Praying Against the Odds

Niger has one of the highest infant mortality rates; nearly 25% of babies will not live survive until their fifth birthday.  Imagine here in Canada, if we became aware that there was a huge possibility that 1 in 4 babies in our local daycare or our church nursery would die by preventable causes within the next 5 years!  We would do everything within our power (and knowledge!) to ensure that this would never happen. 

Our International Worker's in Niger are building relationships with people for whom this is a reality!  Whether it is lack of knowledge or access to healthcare and proper health facilities, our team is working hard to address the issues with these communities by engaging in initiatives such as community health education, mosquito net distributions, water and sanitation projects, and resourcing local clinics.

Here is an upclose look into a very recent experience of one of our workers.  Lisa Rohrick writes:

Back in January I asked you to pray for Jane who, after ten years of marriage  and at least one miscarriage, told me she was pregnant. This week's happy news is that on Tuesday evening she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. This picture was taken ten hours later.

I was staying in the village that night and had the privilege of taking Jane to the clinic in the next town. All was dark. The maternity building is being renovated and the little bit of equipment they have (including a birthing bed) was all piled in a corner under a thick layer of dust. The smell of wet cement hung in the air. One of the ladies with us went to find the midwife. She came back alone and asked me to go with her. The presence of a white face brought forth a grumpy midwife. It was deplorable. It's no wonder that Niger is the worst place in the world for mothers--it's amazing that any child leaves that place alive. Thankfully there were no complications and we went home an hour later with mother and baby. The clean-up job was done in front of a campfire by Jane's aunt.

Praise the Lord for giving life! Please pray for this little tyke. She has a battle ahead of her. Nearly 25% of the babies born in Niger don't make it to see their fifth birthday.  Pray that she will not become another of these painful statistics.

Thanks for supporting our workers and their friends with prayer and resources as they seek to bring holistic transformation to communities with such great need! Alongside these practical ministries, we are also committed to loving them through relationship and introducing them to Jesus, the One who came to ...bring Good News to the poor...to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free... Luke 4.     

Niger Vocational Training Centre - Investing in the Lives of Girls at Risk

Niger is one of the least developed countries in the world. The 2011 United Nations Human Development Index ranked Niger 186 out of 187! Needless to say, there is extreme poverty! One of the implications of this is that girls, even as young as 12 years old, are at risk for early marriage (sold for a dowry price.) Often marrying men already with multiple wives,  leading to early childbirth and abuse. 

In October 2010, we started the Niger Vocational Training Centre for girls at risk.  We currently have 60 girls between the ages of 12 and 19. Parents have to commit to not marrying off their daughter until she completes the two-year program!! 

The curriculum consists of classes in sewing, embroidery, literacy, French language, math, basic business concepts and bookkeeping, health, nutrition and hygiene.

There is also an emphasis on looking at their vision of a good and godly woman, the type of women they want to become, and what they can do to achieve these goals and grow as a person and in self-esteem.   

Providing them with skills and knowledge will increase their own sense of self worth. It will also increase their value in the eyes of their families who will not marry them off as desperately. At the end of the program they will earn their own sewing machine and write a National exam which will give them a certificate of completion for their skills. They will be able to go out with the new skills to make money in order to provide for their future. 

     If you would like to support this ministry, visit the

Alliance website, www.cmalliance.ca click on the Donate Now button and designate your gift to the Niger Vocational Training or send a cheque to:

The C&MA,

30 Carrier Drive, Suite 100 Toronto, ON

M9W 5T7

Visit the NVOC Blog for more info:  http://nvoc.ca/

 

East Africa Drought Response

We contributed $105,000 (with CIDA match is $525,000) to Food Aid projects that our CFGB partners are managing.  The programs are being managed by Christian Reformed World Relief Committee and Food for the Hungry in Ethiopia and Kenya.  Click here to view a powerpoint.

Update on Baby David Case...

A follow up to the last Blog Entry...the Rescue Centre was awarded legal guardianship of Baby David!!! 

Our International Worker, Lizette writes: "This case establishes a precedent that we want to take advantage of to inform the population and the authorities of the rights of children and the need to establish or enforce a proper procedure for placing these children in good centres so that they can be legally adopted by caring people. As we prepare for the next steps, please pray for us, that God would give us wisdom and coworkers who would help us with this media campaign we want to set up in the next few months. We are looking at preparing radio programs, posters and flyers that would inform and inspire people to do the right thing concerning throw-away babies."

Interesting that on the same day I received this news, another of our International Workers in the same West African country, Colette, wrote of a 7-month old girl that was very sick when she arrived at their rescue centre.  She hung on for 3 weeks but died yesterday.  Here is a moving quote from Colette:  "I have been praying and asking the Lord if we should continue in this project (Source of Life - Infant Rescue Centre). I am convinced we should – WHY? This center is an act of Spiritual Warfare. It is completely opposite of what the destroyer of life does. It is a declaration to the unseen forces in the heavenly realm that every life is precious in God’s sight and HIS people will destroy the works of the devil by saving the lives of the innocent."

Fighting for Justice for Abandoned Babies

In a West African country where we work, it is not uncommon that a newborn is throw away.  Two of our workers, Lizette and Collette oversee very different ministries in this country but both are seen by locals as people who will love and value these babies. 

As babies were brought to Collette, it was obvious that there was a need to open an Infant Rescue Centre.  Currently there are eight babies who are being nurtured to health and wholeness until they can be adopted into a loving Christian family. 

There is another group interested in saving these babies...  Unfortunately, they are known child traffickers who have vested interest in getting possession of these babies in order that they can sell them! 
Today I received an email from Lizette asking us to pray for 'Baby David.'  This is a young infant that has been a part of her ministry.  These child traffickers are attempting to get custody of this little one pictured below:

Here is an excerpt from Lizette's letter:  "Today may be the deciding day! Please pray for justice. The cries of hundreds, even thousands, of babies, thrown away by their mothers or stolen from their parents are rising up to God, as they are sold out of country into adoption, slavery, for sacrifices or for organs. My heart is totally torn by this massive tragedy, but God is able to touch the hearts of the judge and counsel,so that this country's child protection laws will be upheld, and child traffickers' schemes be foiled. We are fighting not only for David, but for all babies thrown away. They need to be loved and cared for until good families are found for them, families who will adopt them legally, love them and raise them up as their own."  

I sit and write this from my office, thousands of miles away.  How do I respond?  How do I participate in this battle against injustice?   I pray...AND I contribute funds to the C&MA's Global Advance Fund which supports Lizette and Collette to be there leading these ministries.  I also contribute money to the two projects that specifically enable the care for these precious lives.  The C&MA's Baby Rescue Centre  and the C&MA's Kids in Crisis. I invite you, the reader to do the same!