Charis Around the World

Charis Childbirth International
by Amy Elliott, CD, CCE, MA
International Director for Charis Childbirth
 

Amy Elliott with her classmate and one of her heroes, Wezzie Kenan of Malawi.
She's hoping to visit Wezzie next year and see how Charis Childbirth International
might be of benefit to the birthing communities of Malawi!

Hello, Charis Family!!!

I have missed you since I transitioned from writing other sorts of “tidbits” for you, into a new season I find myself writing you from today!!! I have made my way back to the United States and have endured the long and exhausting process of learning how to live here after fifteen years overseas. :-) They say that for each year overseas, it takes that number of months for a person to adjust to living in the States again. That little maxim definitely held true for me. Whew!!!! What a ride!!

I began serving as International Director for Charis Childbirth in 2015. What a big step from ten years as a Charis certified doula and childbirth educator! Recently graduating with a masters in International Development deepens my work and I'm looking forward to serving across the world!

I am happy to tell you that the dream is becoming a reality! We will likely file paperwork in June to begin operations as a 501(c)3 registered charity in Florida. CCI will exist in relationship to Charis as an international arm, able to facilitate many types of projects overseas, for the benefit of childbearing women around the world. Much of what we will do involves training and capacity building of locally based childbirth professionals, but we will hopefully also be able to do so much more!!!

The organization exists to benefit and facilitate work in MANY very different parts of the world. Because of the security concerns around the world, especially MOST of the areas where Charis already has an international presence and impact, the organization (CCI) will use strictly secular language to describe our work and the outreach among the nations. I hope you will be able to see to the very Heart of what our Father is doing, even though the words we use to express it will remain a bit vague!

Personally, I am stunned at all that the Father has done to bring about this development in the Charis family. We have six highly educated board members who believe in this vision and want to help the organization start off strong. Of course, we have Todd and Kristin schuchmann along for oversight, guidance and essential things like setting up pesky email addresses for a new organization. :-) We have my very own mother, Margaret Hollingsworth, serving as a volunteer Financial Officer for the coming year. And, we have my cousin, Brooke Hollingsworth, who just finished a graduate degree in non-government organizational management. Brooke will help us develop a communications strategy and start fundraising for the work we hope to do.

In the coming weeks, I will write you more about where we are at with our international work, and where we are headed in the next three years. We also, thankfully, have a website in the works!

Thank you all for your intercession for ALL of the Charis contacts we have across the world. Please explore a map of the African continent this month. Put your hand over it. Look up some pictures. Pray for the women, babies and international workers of those nations and lift up those who are suffering and in need. Thank you for partnering in this journey!!!

Love,
Amy Elliott, CD, CCE, MA