Charis Around the World

Tidbits From Ebony
by Elizabeth Carmichael

Greetings, Charis Family!
Enjoy a few tidbits:

What are you doing now?  Many people have asked me this question.  I will try to give you the best answer I can.  I am a project manager for the project and with the non-government organization I have been working with since April.  I signed a one year contract to fill the role that my friend and co-worker filled before she was killed in August.  The project area is a cluster of Pushpin villages between the Capital city and Glory Land.  We run a demonstration garden in the area and help support two local clinics.  We train and certify groups of women (currently nine groups running) to be community health workers.  Each of these women is also trained in nutritional gardening.  Through the gardening, we are trying to address the situation of malnourished children in the area. In general, we attempt to use community development principles, helping the community identify their own needs, understand their own resources and support the community in facilitating them to meet their own needs.  Through this, communities are strengthened, become more healthy, have access to the Light and are able to withstand the pressures of oppression coming at them from all sides.  We have two local women who do our training. We also have three male staff--an agriculturalist, a driver, and a gardener.  They are amazing people and I am honored to serve them in leading this project as well as invest in them some principles from our Father.  Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions about any of this.

My team is a group of Family Members from all over the globe who work for four different humanitarian organizations.  We gather frequently for prayer, encouragement and growth together.  There are about seven other Family Members working at my non-gov organization, but there are about 20+ others on my larger team.

The face of the man in this picture is purposely blurred for security purposes.
But, note that he is teaching a group of very conservative women how to graft a fruit tree.
Along with learning safe delivery techniques and how to prevent problems in pregancy,
 these ladies are also learning about nutritional gardening for their home

A Day of Celebration

This month, one of our groups of ladies FINALLY finished all their courses in basic health, clean and safe delivery methods, and nutritional gardening.   They worked for eight months to complete all their classes.  Our staff and some visitors gathered with them to celebrate this amazing achievement.  Many of these women have not been to school, or only have an elementary-level education.  Yet, they now know how to grow food for their communities using very little water, how to graft plants and care for them during winter months, how to deliver a baby and prevent many pregnancy problems, when to refer a sick person to the clinic or hospital, how to treat a burn victim, how to address drug abuse, what community development principles are, and much more!  On the day of their graduation, one of our staff told the story of "The Good Samaritan" in order to emphasize the priority of helping anyone in need.  She did a great job, and I just felt like Light and Truth were shining forth in that place as the women discussed the story, reviewed it amongst themselves and embraced the concepts--including concepts about the character of God.  They renamed the story, “The Good Uzbek,” by the way.  Go figure! At their ceremony, the women received certificates, clean delivery kits and basic health kits.  Nearby, the male elders also gathered to celebrate.  They had lively discussions with our male staff members and made plans for future work.

These ladies teach the story of The Good Samaritan to illustrate the
need to help people no matter who they are or where they come from.

Here is a little guy who attended the community health trainer graduation with his mama. Many times, local women will put khol on their baby's face and as a sort of eyeliner. This is believed to kill and ward off germs as well as protect from the evil eye. I have a personal theory that it is also a type a "branding" that helps you not lose your baby amongst all the other babies in town. :-) (Don't worry, as strange as it might be to us, it still helps to know it washes off!)

Phasing Out

My colleague was having so much trouble with one of our staff recently.  She could not figure out why, after so much development training and intentional leadership on her part, he continued to think of things according to a “relief” mentality (providing everything for needy people instead of helping them provide it for themselves).  We hope to slowly move toward handing off our demonstration garden to the local community, but he kept wanting to expand the garden which would just make it more and more dependent on our ongoing involvement and resources.  He just wasn’t getting the thought that we need to start “phasing out” of the garden!  Although my colleague would communicate to him in the Pushpin language, she continued to use the English term “phase out” when talking to him about this subject.  During my first one-on-one meeting with him, a thought occurred to me and I asked him, “Sir, what does ‘phase out’ mean to you?”  He explained to me how it means expanding the garden more and more, “phasing out” even beyond our property line.  Oh my.  It was an amazing revelation to realize together that we were not communicating on the same page.  I explained what “phase out” means to us and he really got on board and started making appropriate plans!!

The Flower Family

I was able to have a good, long visit with the Flower family this month.  I was also incredibly encouraged that another like-minded family was able to come with me for the visit.  Another friend (different than "Shaniqua") who was killed recently also used to visit them with me.  So, to have other people along for the ride again was a great experience.  The Flowers had guests who had just come in from the south.  Because the woman was sick, we were able to pray over her with the whole family present.  When their neighbors saw we had come, they also came over to sit and chat for about two hours...with their six kids in tow.  It was an amazing afternoon with Pushpins.  Keep lifting them up and asking for them to understand the fullness of His grace.

A Couple Weeks Ago

A couple of weeks ago I found myself getting to know the hospital close to my office really, really well.  This was because a sweet friend and co-worker of mine here suddenly discovered she had a severe appendix infection.  She had surgery immediately and the recovering has been a rough one for this western friend who also had to be medically evacuated a few years ago because she went into septic shock from an unrelated infection.  She has really been through the ringer here!  (And now she has lost her cat, by the way, so you could lift her up on all sorts of levels.)  The good news is, during one of her follow up visits, we were approached by a man in the ICU area.  He shared with us that he is a brother and was trying to help a family that had travelled a long distance in search of medical care.  The woman had recently delivered a baby and was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome (basically a severe pregnancy liver condition that is sometimes confused as pre-eclampsia).  She was already in renal failure and her liver was shutting down on her.  She was completely, I mean completely, yellow and swollen all over!  I felt so helpless looking at her.  But, my friend and I were both able to take turns praying over her with her family and advised them on the quality of health care available in the area.  A week later when my friend went back to get her stitches out, she was able to visit the lady again--and the lady was alive and doing a little better!  She continues to have an impact on this family in their heart language.  Maybe the Father orchestrated her sickness with theirs so that they would have a faithful light among them, also able to attest to the only standard of care available to them.  Amazing.  Please ask that the Father would continue using this event in the lives of my friend and this family for his glory.

There are so many cases like the woman described above!  Also, crisis pregnancies can occur here too.  But, lives are at risk in a different way than in our nation.  I was also a crisis pregnancy baby, as was Jesus.  I can see how my birth and life, as his own, show God’s faithfulness in a seemingly impossible situation. My driver recently told me of an unwed pregnancy situation, that the father of the girl is required to kill her and the boy.  Three lives for one mistake.  He was not speaking in hypotheticals.  He was serious, and he was talking about a real situation.  My driver is a wonderful man, but he sees this place in an honest way.  Please take a moment to pray over the women and girls of this nation who are involved in a crisis pregnancy.

Our International Charis Family
Your stories from around the world touch us and we pray for your safety.
Thanks, Love and Blessings to every one of you!