Episcopal Relief & Development

When I was asked to blog about Mother’s Day and Rogation Days in the same breath, so to speak, I thought it would be challenging. But these two days actually have a lot in common – both are about nurturing and feeding people.

As an adoptive mother of three precious children, I found out long ago that being a mother is not just about a biological connection. It’s not about the DNA. Mothering is about getting out of bed in the middle of the night to feed an infant, even when you are sleep deprived and groggy. Mothering is about making sure your child gets enough to eat and the right kinds of foods. Mothering is about making sure your child is loved, valued and cherished, and knows he or she has a special place in this world.

So it is with Rogation Days, when we ask God’s blessings on our farms and gardens. Farming feeds us. Those who tend the soil work hard, often when hot or tired, to grow food to nurture others. Without farms, gardens and those who work on them, all of us would literally starve. Harvests help us to flourish, strengthening and nurturing us to live to our full potential and to the glory of God – something our earthly mothers also hold in hope for us.

Feeding others is not just about tending to our own biological offspring. It’s not about preserving our own DNA. When Jesus fed the five thousand, he did so without regard to whether the hungry were of his tribe or not. He just fed them as an act of love. By adoption of the Spirit, we are all family.

On Rogation Days (and Mother’s Day), we remember that through God’s gifts of water, seeds, soil, animals and abundant harvest, we all can be fed. Those who tend farms around the world feed not only themselves, but also others in their communities and those whom they may not even know. So it is that as mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, we can feed others through acts of love, even though they may not be related to us, even though they may not be members of our family or ethnic groups. Through our gifts, we are able – if we choose – to feed those we don’t even know, thousands of miles away.

Our Blessing of a Garden liturgy is available to help children learn about Rogation Days. Please click here to download this free resource.

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Cynthia Coe is a Christian formation consultant and writer of Abundant Life Garden Project, children's formation materials by Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photo courtesy of Harvey Wang for Episcopal Relief & Development.

The arrival of the monsoon is a cause for great celebration in agricultural communities, such as the villages I am visiting this week in Myanmar.  After the rains arrived later than expected, there are now unsettling reports that they may not be as regular or as plentiful as in previous years. This has become an annual dilemma, increasing in severity each year, and our partner, the Church of the Province of Myanmar, is addressing many of these concerns with terrific results. 

In 2008, the Church, with help from Episcopal Relief & Development, established a residential demonstration training farm on appropriate cost-effective methods to increase productivity in the agricultural sector. Farmers from across the country are learning Effective Microorganisms technology – an environmentally friendly, low-cost method of farming that allows for the production of crops without damage to the ecosystem.  The training is over a period of three weeks, with a combination of theory and practice. Additional follow-up support is provided when the participants apply their new skills at their home farms.

I am not a farmer, nor a soil scientist, but what I witness is optimism among the farmers, and significant positive impact from those who trained in previous years.  Participants have had measurable increases in their yields following two seasons of using the technology.  The Church couples this training with provision of storage facilities that allow some of the harvest to be sold during the dry seasons, when prices are higher and farmers can earn more.  And to further complement the training, the Church also provides the resources for inter-monsoonal crops, so that soil nutrients are replenished while a greater variety of food sources are cultivated.

Our church partners in Myanmar are enabling farmers to overcome the challenges of unpredictable weather patterns, increasing traditional costs, and income fluctuations.  It’s one of the many miracles I keep seeing here.

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Nagulan Nesiah is a Program Officer at Episcopal Relief & Development.

I couldn’t imagine having a group of strangers remove the tiles off the roof of my house and not getting myself upset. That’s how a couple of the Gospels recount the beginning of the parable of Jesus’ miraculous healing of the paralytic. The man is lowered through the ceiling, as it’s the only way to enter into a crowded house where Jesus is present.   However, neither Gospel writer names the homeowner or acknowledges any displeasure about the act of vandalism.

I am currently on a visit with the Church of the Province of Myanmar, Episcopal Relief & Development's local partner in the country.   In all of my previous nine visits, I have come to learn that this church partner is much like the homeowner in the parable. 

The staff rarely publicize their social outreach activities, but instead provide the much-needed space and share valuable resources to allow for community development to take place.  Given their unique context, they work with humility and let the Spirit work wonders.  And Spirit is actively at work.

I have seen a simple investment of 10 cows, provided to a handful of trained and selected families, multiply after a few years to where all families in the village have their own pair of cows. I have seen communities stand and heal together following a devastating cyclone.

I have seen modest initial capital in a micro loan program develop into a large pool of revolving funds used to make significant impact on the lives of many.   And I have seen the determined passion of a few committed part-time staff evolve into a full-fledged community development department with nearly 20 programs across the country, all in just four years.

During my time here, I am looking forward to breaking ceilings and witnessing miracles.

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Nagulan Nesiah is a Program Officer with Episcopal Relief & Development.

This post originally ran on the ONE Campaign blog as part of a series on faith and the fight against malaria. For World Malaria Day, Episcopal Relief & Development is joining ONE to encourage our faith community to take action and "Shine a Light" on this deadly disease.  Visit www.inspirationfund.org to learn more about our work in this area.

When Jesus was on earth, his life was about ministering to people who were afflicted and marginalized, and bringing them physical and spiritual wholeness. This often included healing those with devastating illnesses such as leprosy, one of the scourges of his time.

Just as leprosy was a widespread problem during the time of Jesus, we have modern-day scourges. One of them is malaria. This preventable disease affects some 250 million people each year and takes nearly 1 million lives — most of them children under age five.

It makes sense that Christians, who are called to be the hands and feet of Christ, would feel compelled to help address this problem. Many times throughout Scripture, the God of compassion and love commands followers to care for those who are sick, hungry and vulnerable. In the New Testament, John the Evangelist sums up the matter plainly: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (1 John 3.17, NRSV) The baptismal vows of the Episcopal Church further underscore this mandate, committing us “to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being.”

It is for these reasons that my organization, Episcopal Relief & Development, began the NetsforLife® program partnership to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Working with communities to shine a light on this deadly disease, NetsforLife® has reached more than 22 million people, helping them stay healthier. The related NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund campaign is providing a tangible means through which Episcopalians can act on their baptismal vows.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 form the mandate for Episcopal Relief & Development’s mission: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” This motivation is perhaps the most compelling of all for his followers: In each person who stays healthy, in each child who lives, we are serving Christ himself.

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Rob Radtke is President of Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photo: Courtesy of Harvey Wang for Episcopal Relief & Development.

I hear World Malaria Day is coming — a day to raise awareness of the preventable and treatable nature of this disease, and to mobilize communities to fight against it.

That’s a real concern for a lady like me, because unlike my cousins in America, I carry some dangerous baggage…the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria.

Malaria causes fever and chills, and can kill those who get it in their bloodstream. 

Though I’ve carried my baggage far and wide,  in many countries, I can no longer cross borders.  They’ve taken the sting out of my bite.  However, on the continent of Africa, I still buzz around freely, and I always take my unwanted baggage. 

Many people in these countries still can’t keep me away! Children still feel my deadly sting while they sleep in their homes.  Parents want their children to grow up big and strong like children in other parts of the world, safe from malaria.  All over sub-Saharan Africa, people look forward to a day when I’m just another annoying insect…like my cousins in America.

And now, throughout Africa, NetsforLife^® community malaria agents are putting up force fields – long lasting insecticide-treated nets – to stop me from biting folks and making them sick.  These volunteers give out as many malaria nets as possible.  They go to the end of the road to make sure people are protected from little ole me. 

Without fresh skin to bite, I lose my baggage.  If I have no place to store it, the parasite that causes malaria gets lost, allowing people to live without fear of death and illness from malaria.

But really, let’s just focus on the lost baggage part, okay? 

This World Malaria Day, help a girl out and don’t donate any nets…I mean, no one likes to deal with lost baggage.

Great! Let’s do lunch soon; first bite is on you!
 

Rita Mosquito is the star of a children’s curriculum on malaria prevention by Episcopal Relief & Development. To learn more and find additional information on how individuals and churches can join the fight against malaria, please visit the NetsforLife^® Inspiration Fund Resource Page.

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Chad Brinkman is Associate for the NetsforLife^® Inspiration Fund and Church Campaigns at Episcopal Relief & Development.

As Communications Officer for Episcopal Relief & Development, I’m part of the Episcopal Communicators (EC) – an organization for those who work in communications in the Episcopal Church.  I got to know this wonderful group of people in person last month at the annual conference in North Carolina. 

One of the most prolific and popular contributors to the EC listserv is Mary Cox, the Diocesan Communicator from Southeast Florida.  She’s a fan of Episcopal Relief & Development and its support of the recovery work in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake. So for her 70th birthday recently, she decided to put out a call on Facebook for a unique kind of birthday present: that her friends would make a donation to our Haiti Earthquake Fund.

I got an email from Mary after her birthday telling me that “one check is on its way to Episcopal Relief & Development for Haiti, and I think you'll enjoy knowing where it came from.”

For the past five or six years, two semi-feral cats have lived in the parking lot between the diocesan offices and Trinity Cathedral, in Miami.  “Other cats have come and gone,” Mary said, “but Leopoldito and Marble live here.  If they belong to anyone, they belong to me and Priscilla.”  Priscilla Greenfield-Manning is an active member of the cathedral and, according to Mary, a very active cat rescue person – responsible for, among other things, trapping and taking the “parking lot boys” to the vet “to be rendered EX-tomcats.”

Mary said that Priscilla had come over the other day with a belated birthday card that included a check for $21 for recovery work in Haiti and a note:

"Your parking lot felines brought a dead rat in honor of your birthday. They believed it quite the perfect gift, but Gil [the cathedral sexton] didn't. So accept this check [for Episcopal Relief & Development] as being more appropriate..."

The note said the donation was from her, and from Leopoldito and Marble.

I really love stories like this – and not just because I’m a cat person!  I also love being part of the Episcopal Communicators group and getting to know great people like Mary, and I love cool ideas for alternative birthday presents.

Leave me a comment here or on our Facebook page if you have other ideas or experiences with alternative gifts.  I know some people like to give chickens through Gifts for Life!

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Faith Rowold is the Communications Officer at Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photo: Leopoldito, the black and white one, is the spokescat; Marble doesn't have to say anything, because he has perfected the most forlorn look imaginable, which gets him fed. Courtesy of Mary Cox.

Recently, my colleague and I were sitting in the offices of the Anglican Diocese of Harare in Zimbabwe, discussing a new type of community development program called “Umoja.” Our host told us he thought it could eventually be successful in Zimbabwe, but it would be like “giving birth to an elephant.”

“What?” I immediately interrupted him to ask, thinking I had misunderstood. “What did you say?” He explained patiently, and with a smile, “Transitioning to an approach like this is like giving birth to an elephant, which takes 22 months, compared to the nine months that human mothers are pregnant. So in other words, it will take some time.”

We all laughed. Right, of course – like giving birth to an elephant. 

Umoja is a form of asset-based development. Pioneered by Tearfund for the African context, it helps community groups to build on their own resources and create a vision for the future. Episcopal Relief & Development is introducing this concept in different ways across our programs – and it is an idea that has already resonated with our partner staff in Zimbabwe.

In southeastern Zimbabwe, our partner, the Anglican Diocese of Masvingo, has worked to help a number of groups create small businesses, allowing them to diversify their incomes and earn extra money for their families. Group members have started raising chickens and pigs for sale, tailoring and sewing clothing, and processing peanuts to produce the smooth peanut butter used locally in sauces. The participants have come a long way, especially considering the economic and political chaos they have lived through in recent years. However, during our trip we agreed that the next step was for them to realize what they have already built, and use that to construct self-supporting business plans for the future.

On the last day of our trip we visited a training center near Harare, called Foundations for Farming, which is teaching conservation agriculture methods. Like Umoja, the center is also helping farmers to be proud of their skills and to both use them and share them with others.

When I asked one of the trainers about the adoption of the new methods by farmers in their own fields, he told me that it was happening, and often with great success, but that it required extra work during the first couple of years. He said it was a bit like “giving birth to an elephant.”

This time I just smiled and nodded – I knew what he meant.

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Sara Delaney is a Program Officer with Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photo: A member of a small business group facilitated by the Anglican Diocese of Masvingo in Zimbabwe, a partner of Episcopal Relief & Development.

When I first heard mention of “Rogation Days” in an Episcopal worship service several years ago, I have to admit that most parishioners chuckled at what many of them likely saw as a quaint and outdated notation on the liturgical calendar. After all, most Americans get their food from grocery stores. It’s not like most of us farm for a living!

I now actually live on a farm (though we have other jobs to pay the bills), and I’ve come to greatly appreciate how much knowledge, skill, experience and plain hard work it takes to grow food. I, too, used to take food for granted, because it was so readily available I didn’t even think about it.

But after seeing my neighbors work the land in the hot sun, drenched in sweat, I now appreciate the wonder and pleasure of a ripe tomato, crunchy okra, and corn fresh from the garden. All of these are blessings!

And if you have traveled internationally, you might have noticed that in many countries, food is not so readily available. While visiting Eastern Europe several years ago, I dropped two dress sizes without trying and in the space of a couple of weeks; food was not as ubiquitous as it is in the United States. We found one “Western-style” grocery store – catering to tourists – and were delighted to find bread and cold cuts for dinner.

In many places around the globe, food is not a given. Grocery stores are nonexistent, and perhaps people appreciate their food more in places where it is not as abundant – something that might be good to keep in mind for all of us who live in places of plenty.

For the upcoming Rogation Days (starting Sunday, May 13), we might think about that tomato served with a sandwich, or that apple we eat for a snack. Someone grew that fruit. Someone worked hard to nurture that tomato. We should remember always to ask blessings on our food for nourishment and for life, and to pray for those who struggle to feed themselves and their families. Our earth is a garden — one for which we should be thankful, and use to the benefit of all human beings.

A special liturgy, “Blessing of a Garden,” is now available to help children understand and commemorate Rogation Days. Please click here to download this free resource.

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Cynthia Coe is a Christian formation consultant and writer of Abundant Life Garden Project, children's formation materials by Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photo: Mat Luce, Farm Director and Director of Development at Episcopal School of Knoxville, helps students appreciate the hard work and blessings of growing food. Courtesy of Kelly Norrell for Episcopal School of Knoxville.
 

This post is the text of a presentation during President Rob Radtke’s recent visit to St. Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church in Lihue, Hawaii. Madisson is a member of the Youth (grades 8-12) and Bridging (grades 4-7) Ministries, which were inspired to collect funds and reach out to people in need through Gifts for Life.

Aloha,

My name is Madisson and I am representing our Youth and Bridging ministries today. First of all, we would like to thank Uncle Hobey Goodale. Because of his generosity to our ministries, we have a wonderful place to meet in, learn and grow into faith. Because of Uncle Hobey’s leadership and generosity, we are able to follow in his footsteps with our outreach mission.

So my story begins. About six weeks ago we learned, in the Goodale Center, about the various Episcopal Relief & Development programs and how they help people throughout the world. Their programs provide many gifts to nurture and flourish children, pregnant women, families and communities that are facing challenging times.

As we sat in Sunday school, our Bible verse was John chapter 6, verse 9: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” As we thought about this verse, we realized that we often hold ourselves back from God’s plan because we think we don’t have something of value to offer, but when we give what we have… God can work miracles.

We decided to give what we could over the next six weeks, which leads us here today.

Dr. Radtke, could you please come up? Although we may be little fishes, as a school of fish we were able to collect $429.16. We would like this money to purchase three high impact gifts [through Gifts for Life], which are a solar energy system and two community gardens, and use the remainder to purchase a flock of chickens, clean water, food for little scholars, fruit trees and a mosquito net.

Six weeks ago, Kai from the Bridging Ministry took $20 out of his pocket [to start the project]. I’m sure at the time he didn’t realize how far one boy‘s generosity would inspire others and touch the many. Thank you and God bless.

Photo: Members of the Youth and Bridging Ministries present Rob Radtke with their gift to reach people in need. Courtesy of St. Michael's and All Angels Episcopal Church.

When we first discussed the idea of a diocese-wide NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund effort in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina in the summer of 2010, there were many unknowns. There was never a doubt that we would respond affirmatively to support this Episcopal Relief & Development campaign for malaria prevention. However, deciding the parameters led us to ask many questions of ourselves. Now – one successful NetsforLife® campaign later – we have our answers.

Raising funds for 40,000 malaria nets was a big goal. Without this target, however, we would not have accomplished some of our very impressive results. Reaching for such high numbers encouraged parishes to stretch, be creative, work together, engage non-parishioners and make significant commitments to the campaign. Nearly 80 percent of our parishes, missions and diocesan organizations participated in the campaign, and it has brought out the best in members of our diocese.

Purchased nets were our measuring stick for the campaign, but saving lives was our real goal. At the time of this year’s diocesan convention in January, we were excited to have raised enough to purchase and distribute 33,531 insecticide-treated nets to villages in sub-Saharan Africa – potentially saving 100,593 lives. Accompanying the nets will be critical community training and education on how to use and care for them and how to recognize symptoms of malaria. NetsforLife® volunteers will also return to communities to confirm that the initial training has succeeded.

Mosquito nets continue to be effective in the fight against malaria. Incidences of malaria are decreasing, but the disease remains a chronic problem in sub-Saharan Africa. The reality is that even though our successful diocesan campaign has concluded, the fight to end malaria and support the Millennium Development Goals continues.

Being one of the campaign leaders, I had the good fortune to be in a position to see our diocese at its finest. From the grassroots of parishes and communities through the Episcopal Church Women, youth groups and schools, I saw enthusiasm and generosity in young and old, and from one end of our diocese to the other. The NetsforLife® campaign has been a blessing to our diocese and to me personally.

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Reid Joyner is the Episcopal Relief & Development Coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, and Chair of the NetsforLife® in North Carolina Campaign Steering Committee.

Photo: The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry (left), Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, with Reid Joyner. Courtesy of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.
 

I started writing this blog two weeks before Good Friday.  In all honesty, during this time I have not really been ready to contemplate Christ’s suffering on the cross and its meaning for my life and for the Church of the 21^st century.  Spring has sprung.  Trees are starting to bud, even in the Pacific Northwest.  I have five vegetable beds in my backyard garden that are crying out for attention.  I would just as soon have skipped ahead to Easter – but today comes first. 

Along with Ash Wednesday, Good Friday is a day we contemplate death and our own mortality.  On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, though, I was reminded that there is life after death. The Gospel reading from John 12 looks forward to Good Friday, the Resurrection of Christ and the celebration of Easter. As Jesus said: 

…“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.”  (John 12:23–26)

I recently visited the Yamazaki Memorial Community Garden at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles.  It tells the story of the seeds of faith planted in an empty lot by the congregation of St. Mary’s, and how they grew into bountiful blessings and “much fruit.”  As one of the planners put it, “The garden now acts as an evangelist in a certain way” – bringing new life to both the church and the community. 

If you surf the Episcopal Relief & Development website, you will read similar stories of communities planting seeds (both literal and figurative) and bringing forth fruit:

• Power of Partnerships: Growing Hope in Uruguay
• Friends of Episcopal Relief & Development: Youth Buy the Farm and Double Their Impact
• Gifts for Life: Agriculture in Nicaragua
• NetsforLife^® Inspiration Fund:  Diocese of Virginia Youth Stomp Out Malaria

As Christians we are called to plant seeds – to take our faith, in large or small measure, to share with those around us and help bring new life.  Today, even as we consider Christ’s death and our response, I hope we will also look forward to the promise of Easter. By losing our earthly lives in service to others, we will bear much fruit.

Photos courtesy of St. Mary's Episcopal Church.  Top photo: Anita Javier (r) with Angela Martinez and her daughter, Carla Montufar, along with the Rev. Butch Náters Gamarra and the Rev. Anna Olson from St. Mary's Episcopal Church.  Side photo: Angela Martinez, leader of the community garden project, waters plants in one of the raised beds.

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Brian Sellers-Petersen is Director of Church Engagement at Episcopal Relief & Development.

I am an avid tea drinker.

Seriously, I love tea.

So recently when I came into the office and found that the hot water function on our water cooler was broken…

I was forlorn.

The hot water function was also broken on the machine one floor down. So rather than waiting a million years for our water kettle to heat up (it is a relic) or boiling water in the microwave (tea drinkers, you with me?) I started taking an insulated carafe down seven floors to the functional water cooler on the Mezzanine level.

Not a big deal, right? 

So why, after the third day, was I getting increasingly annoyed?  Why do I have to take time out of my day to go get water?

Then I remembered our partners in Latin America and Africa.  Dawn Murdock, our Resource Mobilization Officer, blogged a while ago about how kids at the Wachara Secondary School in Nyanza Province, Kenya, used to have to stop classes and take an hour-long hike down to the nearest stream to bring back water, and wait for it to boil just so it would be safe to drink.  Then, with support from Episcopal Relief & Development, Anglican Development Services of Nyanza (ADS) installed a rainwater catchment system at the school so that there would be plenty of water without having to interrupt classes to fetch it.  ADS provided chlorine tablets to make the water in the tank safe to drink, as well as handwashing and hygiene education, which further helped to reduce water-borne disease at the school.

After a couple of days, we got a new water cooler that makes great hot water.

So now I can have all the tea I want!

But I’ll still remember how my annoyance at having to go down a few floors to get hot water pales in comparison to the time, effort and risk that so many people – especially women and girls – have to take just to get clean, safe water.  It’s amazing the difference a hand-pump well or rainwater catchment tank can make!

Click here for a story from Nicaragua about how clean water programs are promoting health and fighting disease.  You can help support programs like these by donating to our Clean Water Fund.

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Faith Rowold is the Communications Officer at Episcopal Relief & Development.

When I was young, I never envisioned myself leading campaigns of any shade, whether political, issue based, or fundraising focused.  I was sure I’d be an architect and later a social worker.  Of course, since that time there have been larger plans at work, when I centered and really listened, to apply my gifts and passions. 

The common thread throughout my professional, community, and spiritual life has been a focus on community development and capacity building, fighting for justice and equality, developing strategic and innovative approaches for social change, and dreaming outside the box.  This has been a journey of patience, challenge, growth, humility, wins, losses, learning and transformation – both personal and collective.

Leading Episcopal Relief & Development’s NetsforLife^® Inspiration Fund – a grassroots, church-based campaign to fight malaria – has been a gift. It has brought me back to my Episcopal roots professionally, and allowed me to tap into the strengths in the Church. As a fundraiser, my obvious goal is to raise the funds. But the more meaningful goal is to take a community organizing approach by starting with identifying community strengths, gifts and passions to develop locally owned campaigns; cultivating new leaders; and expanding the circle of friends. Then, collectively, we develop a full plan to reach the goal of malaria nets purchased, resulting in engagement, education on the disease and giving. 

This campaign is about empowering and strengthening communities throughout the Episcopal Church, as well as in the 17 countries where the NetsforLife^® malaria prevention partnership works.  The transformation is happening in all of our communities, at various times and in various ways.  I’ve been fortunate to personally see this taking place – both here, as parishes, schools, dioceses and seminaries rally around this important issue, and in Ghana, where I recently met families who are healthier with the support of our local Church partners, NetsforLife^®, and community malaria agents.

I am a believer in the Church, our call to serve those in greatest need, and building a beloved community here and across the globe.  It is a privilege to be part of this movement to beat a preventable disease and bring healing and wholeness. Together, we will reach the $5 million goal for NetsforLife^® by the end of 2012.

Join the NetsforLife^® Inspiration Fund and the fight against malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.  Until May 25, all gifts to the Inspiration Fund will be matched dollar for dollar up to $430,000, thanks to a group of generous donors.

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Joy Shigaki is Director of the NetsforLife^® Inspiration Fund and Church Campaigns at Episcopal Relief & Development.

I’m grateful for Lisa C. Flores’ reflection today in Episcopal Relief & Development's 2012 Lenten Meditations, on the beautiful poem about the mind of Christ from the letter to the Philippians. In that passage, that poem, Paul tells those first Christians to have the mind of Christ, to follow Christ’s example, taking the form of a servant, entering into human likeness. Lisa artfully compares that ancient image with a more recent one from Henri Nouwen, who gave us language of the “wounded healer," a recognition of the solidarity of suffering to which we are called.

As I read this reflection, I wanted to add thoughts provided by Karen Armstrong, whose insightful study of comparative religion has led her to identify a common theme in the great world traditions. That common theme is represented in the word “compassion.” The word literally means “to suffer with,” and it is in evidence in the early poetry of St. Paul, in the story from the Talmud that described the Messiah being present to the suffering of the city. It is also visible in the ministry of Henri Nouwen, who taught the contemporary church so much about service – not out of a place of perfection, but out of our own wounds.

As we approach Holy Week, telling the story of Christ’s offering, we are given an opportunity to see how compassion lies at the heart of our faith. In the coming days, we recall how Christ suffered with us: how he went through the experience of betrayal and isolation, suffering under political and religious oppression, becoming a victim of unspeakable violence, his life ending with arms stretched out on the hard wood of the cross to draw us into his saving embrace. We are to have the same mind in us as was in evidence that first Holy Week. We are called to look around at the world in which we live, to take compassion to the city gates, wherever that may be for us. Lisa’s fine reflection challenges me to do that.

I’m personally grateful for the work of Episcopal Relief & Development, which expresses that compassionate intention in places I may never get to visit. But I don’t need to travel very far to find those needs, and I take today’s devotion as a call to do that. Thank you, Lisa.

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The Rev. Jay Sidebotham is Rector at Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, Illinois. He is a member of the Episcopal Relief & Development Board of Directors and a contributor to the agency’s 2012 Lenten Meditations.

Photo courtesy of the Rev. Jay Sidebotham.
 

This has been an unusual Lent for me. Living in a new city with a new job would be enough of a change to shake things up. But that's not what I'm thinking of. Along with my friend Tim Schenck, I have been spending lots of time and energy on Lent Madness this year.

Maybe you have heard of it, or maybe not. Lent Madness is a light-hearted way of learning more about the saints and the story of God's grace in the lives of ordinary women and men. Inspired by a popular college basketball tournament, Lent Madness pits 32 saints against one another in a single-elimination bracket. Visitors to www.lentmadness.org vote for their favorite saints. After making it through the Saintly Sixteen, the Elate Eight, and the Faithful Four, one lucky saint will win the Golden Halo.

As one commenter put it, Lent Madness offers Christian formation under a thin veneer of whimsy. It seems odd to vote for (and against) saints. It might seem strange to be laughing so much during Lent, even though the prayer books bids us to "prepare with joy for the Paschal feast" in this season. And that's not all that's unusual.

Just today I bought a copy of Sports Illustrated – an unprecedented activity for me, because I wanted to read the column that mentions Lent Madness. Millions of people will see this. Newspapers from the Washington Post to the Houston Chronicle, from the Toledo Blade to the Oklahoma City Oklahoman have covered the story. This is not the kind of coverage the Episcopal Church or even the communion of saints usually gets. In a good way.

And what does all this have to do with Episcopal Relief & Development?

All of the saints, without exception, have offered a glimpse of the power of God to transform people, who then transform the world. There are no saints of the status quo.

Like Episcopal Relief & Development, all of the saints have been engaged in a mission to heal the world. Their stories invite us to deepen our relationship with God and to share God's love with the world. You might chuckle through the write-up about Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Enmegahbowh, but their stories are inspiring any way you read them. If we see that God works through other people, then perhaps we will believe that God can work in us.

This is the genius behind the idea of Lent Madness as Tim created it. By getting outside the usual language of piety, we can draw new people in to a life of transforming faith and bold work.

Which saints inspire you? Are we showing God's grace in a way that one day we might be celebrated as saints? What's holding us back?

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The Rev. Scott Gunn is executive director of Forward Movement, a nonprofit agency of the Episcopal Church that publishes inspirational Christian content. The organization produced Episcopal Relief & Development’s 2012 Lenten Meditations. Scott blogs at www.sevenwholedays.org.

Think again about the consequences of not having access to water: What would you do to address the domino effect of resulting problems, as happens for many people in rural West Bengal, India?

The Samadi Community Development Program approaches this fundamental need in several ways. First, they build and repair hand pumps, which provide communities with clean water for drinking, cooking and hygiene. They provide training so that residents can keep their pumps in good working order. Second, the program’s volunteer health workers raise awareness at community meetings on the need for clean water and sanitation practices – washing hands and bodies with safe water, boiling drinking and cooking water, hygienically washing dishes and laundry – and they refer sick community members to the project’s clinic. 

Third, the program builds agri-water harvesting structures to provide irrigation for fields. In 2011, five such structures enabled 175 farmers to grow crops for two and three planting seasons per year rather than one, which has entirely eliminated food insecurity and the need for day labor for these families.

The Samadi Program still has much to do. In 2012, health educators will continue to raise awareness on clean water use, and 99 additional families will benefit from three new agri-water harvesting structures. The practice of using contaminated pond water for bathing and other daily needs is still a challenge, and the program is exploring other ways to catch and store adequate amounts of clean water.

World Water Day has been a time to acknowledge that not everyone is blessed with access to clean water, and to recognize the importance of a sustainable supply of fresh water for the world’s population. Episcopal Relief & Development is proud to support initiatives such as the Samadi Community Development Program and its efforts to address health, poverty and hunger through access to clean water. 

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Saranga Jain is a Program Officer with Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photos: Right, a community stands atop an agri-water harvesting structure in West Bengal, with dammed water at left and agricultural fields on the right. Left, the field of a farmer utilizing an agri-water harvesting structure can produce two to three crops a year instead of just one, helping ensure a steady food supply.

As yesterday was World Water Day, I’ve been thinking more about how vital water is to human life. When you’ve always had access to clean water, though, it’s easy to wonder what all the fuss on this day is about. So let’s take a minute to imagine – what does it mean to not have access to clean water? 

I recently visited rural West Bengal, India, an area with high poverty and illiteracy rates, numerous health issues, and yearly food shortages. Staff and volunteers with the Samadi Community Development Program have responded to these issues with inspiring dedication. The program – implemented by the Diocese of Durgapur, Episcopal Relief & Development's partner, in 38 villages throughout the forests of West Bengal —conducts children’s literacy classes five mornings a week to boost school performance. It also provides health education, improves livestock quality through vaccinations and insemination, improves access to food through agricultural education, and facilitates women’s self-help groups and micro finance loans to help families earn income. Yet these efforts are challenged by the problem of water.

Lack of clean water stymies development

If clean water flowed freely in rural West Bengal, the sky would be the limit in the difference the Samadi Program could make. Yet hand pumps are few and far between, and provide a minimal amount of clean water for drinking, cooking and hygiene.

Most residents catch rainwater for four months each year in large ponds dug in the hard earth. This water is used the rest of the year for all household needs, such as washing laundry, bathing and watering animals. Fish are sometimes raised in the ponds to help feed the family. But over time, the ponds become stagnant, contaminated by detergents, soap and livestock use, and also breed mosquitoes and other parasites. The fish consume these pollutants as well. Without a hygienic source of water, many community members get sick with diarrheal disease, skin irritations, parasitic diseases, and waterborne illnesses such as cholera.

As a result, children in the Samadi Program’s literacy classes sometimes fall behind in school because they are ill. Parents participating in the self-help and micro finance programs frequently get sick too, limiting their ability to earn much-needed income. Getting sick risks the lives of the community’s most vulnerable, including young children and the elderly, and could mean spending the little money a family has on health care.

But global water-related problems are twofold: everyone needs both clean water and enough water. Not having enough water has meant that West Bengal communities cannot grow crops after the rainy season. As a result, many farmers search for day labor when the food they grow runs out. Day laborers work on the land of others, often make only enough to feed themselves for the day, and are at constant risk of going hungry if work is not available. Getting sick is not an option, though it occurs often nonetheless, and exploitation, such as poor working conditions and having wages withheld, is frequently a problem.

Access to clean and adequate water is a challenge in many communities worldwide, and is intrinsically connected to poverty and hunger. In Part 2, find out how the Samadi Community Development Program has been able to improve the quality of water in the areas where they work, as well as ensure families are food secure.

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Saranga Jain is a Program Officer with Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photos: Right, a traditional pond for water collection in West Bengal. Over time, these ponds become contaminated and cause numerous health problems for communities, Left, building and maintaining hand pumps is am important part of the Samadi Program's integrated approach to community development and health.

In Nicaragua, our partner El Porvenir is working with communities on integrated water, sanitation and hygiene programs that are notably impacting people’s health. Zeneyda, a resident of the rural community of El Chaguite, said that before a well was built, she got up at 4 a.m. and walked 20 minutes to collect contaminated water from a nearby creek. Without latrines, her community had frequent cases of diarrhea, especially among small children. She has had three miscarriages caused by toxoplasmosis parasite due to fecal contamination on her hands. Zeneyda said, “We have worked with this organization in the building of a community well and in the construction of latrines in every home… to have a better quality of life.”

Access to clean water in El Chaguite and any other community, however, is contingent on preventing the depletion of available water sources. To ensure that deforestation does not deplete the local watershed further, El Porvenir sets up community tree nurseries, plants trees in watershed areas, and raises awareness on the link between trees and water. Cutting down trees for cooking fuel contributes to deforestation, so the program also has begun to promote low-fuel smokeless stoves that are built to use fallen branches rather than tree trunks for fuel. Chimneys are added to the stoves to decrease direct smoke inhalation, which contributes to respiratory infections among women and children.

World Water Day is a reminder that our health is interconnected with the health of our planet and that there is a careful balance we must achieve to sustain both. From agricultural infrastructure, to planting trees to digging latrines, Episcopal Relief & Development is committed to addressing all aspects required for both clean and adequate water and a steady food supply for the communities we serve

To learn more about how human usage affects the natural water cycle, watch this World Water Day animation (iPhone and iPad users can download an mp4 file).

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Saranga Jain is a Program Officer witih Episcopal Relief & Development.

Photos: Left, courtesy of El Porvenir staff in Nile Sprague. Right, courtesy of El Porvenir staff in El Chaguite.

It is World Water Day, and the theme this year is “Water and Food Security” – a chance to think about the relationship between water, food production and food supply.

Our daily water usage for cooking, drinking and hygiene is one aspect of this relationship. Another, much larger aspect is the tremendous amount of water required for producing the food we consume, through agriculture, livestock and fisheries. About 70 percent of the world’s “blue water” (held in wetlands, lakes, reservoirs, etc.) is used for irrigating our lands. This is why water and food security are so closely linked. Access to water means access to more food and better nutrition. In so many ways, our health is dependent on access to water.

At the same time, water is becoming scarcer. Our water usage, vital as it is, disrupts the natural water cycle. In addition, the growing world population requires more food and water, and it is predicted that climate change will further reduce the availability of water in many areas.

As a global community, we urgently need to begin reducing our “water footprint” as much as possible, and El Porvenir, an Episcopal Relief & Development partner in Nicaragua, is helping lead the way. El Porvenir’s integrated approach includes building clean water infrastructure, promoting hygiene and protecting a depleting watershed through protection of precious forests.

Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Twenty-five percent of the population struggles to survive on less than $2 per day. Of the rural population, 37 percent do not have access to safe and potable water, and 66 percent lack functioning sanitation systems. Throughout the country, contaminated water sources and unsafe hygiene practices cause the deaths of many women and children by preventable diseases like diarrhea and parasites. In addition, deforestation has led to a significant drop in the country’s watershed.

El Porvenir’s Clean Water Project has worked in 164 rural communities in Nicaragua’s Camoapa and San Lorenzo Districts – having reached about 32,000 people, mostly subsistence farmers and cattle farmers. The project builds latrines, water systems, hand washing stations, wells, and washing and bathing stations at schools and in communities. In 2011, they also tested 97 water sources for water quality, reached more than 10,000 people through home visits and community workshops on health and hygiene education, organized 221 cleanup days to promote neighborhood sanitation, and conducted a weekly radio program to deliver sanitation messages.

These efforts have had an incredible impact on people’s well-being. In Part 2, I’ll share one resident’s story, and look at another program component that works to preserve the natural water supply.

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Saranga Jain is a Program Officer with Episcopal Relief & Development.

A major criticism of many carbon offset programs is that they can be a gimmick – a way for the “polluters” to feel redeemed of their pollution by spending a few dollars to plant a tree or two someplace far away.  There may be some truth to that critique, but that’s not why Episcopal Relief & Development is partnering with the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) on a unique approach to offset our carbon usage.

As we discussed our proposal for an offset program, ECP challenged me that if they were to accept our proposal, then we would need to change our behavior in New York.   And we have.  Episcopal Relief & Development has resolved to reduce or eliminate any travel that we can, and offset all travel that we cannot (particularly when we are obligated to be good stewards of resources and confirm that funds are spent according to donor intent).  

Now, staff combine field visits to multiple programs and countries on one trip, although the longer duration means that we spend more time away from our families. (I remember a recent trip where I was away from my two-year old, Aanya, for over four weeks – a very long time at that age!) We also encourage booking direct flights to minimize emissions even if it means a costlier airfare. In-country, we engage with local public transport options that are more environmentally friendly (e.g., trains, buses) instead of available flights, even if they are quicker and more convenient. (I, and several of my colleagues, have spent countless hours and overnight trips on ferries, trains and buses).  It’s a sacrifice I feel is also my Christian responsibility in safeguarding God’s creation.

Similar to other Episcopal Relief & Development projects addressing sound environmental protection and restoration activities worldwide, our carbon offset partnership with ECP engages with indigenous communities on specific forestry initiatives that promote permanence of the forests and involve native species of vegetation. And ECP has designed a fantastic program, with the help of experts at a local university, in which a community is rewarded with a “Certificate of Climate Change Adaptation” for planting a minimum of 2,000 trees. The certificate is issued only after local church verification of the eligibility criteria, including that the trees are planted on a mountainside in a landslide area and in sufficient numbers to control soil erosion.  Each certificate represents the sequestration of 50 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and can be sold to Episcopal Relief & Development for an equal representation of our air travel carbon emissions.

Episcopal Church of the Philippines staff monitor one of the reforestation
program areas in the carbon offset project 
 

This partnership with the Episcopal Church in the Philippines has been exciting. We believe it’s a prime example of a model that seeks to ensure the environmental sustainability in our community development programming, while striving to reduce the adverse impacts of all activities as much as possible – including (or especially) those of our New York office.  

During this penitential period of Lent, I encourage all of us to reflect on our own stewardship of God’s creation. What steps might we each consider taking to reduce our impact on the planet?

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Nagulan Nesiah is a Program Officer with Episcopal Relief & Development.