarrhea and these waterborne diseases—cholera—they’re reduced.”
SANITATION CUTS ILLNESS Wells are a part of the WASH projects in Mozambique, but they are not alone. As sanitation and hygiene are part of the title, they are also an aspect of the long-term plan. The goal is to expand knowledge of both to help address the spread of illness. Cholera, diarrhea, respiratory infections, and other illnesses are all concerns throughout Mozambique. In October of 2017, the World Health Organization reported 1,799 cases of cholera. Similar outbreaks have occurred every year for the last five years. The frequency of illness is precisely why the volunteers and staff helping with the WASH program take their positions so seriously. Each month, Victoria Mamuque, the WASH Project Coordinator for NCM, leads groups of volunteers in presentations at schools and hospitals. In June, the presentations focused on the importance of handwashing. “It’s important to help people to understand how to prevent disease like cholera and malaria,” Victoria says. At Mukotuene primary school, a group of volunteers taught several hundred children how to use a two-liter bottle as a hand-washing station. It’s a clever design: holes at the base of the bottle release water when the cap is loosened, but the flow stops once it’s tightened again and pressure is re-established. It’s a variation on a tip-tap, the jargon for plastic bottles that become faucets. The children dissolved into laughter during the tip-tap demonstrations. Another version of the tip-tap helps further explain the name: a plastic jug with a hole in the side is suspended from a frame, releasing water when it’s tipped to the side with a rope. Both are examples of ways people can practice better hygiene with things they have on hand already, not things that have to be purchased with funds that aren’t there.
The exception to this availability is soap, although ashes can be used to clean hands in a pinch. In Babana, Beatrice led a song praising the sanitation and the role it played in her life. “Sanitation is an ax who cuts every illness and everything bad,” she sang. “Sanitation will cut every illness.”
ATTENDING TO ILLNESS Because WASH programs intend to address the whole person and the whole community, the approach to sanitation is holistic, too. Those principles of cleanliness are straightforward and familiar: washing hands, cleaning dishes, and keeping houses clean. But another consideration for proper sanitation is making sure the proper facilities are available in the first place. There’s a clear hierarchy of needs, and if food and water aren’t taken care of, digging a pit latrine becomes low on that list. For that reason, people in many rural areas of Chibuto did without bathrooms. Until recently, that created another considerable vulnerability to disease. Victoria has slowly been identifying the need for latrines and addressing it. Through personal relationships, the most vulnerable families in eight communities were identified and given cement covers to create bathrooms in 2018. The slabs are stable and long-lasting. They also have covers, an important feature for mitigating pests. Angela, who has lived in her community for ten years, says that the new latrines are an exciting addition to each household. She says she has noticed her health is better. “Since our latrine has the lid, this helps in decreasing the sickness, so life is improved,” she says. In each of the eight communities, the latrines are brand new. Some of them are already in use, while others sit in rows, drying in the sun. The excitement for them is universal. Telma, a mother of seven, says that life is improving. “We are so happy and excited for what’s happening regarding the new projects as we receive the latrine slab,” she says. Excitement is clear in the sheer effort each
“We are so happy and excited for what’s happening."
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Easy access to water is essential to life. Borehole wells like this one go deep, bringing up clean water close to home.
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household puts into digging their latrine. That’s part of the agreement— the latrine covers are provided, but each family has to do the construction themselves. When WASH volunteers initially visited households, more than 180 were willing to build their own latrine if they had a cover. “I’m so excited because there are things we didn’t have in the past, but now we have it, like latrines,” Angela says. “And we have the hand wash facility, so I’m excited about it.”
CREATING SPACE FOR HOPE People can be reluctant to share hopes. Maybe it’s because they feel so personal; if they get brought into the sun, will they wither? Or, worse, will they be revealed to be those most terrifying things: foolish, ridiculous, unattainable. In Mozambique, it is the same. Asking about hopes brought swift smiles, demurred answers. But when pressed, those shared hopes were so global: jobs, homes, family members, and education. Sometimes, when asked about the well or the latrine cover, people said they had never even hoped for something like either. Certainly, cement latrine covers won’t change everything. Single wells will not bring electricity, or church buildings, or mills, or adult literacy classes, or all the other things people listed as prayer requests. They will do as Beatrice sings, though, and cut disease. And perhaps they will also provide space for other hopes to grow. Helena says it succinctly, comparing the living water of Christ to the water from the well. “The fact that I have Jesus in my life—I will never get thirsty,” she says. “Also, I drink water from this source and then my health improves because I am drinking clean water. So, I have life.
The average container used to transport water holds about five gallons and can weigh up to 40 pounds. With a borehole easily accessible, transporting water becomes much easier.
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Beatrice (right) says that sanitation is important to the health of the community. In Mozambique, outbreaks of cholera have been frequent in recent years; having access to sanitation resources makes it possible to address illness directly.
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CULTIVATING COMMUNITY A MINISTRY IN ARGENTINA G R O W S R E L AT I O N S H I P S
BY SHANNON BARR
Encuentro Orgรกnico is changing a neighborhood in Argentina through service and ministry.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ENCUENTRO ORGร NICO
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L
ázaro was recently divorced when a chance meeting in a garden led him to Encuentro Orgánico. He is a landscaper by trade, and for him, the encounter was a sign that God wasn’t letting him go. Because of that chance meeting, he has become a community leader in his town, Fátima.
For the past five years, Fátima, the smallest town in Pilar, a district of Argentina, has been a place of steady growth—spiritually, socially, and horticulturally—through Encuentro Orgánico (which translates to “Organic Meeting”). Since its inception, the ministry has provided a restorative space for people to learn about and encounter God, each other, and creation. The hub of the ministry is its food forest, which grows both aesthetic and functional organic permaculture. The garden itself boasts 30 fruit trees and more than 60 different edible plant species. But what’s sown in the neighborhood goes deeper than vegetation. At the root of this ministry is community. It was created to serve and invest in the people of Fátima, which is demonstrated through the many other pieces of Encuentro Orgánico: adult and teen bible studies, prayer meetings, shared meals, and other activities centered on the community.
MEETING NEEDS In fact, a garden wasn’t part of the original vision. After partnering with engineering students from Northwest Nazarene University to design a greenhouse, the group was granted centrally-located property by the municipal government in May 2015. “That pushed us into gardening,” says David McKeithen, who helped found Encuentro Orgánico. David, a Point Loma Nazarene University alumnus, runs the group along with his wife, Keila. The ministry serves low-income residents who live in the marginalized area of Fátima. Dirt roads and lack of central sewage are the norms there, and many houses are built—or half-built—of hollow brick, pallet wood, or tin. Running water is rare. While parents work during the day, many of the children are left at home alone. There are two public schools nearby, but sometimes teachers
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Encuentro Orgánico helps the whole family get involved.
don’t show up, or students struggle and drop out. home, and their youngest two daughters attended It is here that the residents of Fátima are the VBS program. Now, most of the family members building community and trust. The garden provides are baptized and involved in the ministry. a place for people living without resources to learn “God has restored Gerardo and Katy's about plants and a healthy diet, but it’s also a marriage, and Gerardo has grown immensely place where the whole family can participate. on a personal level and is currently one of Johanna Radi, who is part of the team at the our leaders, (as is Katy),” says David. core of Encuentro Orgánico, volunteers in the Though the group is not an organized church, children’s activities. “The children are involved and it works in complementary ways with the local want to learn,” she says. Church of the Nazarene, where Saturday mornings feature many group members attend on “The attitude of VBS-inspired "Fiesta en Casa,” Sunday mornings. Encuentro followed by a potluck-style lunch. Orgánico hosts a monthly Sunday the whole group is A lot of the kids come from broken night service, providing a space naturally selfless.” families, have experienced abuse, for adults and kids to gather or have parents who work all day. in a circle and participate in “This is a space where worship music and conversational children can experience love prayer, and listen to a sermon. and care,” David adds. During offering, the kids present The ministry continues to what they harvested in the garden grow, with group members prior to the service. The service even serving outside the concludes with a meal. “There’s organization. They come something about the mentality together on their own to meet of eating together—transmitting the needs of the neighborhood, values and worldviews,” David says. like assisting the sick and Encuentro Orgánico is bringing food to those in need. supported by donations and run by “The attitude of the volunteers and local residents, who whole group is naturally selfless,” Keila says. help with the garden, build structures—recently a bathroom—and lead activities. The leaders meet on a bi-weekly cadence, where they check SEEING TRANSFORMATION in, discuss progress and concerns, come up with new ideas, and commune together over dinner. The ministry also helps foster healthy The shared neighborhood life is fundamental relationships and transforms families. In February to Encuentro Orgánico, David says. The challenge of last year, the group built a pallet wood cabin. is to take the church outside of the walls of That project was led by Gerardo, a local who a building. “I’ve always thought of Fátima as accepted Christ after attending a spiritual retreat ‘wild spaces’—the church embodying God in organized by a church in Pilar. Before that, his these places on the margins,” says David. wife, Katy, hosted a weekly bible study at their 30
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Louise has been learning tailoring, a skill that will allow her to earn money to support her family through her own vocation.
BECOMING
Some Some body body
CHURCH-BASED VOCATIONAL TRAINING HELPS WOMEN DISCOVER THEIR GOD-GIVEN DIGNITY IN LIBERIA
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY BETH CLAYTON LUTHYE
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ody GIR
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n a church building in the heart of Monrovia, Liberia, a small group of women gathered over the course of a few days to talk about their hopes for themselves and the other women in their neighborhoods. The phrase they repeated over and over was “become somebody.” They wanted to have the opportunity to become somebody, and they envisioned a future in which other women—particularly those who are vulnerable and living in poverty— would have the same opportunity. And they believed local churches should be leading this effort.
R GIRL
GIRL Some classes teach women how to bake, empowering them to use the tools they have at home to start catering businesses.
Their dreams have turned into the Empowering Women With Dignity project, which centers on vocational training. Through the project, they are working to see vulnerable women equipped with skills that enable them to provide for their families, experience dignity and confidence, and live as valued and respected contributors within their families and communities.
A MOTHER’S MOTIVATION “I want a better life,” a woman named Marie shares. “I’m not educated. I want my children to know something.” Marie, 44, is learning to sew clothing at a tailoring class she attends at Grace Chapel Church of the Nazarene, located in New Kru Town. Marie’s life— and those of most of the people in this dense urban neighborhood—have been marked by poverty. “I never went to school,” she says. “As a child I worked for my aunt.” When she was a young girl, Marie’s mother sent her to live with extended family. The expectation was that the aunt would send Marie to school. Instead, she treated her niece like a slave. “She treated me very bad,” Marie says. “I
had no rest ever. From early in the morning, I was working, working, working. From 7 years old, I was selling in the market for my aunt.” At 15, Marie ran away and found her mother. Her mother wanted to send her back to school, but then civil war broke out, and those plans became impossible. Marie became a mother at 19. Today, she has five daughters, including four children ages 7 to 19, but only two are able to live with her. The others are with an uncle, who can afford to cover their school fees and give them a chance at education. “I’m very sad not to be able to see my children,” Marie says. “I want them to be beside me.” Marie’s goal is to start a tailoring shop so she can provide for her children’s basic needs and also ensure that they finish school so they have opportunities for success in the future. “If God blesses me and I get a business, I can take care of them,” she explains. Louise, 40, enrolled in a tailoring class at Grace Chapel for similar reasons. In their New Kru Town home, she and her husband care for six children, ages 5 to 13, including three who are children of relatives. Her husband works hard as a math teacher, but they can’t afford to meet the children’s needs on a teacher’s salary. NCM.ORG
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Louise has what she calls “a little business” selling coal, but tailoring skills will allow her to start a more profitable and sustainable business. Then, Louise says, “I can pay tuition, clothes, food, and shelter for my children. It’s difficult now because I’m not making much income.” Her hope for the children in her care is “to see them doing better, to be better educated. I want them to be self-sufficient. I want a better future for my family.” Louise notes that most of the women in her neighborhood “want their children to have a future, but they don’t have a way to do that.”
her own class with 20 women. “So many people don’t have money to feed their children,” Mamie says. While the catering classes at the church centers have the advantage of large ovens and a stock of kitchen tools, the women in Mamie’s class use what they have at home. They bake by covering outdoor stoves with pieces of galvanized roofing sheets, and they stir their batter with glass bottles. Even though the equipment is simple, the women in the class have been able to sell their baked goods to support their families. The group has been selling cornbread, donuts, and cookies in their community.
PASSING ON KNOWLEDGE Women from local Nazarene churches in Monrovia have come together to equip other women to create better futures for themselves and their families through the Empowering Women With Dignity project. Three churches serve as centers that offer vocational courses, savings groups, and life skills workshops. In addition to tailoring, women come to learn catering, soap making, and fabric design. When Mamie, 50, was widowed, she was left to care for three schoolaged children, ages 12 to 16, as well as other family members. Needing a way to provide for their needs, she enrolled in a catering class. After completing the course, Mamie was offered a job from a Liberian government official to provide catering services to the workers on his farm for nine months. Not only was she able to use her income to put food on the family’s table, but she was also able to ensure her children can attend school. However, Mamie wasn’t satisfied to simply care for her own family. She was inspired to use her knowledge to help other women. In her small community on the outskirts of Monrovia, many families are living in extreme poverty. Mamie saw baking as a way to help them earn some income, so she started
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With the income they’ve earned, the women have been able to cover the cost of their children’s school fees. "We came together to do something for ourselves,” shares one woman in the class. “When we learn, we can do businesses for our very own selves. I feel proud. … A little bit of happiness came to me.” Mamie’s husband was a pastor, and she sees this class as an extension of the ministry they started together. “God cares about this,” Mamie says. “I pray for the community to be changed.”
Marie, above, wants to earn money so her children can finish school, something a manipulative guardian prevented her from doing herself. Now, she can gain dignity and respect through her work.
Poverty & Gender “Poverty is not just a lack of money; it is not having the capability to realize one’s full potential as a human being.” With these words, the economist Amartya Sen sums up the situation for women and girls in Liberia, which ranks 150 out of 159 countries on the gender inequality index (UNDP, 2015), with only 17 percent of girls receiving any secondary-level schooling. Ongoing social and spiritual poverty are reinforced by traditional customs that underpin gender inequality: Dowry, or bride price, encourages parents to marry their daughters off early, and child marriage then reinforces unbalanced power dynamics. Girls’ education and future opportunities are limited before they are out of their teenage years. In fact, 36 percent of girls in Liberia are married before age 18, according to UNICEF. Inequality has also led to high rates of domestic abuse and genderbased violence. According to the UN, Liberia’s incidence of sexual assault and gender-based violence has risen in recent years, one of the legacies of a brutal civil war. The conflict also worsened economic conditions in Liberia, which currently ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world. Women and girls have been disproportionally affected by the economic situation. Nazarene churches in Monrovia came together to create the Empowering Women With Dignity project as a way to offer women opportunities to improve their economic conditions and affirm their God-given dignity. To learn more or support the Empowering Women With Dignity project, visit ncm.org/dignity. After participating in vocational classes, Mamie thought she might be able to do more. Now, she teaches classes herself.
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VOICES FROM BROKENNESS TO COMMUNITY
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t the heart of community, as we learn to care for our brothers and sisters, there is forgiveness. Reconciliation is at the heart of community. To grow in love means that we become men and women of forgiveness, of reconciliation. The heart of the message of Christ, its fundamental newness, is the promise of an inner strength which comes with the gift of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the family of God living inside of us, so that we can forgive and be forgiven. When I say that forgiveness is at the heart of community, I do not mean we have to learn to say simply, “You’re a nuisance but I forgive you.” It means discovering that I too am in part the cause of your being a nuisance, because I have dominated you, hurt you, brought fear up in you or because I haven’t listened to you, or was not open to you. Forgiveness is not just saying, “I forgive you because you slammed the door.” It’s also: “I’m working on changing myself, because I have hurt you.” We’re all wounded people, and so
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consciously or unconsciously we can and do hurt each other. At the heart of a caring community is forgiveness, one to another. This is a principle of growth. We are forgiving each other because we yearn to grow and to become like Jesus. … Community is not uniformity. There is a danger today, in our world, to want everybody to be the same, but then we lose our uniqueness. The incredible thing about us human beings is how unique each one of is us. … That is what community is about—each person is seen as unique and has a gift to offer. Each one of us is very different one from the other. But all together we are like a symphony, an orchestra; all together we make up a beautiful bouquet of flowers. That means, however, that we must learn to love difference, to see it as a treasure and not as a threat. Community means the respect and love of difference. Then we discover that this body which is community is the place of communion. This excerpt is taken out of From Brokenness to Community by Jean Vanier
Go Deeper LISTEN Each episode of Small Changes features an interview with someone trying to address problems they’ve seen in the world. It offers a way to think about change in a new way, seeing how even the small changes interviewees have made have had a big impact. S M A L L C H A N G E S I S C R E AT E D T H R O U G H T H E G U A R D I A N
REFLECT Your Kingdom Come is a group study that follows Timothy Green, Shawna Songer Gaines, and Timothy Gaines through the Holy Land. The study explores what Jesus meant by the words Your Kingdom Come through the historical significance of sites throughout their journey. Readers will be encouraged to explore the idea of God’s Kingdom and what exactly we’re praying for when we pray the Lord’s Prayer. AVA I L A B L E F RO M T H E FO U N D R Y P U B L I S H I N G
READ The Life With God Bible exists to provide a new way to read the Bible. Authors Richard J. Foster, Dallas Willard, Walter Brueggermann, and Eugene H. Peterson helped contribute study notes and essays, as well as practices and spiritual disciplines. These additional resources help highlight the story of God the Bible tells as well as challenging the reader to use the Scripture to grow with God every day.
STUDY In Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the Allure and Mystery of Christianity, Brian Zahnd argues that the fullness of living out Christ’s gospel has been replaced by our desires to satisfy material needs, empirically prove our faith, and establish political power—the very temptations Christ rejected. Through an exploration of the Beatitudes, the book encourages us to discover the fullness and beauty of God’s kingdom. NCM.ORG
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Snapshot
“Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it's like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.� - Fredrick Buechner
To read about how a ministry in Mozambique sees God in water and sanitation, turn to page 20. 38
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