23 Oct Global Sisterhood
This piece was guest authored by Lynn Ondrovic, a High Impact volunteer at Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women & Children.
We all have the same struggles.
A team of Dynamic Women in Missions from One Mission Society facilitated classes at training centers in Kenya and Uganda. This training taught the participating women simple tools to be disciples in their villages. The Higher Ground (Wheeler’s addiction recovery program for women) ladies made multi-colored clay cross necklaces for the team to give to women in Kenya and Uganda.
The Higher Ground guests were so creative and really enjoyed making the necklaces to give to their global sisters. Seventy-five ladies received handmade cross necklaces with their certificate of completion of Seed Sower training, and they were very touched to receive such personal gifts from the Higher Ground ladies. The majority of the African women spoke English and were able to tell the team firsthand about their daily lives. They shared how they work to raise enough money for the basic necessities and education for their children.
After the trip, the Higher Ground ladies received an update and learned more about the women in Africa. The Higher Ground guests also participated in the “Who I am in Christ” training segment. Through this process, the ladies came up with this list of who the world says women are: not valued, not listened to, not respected, subservient to men, incompetent, house cleaner, baby maker, care giver, and only valued for body image. The list of lies that the world gives women compiled in Africa and in Indiana was virtually identical. The ladies then each received Bible verses to discover the truth of who they are in Christ. A list of some of these were: saved, overcomers, victorious, strengthened, united with Christ, healed, salt of the earth. It was amazing to discover that the lies and issues American and African women face are the same even though we live in completely different cultures. It was a really cool reminder that we are all sisters in Christ around the globe.