Volume 4

~ News From "Your Birthing Family" ~

Issue 1

   

In This Issue

Pregnancy and Birth
   
 Weighing the Pros and Cons of the Epidural
About Babies
     Cat-Naps ~ Making Short Naps Longer
Elective Cesarean Sections
    
 Making Small Risks Even Smaller
Our Charis Family
    
Blessings God's Way - Poem

Charis Cuisine
     Authentic Mexican Salsa
Letters To The Editor
     Comments From Our Readers

Charis Around the World
     Tidbits from Ebony
     Life in Ukraine

To enjoy past newsletters, visit the archives:
Newsletter Archives
 


Update

Our new address

Charis Childbirth, Inc.

P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290
 

Look us up

Charis and our Midwifery Scholarship Fund
are on 


Mark Your Calendars

Charis "Teaching Birth" Workshop
Saturday, February 21, 2009
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Breath of Life Birth Center
1900 E Bay Drive
Largo, FL 33771

For childbirth educators, doulas, midwives, or anyone who would like to improve their ability to communicate with and educate expectant families.

At our workshops, learning is interactive, hands-on, fun, and interesting. All Charis workshops are taught from a Christian perspective, giving God the glory for His marvelous creation and how He so wonderfully created women to bear children.

You will spend the day making new friends and becoming more skilled in preparing effective introductions, asking powerful questions, creating a learner-friendly environment, capturing the attention of learners, helping clients embrace their responsibility of making informed decisions, and so much more.

In addition to the valuable skills acquired at the workshop, you will also take home with you an assortment of visual aids and other valuable teaching tools to enhance your future students’ learning experience.

A delicious lunch will be provided for all the workshop attendees to enjoy as you get to know each other better during a midday break.

The cost is $200 for Charis members and $230 for non-members (includes one-year Charis membership).

To register, complete the registration form
and mail it, along with payment, to:

Charis Childbirth, Inc.

P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290


Click here for Registration Form
Must be received before January 28, 2009.

Register early… Space is limited.

If you need Adobe PDF Reader:

 


3-D Midwives:
Devoted to God,
Destined to Serve,
Dedicated to Education
5th Annual
Christian Midwives International Conference
April 22 - 25, 2009 - Pigeon Forge, TN

Registration is online:
www.ChristianMidwives.org
 


Attention Aspiring Midwives!

You will love the flexible, thorough, distance academics course offered through Charis Childbirth! Check it out!

Want to serve childbearing families as a Certified Doula or Childbirth Educator?

Become trained and certified through Charis Childbirth! Take a look at our unique certification process!

If you seek a school that offers the convenience of self-paced distance learning, personal mentors for each student, a commitment to the highest excellence in education, a family-like network of students and birth professionals, and education from a Christian perspective, Charis may be just the right fit for you!

For more information
V
isit the Charis Web site
for course description and outline.


Our Newsletter

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Everyone is welcome!

Post your  Charis  workshops and gatherings, enjoy and reflect your own views in our various columns,   announce  births, share your thoughts  and  comments   in   our  "Letters  To  The  Editor" section and submit  questions you  would  like  answers to.  Editorials, such as "Question of the Month", are areas where many points of view are invited for reflection!

Submissions   need to be made by  the 5th of each month for that month's publication.  Submissions made after the 5th will be considered for the following month.

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Our Director's Heart

Happy New Year, Charis Family!
I’m expectant of great things for 2009.

This year brings something new for Charis. Since 2003, Charis has been growing in the womb of New Life Christian Fellowship of Virginia Beach. From the beginning, we knew that the day would come for Charis to be birthed as an independent entity. Well, on January 1, 2009, the birth took place. We are now officially incorporated in Florida and, once all the paperwork is processed by the government, we will be our own 501c(3) non-profit corporation. We are so grateful to New Life for giving Charis a safe place to grow and develop.

And, boy, Charis has developed! Charis has touched four continents! I am so wonderfully amazed and proud of the quality of people God is connecting with Charis, both here in the US and around the world. Our goal is to have Charis childbirth educators, doulas, & midwives in every state in the USA and every country in the world. We are on our way!

A new connection Charis is developing is with Chris Hilderbrandt, CNM, and Breath of Life Birth Center in Largo, FL. I had the wonderful blessing of meeting Chris back in November and felt an instant knitting of our hearts together. Breath of Life  is the birth center connected with New Life Solutions , an amazing pro-life ministry in Pinellis County, and they are graciously hosting our “Teaching Birth” workshop in February. You’ll be hearing more about Chris Hilderbrandt and all the incredible things going on with Breath of Life and New Life Solutions in the future.

The Charis Midwifery Scholarship Fund opened up at the beginning of the year and has already raised $300! Only $104,700 more to go to reach this year’s goal of $105,000 – enough to cover 3 full years of tuition for 10 Charis midwifery students who are serving as missionaries. Spread the word about this fund!!! It will enable missionaries to serve their communities in very meaningful ways and may literally save the lives of moms and babies. For more information on our Scholarship Fund, Click Here.

And, I have a very exciting announcement to make! Our beloved Elizabeth Carmichael who has been writing her “Tidbits from Ebony” for our newsletter has successfully completed all the requirements to become a Charis Certified Childbirth Educator / Doula. Not an easy task when living in third world countries! CONGRATULATIONS ELIZABETH!!! (Elizabeth is continuing her midwifery studies through Charis and plans to serve abroad.)

On a more personal note, I have started a blog.  I am focusing on topics that are relevant to people interested in living life to the fullest. Stop by and visit on occasion—and let me know what you think.

May your 2009 be filled with wonderful, life-changing love-encounters with God!

Love & blessings,
Kristin Schuchmann
Charis Executive Director
 


Exciting Announcement!!!

It is time for Charis to begin translating our materials into other languages!!!

So far, all of our students have been fluent in English, but we knew eventually we would have students who need the books and materials in other languages.

So the first language translation will be …(((drum roll)))… Russian! There are currently two Ukrainian ladies who want to go through the Charis doula training, so it is time to translate! That takes time and money.

If you are excited that we have the opportunity to take the Charis ministry into Russian-speaking countries, please help us out! Send your donations to Charis Childbirth at P.O. Box 6900, North Port, FL 34290. Please write on a separate note (not on your check) that your donation is for the Russian translation project.

THANK YOU!!!!!

 


Contact Us

Charis Childbirth
P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290
www.charischildbirth.org


 Kristin Schuchmann ~ International Director
Cell (941)441-6410

http://happyhealthyliving.wordpress.com/

Susan Oshel ~ Director of Midwifery Studies


 


Prayer Points

  • Grants and other funding for the expansion of the Charis ministry
     

  • For the Charis Childbirth Educator, Doula, and Midwifery students:  sharp minds to learn, opportunities for lots of hands-on learning
     

  • For the Charis CE’s, doulas, and midwives:  rest, peace, protection, wisdom, discernment
     

  • For the Charis missionaries and humanitarian workers:  protection, peace, divine guidance, financial provision

  • For our directors and administration: Wisdom, guidance, energy, and provision from God as Charis enters this season of growth.

 

The information in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and is not intended to take the place of medical care and advice from your health care provider.

 'Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth,
 Among  them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and The one who labors with child,  together,
 A great throng shall return there...And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.'
 Jeremiah 31:8, 14
~~~
©2009 Charis Childbirth Services, All Rights Reserved
Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends in its entirety, leaving all attribution intact.
January 2009