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Trip to Ukraine
Dear
Charis Family,
We
are eagerly awaiting and planning for Charis member
Doran Richards’ visit to Ukraine! We’ve had several exciting
developments concerning the trip details that we want to make
you aware of. God has been working!
Doran
Richards
Due
to some unexpected events (humanly speaking!) and God’s specific
direction, the trip has been rescheduled for October, 2008!
We are amazed at how concretely God revealed His will to us, and
we are already seeing the benefits of His direction!
Several times, the Ukrainian ladies with whom I am planning
Doran’s trip have asked if she could come in the fall rather
than late May as we were planning. This would enable many more
Ukrainian ladies to be able to attend the conferences.
Originally, Doran and I talked about this possibility, but we
decided to continue on with her trip in May. Then late last
year, my grandfather died. Due to this, my family planned a
3-month trip to the U.S. this spring, interfering with my
ability to plan Doran’s trip here effectively. And again,
Ukrainian ladies asked if we could postpone until the fall. As I
prayed about this, I began to sense God wanting us to move the
timing her trip.
Actually, through several specific events and prayers, God made
it abundantly clear that He wanted this trip to occur in the
fall. Another change God brought about is that, rather than
Doran’s husband coming with her, Charis member
Peggy
Franklin, CPM, will be accompanying Doran as a speaker at
the conferences here in Ukraine! She is also able to come in
fall. We are excited about God’s specific direction! God has
increased my faith by giving us such direct guidance in this
matter. What a caring God we have!
Peggy Franklin, CPM
Due to this rescheduling, we are able to accomplish several
other translation projects as well as raise more monies
for the trip expenses and translation ministries. We will
also have the necessary time to plan separate seminars with
home birth midwives and other birth professionals in Ukraine.
Please pray for this endeavor! Seeing God specifically redirect
this trip has heightened my awareness of His own personal care
for the ladies in Ukraine. If God leads you, please give to
BGW
to help with trip and translation costs. These materials are so
valuable for women here! The Ukrainian ladies helping me plan
these conferences are thrilled with all Doran and Peggy will be
doing. We are praying and awaiting their coming with eagerness!
In the Lord,
Anne Sokol
Kristin Schuchmann and Anne Sokol
April 2008
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Tidbits from Ebony
Female soldiers walk on patrol along the streets of Candybar,
bearing their heavy uniforms and ammunition with them. Suddenly
a young, "Pushpin" girl jumps out from the onlookers and stands
before them. In her thick accent, so different from any they
have heard before, she exclaims with open arms and smiling lips,
"I am GIRL!!!!!!!!"
Zulu's scarf and skirt giver her an unmistakable feminine
appearance, but the soldier responds with an amused giggle, "Are
you a girl?!"
"Yes! I am a girl! I am your SISTER!" she pronounces, encouraged
by the soldier's response.
The American woman reaches out her hand and takes Zulu's in her
own, "It's nice to meet you," she says.
Zulu's greeting is more profound than she realizes, "Your 'feofle'
(the way Zulu pronounces "people" without using the sound for
"p") are not my 'feofle,' but...I am your sister!"
The soldier smiles once again and continues forward with her
battalion.
Zulu told me this story during one of our language sessions a
few months ago. I've been missing Zulu since I had to leave
Candybar three months ago due to our crisis situation.
After many flights and visits to several different countries, I
am now in a new city for a couple of months. We will call my new
city "Heart." I am so thankful for the provision our Father has
given me here. He has provided a place to stay with an old
friend, and He has even crossed my path with some Pushpin women
of the area. Today, two of these women came over to visit with
me.
One of them, Princess, speaks English fluently. She attends a
special course that teaches leadership and character development
to women. She has a passionate heart from women of her nation to
be empowered and to realize who they are in their Creator's
eyes.
Today, as we drank our tea and sucked on the candy so familiar
to the land of Ebony, Princess told us the story of a young girl
from "Heart." This girl used to watch Western women and girls on
TV with tears streaming down her face. She cried as she watched
the shows depicting female freedoms she could only dream about.
One day, while watching such a show, she turned to Princess and
proclaimed, "I am not even human. I am a woman. I am no better
than an animal."
This is the ancient message of the culture she has been raised
in, since the disappointing news came that her mother had born a
girl and not a boy.
Princess took it upon herself to influence this girl's life. She
told her, "You are NOT an animal. You are a human!"
Princess strategically began to develop a relationship with the
girl's mother. She even introduced the family to her own mother.
She represented herself well, as a good and moral girl who was
not causing or getting into trouble even thought she is
educated. Princess entered behind the veil of ignorance in her
culture in order to bring another girl into the light.
After some time, the girl's mother allowed her to attend
literacy classes in another woman's home. Princess has noticed a
huge change in the countenance of her friend. Recently she
reminded her of the time when the girl considered herself no
better than an animal. Princess had the pleasure of hearing her
friend respond by saying, "No! I never said that! I am not an
animal! I am a human. I am learning and I am reading now!"
Isn't it amazing what a significant impact we, as women, can
have on each other's lives? I think one of the greatest honors
is to help another human being realize their value in the eyes
of their Creator.
In Ebony, the word for "girl" is so close to the word for
"Bible" that I am often taken aback when I hear it. It makes me
think about how our Father always meant for His message to be
spread, taught and understood by women all over the globe, as
well as the men.
Do the stories of Zulu or Princess enable you to dream at all
about how the good news could spread among women here? Listen to
those dreams and pray for these women!!!
Love,
Elizabeth Carmichael
Ebony Girls
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