NCM Magazine/Summer 2016

A PUBLICATION OF N A Z A R E N E C O M P A S S I O N A T E M I N I S T R I E S

S U M M E R

2 0 1 6

REFLECTING GOD’S LOVE C L E A N WAT E R I S T R A N S F O R M I N G L I V E S I N S I E R R A L E O N E

… for those who embrace compassion as a lifestyle

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Puganan.

FROM POVERTY TO POSSIBILITY...

YOU CAN CHANGE A CHILD’S STORY Sponsor a child in Jesus’ name. ncm.org/sponsor To sponsor a child, go online to ncm.org/sponsor or cut off and mail this form using the prepaid envelope. l I would like to sponsor a child for $30 a month. I would like to sponsor: l Greatest Need I would like to sponsor a child from:

l Greatest Need l Latin America

l Boy

l Asia l Asia-Pacific l Caribbean l Eastern Europe l Middle East

l Girl l Africa

Name / Group____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person (if different)_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address / City / State / ZIP_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone____________________________________________ Email__________________________________________________________________ Church to receive 10% giving credit_______________________________________________________________________________________ You can mail this form to: Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Child Sponsorship

17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas 66220 No payment is due now. You will receive information by mail about your sponsored child and payment options.

Table of Contents DEPARTMENTS 4

Connection Points 27

Called to Compassion 28

Love in Action 30

Snapshot

NCM Magazine Summer Issue, 2016 NCM Magazine aims to tell the stories of the church living out Christ’s compassion.

Our hope is that all of us would hear the call to compassion as a lifestyle.

Magazine Design: Paul Kinsman Cover Photo: Jeffrey Purganan

Following the example of Jesus, NCM partners with local Nazarene congregations around the world to clothe, shelter, feed, heal, educate, and live in solidarity with those who suffer under oppression, injustice, violence, poverty, hunger, and disease. NCM exists in and through the Church of the Nazarene to proclaim the gospel to all people in word and deed. n

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362, info@ncm.org n

To sign up for a free subscription, please visit ncm.org/magazine or call (800) 310-6362.

For subscription changes, email info@ncm.org or write to NCM Magazine, 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220.

FEATURES

12

Drops of Mercy For most families in rural Sierra Leone, the available water sources cause illness through bacteria and other contaminants. Safe water can be the difference between life and death.

Churches are reflecting God’s love through the gift of clean water.

20

Net Gain Kroo Bay, a slum in Sierra Leone, sits next to a filthy waterway that has become a breeding ground for deadly mosquitoes. Still staggering from the after-effects of Ebola, they needed a way to prevent the sting of rampant malaria, too. The church is wading in to help.

22

Redeeming Grace In the mountains of central Europe, one church is trying to live out grace. Opening its doors to pimps and prostituted women, their story is becoming one of hope as they show the light of Christ by loving others as they are.

12

20

22

24

Daily Bread (And Eggs and Wool) In rural Armenia, job opportunities are few and hunger is common. The Nazarene church is responding with sheep and chickens. Now, families are experiencing food security for the first time.

n

24

Questions? Comments? Email info@ncm.org. n

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

facebook.com/ nazcompassion

twitter.com/ nazcompassion

instagram.com/ nazcompassion

ncm.org

Connection Points.

On the last day

OPENING NOTES

What Do You See?

of the festival,

by Jeffrey Purganan

T

he question is not what you look at, but what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau This April, I went as a photographer to help document the church’s efforts in Sierra Leone to provide clean water in the aftermath of the Ebola crisis. After two years of devastating news reports, I was unsure what I would see or how I could faithfully document the work of the church under such trying conditions. Since arriving home, there are two stories that I have begun to tell together to help explain my time there. One story is from Scripture, and the other is from my time with a local church in Sierra Leone.

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” — Numbers 13:30 (NIV) Moses had led the people through the wilderness for 40 years and finally stood on the edge of the promised place for God’s people. Unsure of what to do, Moses sent 12 scouts to bring back a report. The majority of reports relayed the trouble ahead and caused the people to despair. However, there were two scouts who came back with a different message. Caleb and Joshua agreed that the challenges ahead were great, but with God on their side, they could possess the land.

Similarly, Pastor Vidal Cole is our district superintendent and a scout in Sierra Leone for the global Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Vidal took me to schools where tuition is provided for children who can’t afford it. He showed me neighborhood clean-up efforts to fight disease in an urban slum area in Freetown, the capital. And he took me into homes where the church provided mosquito netting for pregnant women and young children to prevent malaria. On my last day in the country, he took me along to see the dedication of a new deep water well in the Ogoo Farm community outside Freetown.

4 | NCM Magazine

the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who During the dedication, Pastor Vidal used the well as an illustration to describe how God provides living water through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Preaching briefly from John 7:37-38, he explained the words of Jesus when He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

I have seen the work of local churches in Sierra Leone, and I believe that God is working through our church to respond with compassion to people in Sierra Leone. I believe that we have a great opportunity to expand our ministry and impact and hope that you will join with us in seeking justice and responding generously in love.

If you read “Drops of Mercy” beginning on page 12 and “Net Gain” on page 20, you can see for yourself.

Jeffrey Purganan is pastor for the Possibility Project at Sunnyvale (California) Church of the Nazarene and photographer for www.SavingActs.org.

believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

— John 7:37-38

CHILD SPONSORSHIP SPOTLIGHT

Making an Eternal Difference CLETUS AND BETTY HOFFMAN, UNITED STATES (OHIO)

W

hen Cletus and Betty Hoffman heard Yeabu’s story, their decision to sponsor him was immediate. The 6-year-old from Sierra Leone had lost his mother to the Ebola virus. They learned his story when Monica Carr, a Nazarene missionary in West Africa, came to speak at their church in Coshocton, Ohio.

Sponsoring Yeabu was an easy decision for Cletus and Betty, who had been sponsoring 11-year-old Benedict from India since 2010.

“Jesus commands us to care for the children,” Cletus says. “We felt led to get involved and do something to help a child born into poverty.”

The Hoffmans have always enjoyed hearing from Benedict, who has thanked them for helping provide the

necessities for him to attend school.

Thanks to the letters he writes, they know he is a good student, loves to play cricket, and plays the rhythm pad during church services.

“Sponsorship has made us aware that poverty is much more of a problem than we used to think,” explains Cletus, who is retired from working in a calendar factory, while Betty is retired from a clerical role in health services. “We really can’t fathom the hardships that some children have to cope with.”

He adds, “I think that if it’s possible for someone to help a child through sponsorship, that person would find it very rewarding. It is very affordable and something that might make an eternal difference for a child.”

We w hear fr ant to om you

“We felt led to get involved and do something to help a child born into poverty,” Cletus Hoffman says.

!

Shar sponso e your rshi by em p story ai cs@nc ling m.o rg.

PERSPECTIVES

Photo courtesy of NCM Lanka

Healing After War: Sathi’s Story

V

idu* and Neja lived in a village in northern Sri Lanka with their two children, 2-year-old Sathi and newborn Diyon, when the country was ensnared in a vicious civil war.

Vidu earned very little money selling fish, but the family was happy. One night, though, the dangers of war forced them to flee their home. They found shelter in a

bunker, but soon the children were on the verge of starvation. They had no choice but to let Vidu leave to look for food.

When a shell fell close to the bunker, Vidu became one of nearly 100 people who were killed. After the war finally ended, Neja and the children returned to their home community. They were still trying to heal after so much loss.

Neja remarried to a man named Anushka. Sathi was now 8, and Diyon was 5. Their home life was not as happy as before. One day, after one too many arguments, Anushka lost control, killed his wife, and fled the village.

The orphaned children were taken in by an uncle who lived in a neighboring village. He offered the help he could, but his resources were limited. He could provide food and shelter, but not tuition for school.

A nearby Nazarene child development center decided to help Sathi with her schooling—and her healing. Sathi was given everything she needed for an education, including counseling and meals.

Over time, she transitioned from a reserved, isolated girl to a happier child.

Thanks to the care and time spent with friends at the child development center, both she and her brother began to recover little by little. Now they are growing up with hope. *The family members’ names have all been changed for privacy and protection.

Summer 2016 | 5

Connection Points.

YOUTH IN ACTION

Just Water: Two Groups, Two Churches, Two Villages

by Brooklyn Lindsey, Nazarene Youth International

Photos courtesy of Bel Air Church and NYI Indonesia

Renny and her group decided not only to share Just Water with their church, but also to lead the movement at a camp with other youth in the Java-Bali district.

In Renny’s group, 22 people committed to fast for seven days, seven more committed to 40 days, and six committed to fast for a full 365 days. They are continuing their fundraising and are excited to support clean water in Sri Lanka.

Their equation—one youth group, one church, and one purpose—raised enough money to change the lives of a family in Sri Lanka.

These are only two stories out of many.

Together, through the leadership of youth, the church is participating in the larger Story of God in our world.

Together, youth around the world are changing “no’s”—no safe water, no access to sanitation facilities, no hygiene education— into “now’s.” Now, projects will enhance knowledge and capacity through trainings and awareness programs, and two communities will gain access to safe water and sanitation services. And now, because of the way youth and their churches have moved with compassion, two villages in Sri Lanka can begin to interrupt the cycles of poverty and disease.

L

ast summer, we witnessed the birth of the youth-led Justice Movement. Youth around the world began with a simple mission: to be a voice for biblical justice and Christ-like compassion in the world and to respond to real-life needs.

Since July 2015, groups around the world have been participating in the Justice Movement’s first campaign, Just Water, which focuses on learning about the global water crisis and then doing something about it. As a form of advocacy and fundraising, groups have been drinking “just water” and fasting from their normal beverages. Many have also hosted Just Water Weekends, using a curriculum and event kit available online at no cost. Together, they have raised their voices and then raised money to fund clean water projects in two villages in Sri Lanka—Mahilavattawan

6 | NCM Magazine

and Naripulthottam.

So what does Just Water look like? Here are two stories to illustrate: The first comes from Weston, a youth leader at Bel Air Church of the Nazarene in Maryland (U.S.). His youth group hosted a Just Water Weekend that included a “water walk,” learning experiences, and fundraising. Their timing aligned with the church’s Faith Promise weekend, and their pastor and congregation joined them in support and encouragement.

Their equation—one youth group, one church, and one purpose—raised enough funds to cover the costs of a full water, sanitation, and hygiene program for an entire village in Sri Lanka. Together, they are equipping that village to change its own story forever.

The second comes from Renny, a youth leader at a Nazarene church in Indonesia.

It doesn’t matter when you start.

It only matters that you do. justicemovement.com

CHANGED LIVES

Not for Sale: Hope for a Victim of Human Trafficking

by Rebecca Sukanen, NCM CIS

W

e will call her Maria*. She is 19 and the mother of a young son who lives with his aunt in another town in Moldova.

Her mother died when Maria was young, and her father wasn’t around. She and her sister went to live with their grandparents, but things began to fall apart when her grandmother died. After a short while, Maria ran away from her grandfather to the city where her cousin lived. This same cousin introduced her to the streets, and with only a grade-9 education, Maria was prostituted for the first time. She was 13 years old.

Thirteen.

We first met Maria during a volunteer training day for our Mobile Intervention Clinic. A Christian doctor and counselor, both trauma-trained, were teaching five volunteers how to provide pre- and post-counselling for women being tested for HIV/ AIDS. While researching ways the church could address the problem of human trafficking in Moldova, we learned that this test is one service women in the sex trade said they would welcome. In response, we turned a van into a mobile clinic to provide rapid HIV/AIDS tests and health checks, as well as referrals to other services.

Maria was the first young woman we approached. We asked if she would like to be tested, and she timidly accepted the offer.

Inside the van, she told us how she wound up in this life and was tested for HIV. Thankfully, the test came back negative, but Maria said she was worried that she was pregnant.

She asked if we would stay until after she took a pregnancy test that she had already purchased. We agreed.

The test confirmed Maria’s suspicions.

Her face fell. She said she was considering an abortion—she pitied the life another child might have with her. She still hoped to have more children later in life, though, and expressed concerns about problems with pregnancy after an abortion. The doctor confirmed that risks did exist.

I shared with Maria our desire to help women in the sex trade exit and begin new lives. I told her we could connect her with other organizations that can help. I told her

we were there to walk alongside her and help in any way we could.

While I spoke, Maria kept her eyes fixed downward, avoiding eye contact. But when we offered to take her to the doctor to get an ultrasound of the baby, Maria lifted her head and said she would like that.

“When?” we asked.

“Now,” she said.

Three of us went with Maria to the doctor, who said her baby was already 11 weeks old. When Maria showed us the sonogram image, we celebrated with her. She didn’t talk anymore of abortion from that point.

Two weeks later, after frequent contact with our counselor, Maria visited a Christian residential restoration program for survivors of sex trafficking. While she didn’t make a decision that day, she did articulate a basic hope: “[I want] to have my family together with me.”

After thinking it over, Maria decided to move into the restoration home. Today, a new life is possible for her—and her children. *Her name has been changed for privacy and protection.

Rebecca Sukanen is a Nazarene missionary in Moldova, where she leads church-based anti-human trafficking efforts.

MOLDOVA MOBILE INTERVENTION CLINIC

M

oldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, is a hotbed for

human trafficking. Desperation, poverty, and lack of education make girls and young women vulnerable to traffickers who promise a better life, only to force them into slavery and prostitution. In response, the Nazarene church in Moldova has started a Mobile Intervention Clinic to provide free medical services and referrals to Christ-centered restoration centers that provide a way off the streets. The goal is to get victims and their children, as well as potential victims, out of this danger zone.

TO SUPPORT anti-trafficking work in Moldova, go to ncm.org/Moldova.

TO LEARN more about church-centered anti-trafficking ministries, go to ncm.org/trafficking.

Summer 2016 | 7

Connection Points.

COMPASSION CONNECTION

Promise of New Life: Ukraine Church Ministers to Families Displaced by Political Violence

by NCM CIS

T

he seaside city of Odessa, Ukraine, is known as a resort town. Its health sanatoriums were designed to be places of rest and recovery, where residents could relax, recreate, and in some cases receive shortterm medical services. But in the gray winter months of 2016, one sanatorium outside the city felt more like “the setup of a horror movie,” says Iryna Galisevych, child development coordinator for the CIS field.

Its new residents aren’t on vacation; instead, they’re some of the 1.4 million people displaced by violence in eastern Ukraine after the Ukrainian political revolution and the subsequent Russian Federation annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Nearly all of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) at

Photos courtesy of NCM CIS

When hundreds of children, many with disabilities were forced from their homes, the church in Ukraine responded.

8 | NCM Magazine

the camp outside Odessa are part of families with children, many of whom have disabilities and, now, no resources.

When volunteers from the Odessa Church of the Nazarene visited the camp, they were struck by the range of needs among the residents, from children with disabilities to senior adults with significant physical challenges.

“I’ve never seen so many disabled people of different ages gathered in the same place,” says Andriy Takhtay, coordinator for NCM in the CIS field. “Back home [in Kyiv], many of the children had a chance to be a part of groups for children with [specific needs] and were provided specialized quality help, but now all those children were just gathered

together as one large group.”

The sanatorium rooms, which had been abandoned for years, have no stoves or refrigerators. For a while, food was provided in the dining hall, but with decreases in government funding, residents now have to pay for their food and accommodations—a challenge when jobs are nearly impossible to come by and the small amount of state support each family receives barely covers children’s education and medical needs.

The children take a bus to Odessa for school, but they have no access to the sports clubs, music education, or other activities that could support their overall development. Children with disabilities ranging from cerebral palsy to autism do not receive the medical or professional services they need.

“The need is great, and people are left hopeless there,” Takhtay says.

In response, Nazarene churches in Ukraine are exploring how to help with a range of groups, including those with psychological needs, residents who are blind

or visually impaired, children with general needs, children with disabilities, adults with disabilities, and senior adults.

Volunteers from churches in Ukraine are installing kitchens, providing social services, partnering with Christian medical ministries that can support the specialized needs of many of the camp’s residents, and facilitating a Kids’ Club for children that includes games, crafts, music, and Bible stories. Volunteers with experience working with children with disabilities are traveling more than 10 hours round-trip every couple of weeks to assist with the ministry.

Volunteers have also been holding weekly Bible studies for residents of the camp. When Bible study participants became interested in attending church, Pastor Nabil Babbaisiy began to hold a weekly worship service at the camp in addition to the service at the church in Odessa. Then on Easter Sunday 2016, members of the Odessa church all journeyed to the camp and, with more than 165 gathered, celebrated Christ’s resurrection—and the promise of new life—together.

QUOTABLE “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the Political violence in easter n Ukraine has displaced more than a million people. In Odessa, the Church of the Nazarene is ministering to hundreds of displaced children and adults, many with disabilities and other specific needs, through Bible studies, activities for children, and basics such as food and medicine. To learn more or support the ministry, go to ncm.org/Odessa.

ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

— John Wesley

Volunteers drive more than 10 hours round-trip to host a Kids’ Club at a camp for displaced families.

How are you or others you know living compassion as a lifestyle? How is your church living compassion in your community? And how have you seen compassion change lives?

We want to share your stories!

Go online to ncm.org/story.

Summer 2016 | 9

Connection Points.

PRAY WITH US

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Purganan

entertained angels without knowing it.

STREAMS OF MERCY

GOD, we know that 1 out of every 10 people in our world lacks access to safe water, and every 90 seconds a child dies from a water-related cause. In Sierra Leone, more than half of people living in rural areas do not have access to safe water. Nearly one out of every five children in Sierra Leone will die before his or her fifth birthday. Clean, safe water could prevent many of those deaths.

We thank You for the work of Your church to provide access to safe water in Sierra Leone and so many other countries around the world.

Please continue to work through Your people to provide safe water for those who are thirsty in the name of the One who is Living Water.

Lord, this is our prayer.

PRAYERS FOR FREEDOM

GOD, we’ve recently learned that the Global Slavery Index estimates more than 45 million people are trapped in slavery today through forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation.

Greed drives this evil enterprise that preys on girls, boys, women, and men who are vulnerable to human trafficking. We pray for the rescue and restoration of those enslaved.

Far too often, children are trafficked, 10 | NCM Magazine

many into the sex trade. May they be freed from their exploitation and experience new life and healing. We pray, too, for children who are vulnerable to trafficking—those in the foster care system, those who are abused, immigrants and refugees, and those living in crushing poverty. Please use us to minister to children and prevent exploitation.

Lord, this is our prayer.

ON THE MOVE

GOD, our hearts cry out for the 60 million individuals in our world who are displaced from their homes due to violence and persecution. As we learn about the situations of more than 1 million people displaced in Ukraine and more than 9.5 million who have fled from their homes in Syria, we yearn for the danger to end. We yearn for mercy and compassion. And we are thankful for the ways You are working through Your people to serve those who are on a desperate search for safety and stability.

In the busy days we fill up, it’s too easy to forget what is happening in other parts of our neighborhoods and our world. Help us to remember, and use us to show others Your love.

Lord, this is our prayer. Amen.

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

— Hebrews 13:1-3

MEET RORY. When she grows up, Rory wants to be a cook.

Right now, she is a 10-year-old girl who lives with her parents, brother, and sister in Albania. But, like many children all over the world, Rory and her family are living in poverty.

For $30 a month — only 99 cents a day — you can play a role in making sure Rory grows up to realize her dreams.

Sponsoring a child isn’t just writing a check. It’s a relationship. You can make sure Rory receives nutritious meals, quality education, and the life skills she needs to break the cycle of poverty. Most of all, you’ll be ensuring that Rory has hope.

Will you help Rory realize her dreams?

To inquire about sponsoring Rory, email cs@ncm.org or call 800.310.6362. To sponsor another child in Jesus’ name, go to ncm.org/sponsor.

DROPS OF 12 | NCM Magazine

MERCY

In Sierra Leone, churches reflect God’s love through the gift of clean water

By Beth Clayton Luthye, NCM Communications Photos by Jeffrey Purganan

Summer 2016 | 13

W

ater is life. It has become a cliché, but sometimes clichés are true. For people living in Sierra Leone, those three words are a daily reality that is never taken for granted. Each day’s schedule revolves around collecting water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and laundry. For most, the task also brings with it the worry that contaminants in the water may cause illness. In fact, thousands of children in the country die each year due to water-related diseases that are almost entirely preventable.

“Sometimes we got sick because of germs,” says Davida, a young mother of two boys, ages 4 and 2. “The children got very sick with diarrhea.”

Davida walked four to five times a day to collect that dirty water. The walk takes about 20 minutes each way, which equates to an average of three hours a day walking for water.

Amina, a young woman in her 20s from a different community, shares a similar story.

“You spend all your time there at the stream,” she says. “I was sad every day.”

A 2012 survey of 28,000 water points in Sierra Leone, conducted by the government’s Ministry of Water Resources, showed that 52 percent of people in rural areas have no access to safe water, and as many as 40 percent of the water points provide water consistently only during the rainy season.

The Church of the Nazarene in Sierra Leone is determined to work toward changing those numbers.

“As a church, we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the things that affect our people,” says Rev. Vidal Cole, who serves as the Nazarene district superintendent in Sierra Leone. “In as much as we won’t be able to meet all the needs, still we must do what we can. The church is the agent of change in the community. … We should not just seek to affect the spiritual needs of our people.

When we meet community needs, we send a strong message to our communities that we care about them. I believe that’s the way Jesus ministered in His days, and we have been called to do nothing less.”

MORE WATER NOW Davida is from a community called Monkey Bush, located about 30 kilometers from Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city. Until about 10 years ago, the area was little more than a thicket of trees occupied by small monkeys. Today, you’ll find a smattering of mango trees here and there, a carpet of fine red dust on the ground, and a development of cement block houses occupied by families who left the country’s interior, hoping to find more opportunities closer to the capital.

A few homes in Monkey Bush have handdug wells outside. These belong to families with money to buy cement and supplies and the strength to do the work. Despite their convenience, though, they are not the best solution for the country’s water problem.

Once filled, a bucket of water has to sit for a while to allow the sediment to settle, and sometimes that isn’t enough. During certain times of the year, water is poured through a sieve to catch larger pieces of debris. Diarrheal disease is common.

Hand-dug wells reach only the first level of the water table, which is contaminated by ground water runoff. In Sierra Leone, the water is also contaminated by mineral content that is hazardous when consumed. What’s more, any contaminants on individual buckets that are lowered into the well are then introduced to the water supply.

The Nazarene church in Monkey Bush recently introduced a borehole well, which goes to the deeper, uncontaminated levels of the water table.

“I feel happy,” Davida says. “We have more water now.”

“We are also happy for the water,” says Zainabu, a mother of six children, ages 15, 10, 12, 5, 1, and 2 months. “The difference is so much. Now, water is constant. Before, the distance brought suffering to walk so far carrying water.”

Now that Zainabu and her children don’t have to spend hours each day to collect water, they are able to “spend more time as a family,” she says.

“As a church, we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the things that affect our people.

In as much as we won’t be able to meet all the needs, still we must do what we can.

The church is the agent of change in the community.”

14 | NCM Magazine

(Clockwise from top) This is a common site in rural communities in Sierra Leone. Children and adults gather at a shallow stream, which serves as the source of water for bathing, doing laundry, cooking, and drinking. Just steps away, the upstream source for this stream was filled with green algae, as well as a discarded flip flop, an aluminum can, and other trash. A young man named Alpha explains, “This is all we have. We drink by faith.�

Each year, more than 1,600 children under 5 die from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation in Sierra Leone. The country has the highest rate of

under-5 mortality in the world.

The Church of the Nazarene in Sierra Leone is partnering with rural water-poor communities to drill borehole wells that provide clean, safe water and prevent water-related illness.

In Sierra Leone, as well as other countries in Africa, women and children often carry water in 5-gallon plastic jerry cans, which weigh more than 40 pounds when full. Women and children spend an average of four hours each day walking just to collect water for their families. That means they spend two hours each day walking while carrying 40 pounds of water on their heads.

Summer 2016 | 15

(Clockwise from top) The task of collecting water for families falls to women and children, although it is most often girls who bear the brunt of that burden. Sabi, the young girl pictured here, no longer has to hike up and down a steep hill to collect water that isn’t even clean. “Now, we are not suffering like before,” she says.

The water crisis in Sierra Leone not only affects the health of children, but it also undermines their education, particularly that of girls, who have the household responsibility of walking for water, which causes them to be late to class or miss school altogether.

Zainabu is the mother of six children, including a 5-year-

old daughter, living in Monkey Bush. “The difference is so much [with the well],” she says. “Now, water is constant.” With easy access to safe, clean water, Zainabu says she is able to spend more time with her children now.

Mariatou is a member of the Monkey Bush Church of the Nazarene.

She has two children, a 4-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy. Because of the new water well, she says, “I don’t have to think about how to get water now.” Before, she would get only four buckets of water a day, but now, she gets up to seven. With the additional buckets, there is enough safe drinking water to stay healthy, and washing laundry is no longer a luxury.

WOMEN’S (AND GIRLS’) WORK In Sierra Leone, as in most parts of the world, the responsibility for collecting water for the household falls on women and children, mostly girls. As a result, girls are often late to classes, or they have to miss school altogether on some days. With easy access to water, girls have equal access to the opportunities that come with education.

Sabi* is a young girl who attends a small primary school of about 90 students. Until very recently, she had to walk about 40 minutes round-trip for one bucket of water, a journey that requires hiking up and down a steep slope. The return trip meant making the hike with a 5-gallon bucket of water on her head—something Sabi did four to five times 16 | NCM Magazine

a day. Today, she simply has to walk on flat ground to the well on the school’s property, where she can pump all the water she needs to complete her chore.

“Now, we are not suffering like before,” she says. “Now, I can spend more time at home.”

Fatu,* 14, describes the process of walking for water before the well was installed.

“It was hard,” she says. “The sun was very hot under our feet. The large buckets were heavy on our heads. … I feel so happy for the new hand pump.”

Fatmata is also glad she can spend more time in school now. “After school, I want to be an office worker—a book keeper,” she says.

The story is nearly identical in the nearby community of Fire Mambo.

Finda*, 11, wants to be a lawyer when she grows up. In even a short conversation, her fierce determination is obvious. Not only does the well enable her to get to school on time, but she no longer misses school due to stomach aches caused by drinking dirty water.

“I’m happy now that we have the well,” she says. “Before, I missed school, or I was late most of the time. The teacher flogs us when we are late. I am on time now.”

COME TO THE WELL “This is the help of our church,” says Pastor Joseph Bangura, who leads the Monkey Bush Church of the Nazarene and also teaches at the school there. He emphasizes the fact that anyone can come to the church

to pump water, not just those who are members. “I have a church that makes me biggo (proud),” he adds. “Holiness shows love.

Anyone can get water here. People in the community say, ‘You extended love without even knowing us.’ Jesus extended His love through us. ... It’s like the [Casting Crowns] song says: ‘Come to the well.’”

Fatmata, 23, is a member of the Nazarene church in Monkey Bush. The mother of a toddler son, she says, “I am happy and tell God thanks. Our neighbors say the church has done well for the community. I believe some will come and be a part [of the church].”

In Fire Mambo, Theresa, says, “What the [Nazarene] church has done, we cannot repay—only God can.”

Summer 2016 | 17

According to the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, the water they were able to access prior to the borehole was not pure. “Children got sick because people use the stream as a toilet and for laundry,” she says.

AFTER EBOLA The wells in Monkey Bush and Fire Mambo are the result of a partnership between the Church of the Nazarene through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and World Hope International, a relief and development organization associated with the Wesleyan Church.

Through the partnership, the Church of the Nazarene is working with six communities in Sierra Leone to create integrated projects that combine safe water through wells, improved sanitation through pit latrines, and hygiene education. Each community selects a water committee, which maintains and sustains the well. Anyone who comes for water is asked to contribute 200 Leones per bucket, which amounts to about 5 cents (USD), for a maintenance fund.

The project targets communities that were most affected by the recent Ebola crisis.

Monkey Bush was considered an Ebola hot spot. As just one example of the devastation the virus caused, Pastor Joseph says he lost four of the 18 members of his church, two adults and two teenagers.

Pastor Sia, who leads the Nazarene church in Fire Mambo notes that many people in her community died during the Ebola outbreak, including children.

Between May 2014 and March 2016, there were more than 14,000 cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone, and more than 3,900 people died as a result. The virus spread quickly in part because of the lack of water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene practices. The virus spread through bodily fluids and waste, making water for washing and sufficient sanitation facilities critical. The hope is to help prevent future outbreaks of Ebola as well as other diseases.

Another area where the church is implementing a WASH project is Ogoo Farm, a rural community past the outer edges of Freetown. There, Pastor James Fullah experienced the grief brought by Ebola personally

when he lost his wife, Isatu, to the disease.

Even in the midst of loss, Pastor Fullah is thankful for the gift of clean water through a new well. “We praise God, and we are very glad about this well,” he says. “We thank God for it because people are suffering for water in this community. We didn’t have pure water. We only got water from streams and very dangerous places where children can fall and get wounded. This is a safe place. A lot of families will benefit from this well.”

Kariatou, a mother of five, says, “I have peace of mind now. Before, children had to go a long distance to the stream. It was not safe. The road is bad and narrow, and there is a steep slope where they can fall. There are also snakes, and they had to cross a rushing river that can carry them away.”

Musu Allieu, a member of the community’s new water committee, expresses her gratitude, too. “God is in this kind of church [that meets needs].

It’s like when Jesus said, ‘When someone is hungry, give food.

When someone is thirsty, give water.’ The people have God in their hearts.”

According to Musu, before the well was installed, they had to collect water from a stream that caused much sickness. “It was only good for cooking [if boiled] and laundry,” she says.

The only option for drinking water was to purchase water sachets—small plastic bags containing about half a liter of purified water.

Each bag costs only about 250 to 500 Leones (6 to 12 cents, USD), but someone would have to purchase several bags each day just to drink the 2.5 liters of water that experts recommend for maintaining basic health. In a country where 70 percent of people live on less than $1 a day, paying for water sachets is no small consideration.

The day the well in Ogoo Farm was first available for use brought celebration among children and adults alike. Idrissa, 29, was among those gathered for a prayer and dedication. “The [Nazarene] church is blessed,” he says. “The Bible says to help those who are weak, and people were suffering here.”

He ends with three simple words: “Water is life.” n

“It was hard.

The sun was very hot under our feet.

The large buckets were heavy on our heads. ... I feel so happy for the new hand pump.”

18 | NCM Magazine

* Children’s names are changed for their protection.

The WASH Project I

(Clockwise from top) Joseph Bangura pastors the Monkey Bush Church of the Nazarene and also teaches at the primary school. He says now that there is a new, nearby well, the children drink more water and are less tired, which helps them learn better.

Theresa lives in Fire Mambo with her 5-year-old daughter.

She says children in the area used to get sick because people used the stream as a toilet and for laundry.

Now, she is able to get clean, safe water any time she needs it. With the extra time she has, she is able to earn more income as a petty trader at the market.

This water that comes from a handdug well may look OK to drink, but it has contaminants that cause illness. Borehole wells are able to access the deeper, uncontaminated levels of the water table to provide safe water for drinking.

n Sierra Leone, water is something that is never taken for granted. More than half of people living in rural areas have no access to water that is safe to drink, and thousands of children in the country die each year from water-related illness. Local Nazarene churches in Sierra Leone are responding by working with communities to implement WASH projects that combine water, sanitation, and hygiene.

The projects start with wells that provide clean, safe water for entire communities. Each well improves the health of children and families, and easier access to water also improves children’s education by ensuring they can attend class instead of walking for water. Next, the project includes building toilets (pit latrines) as a way to prevent the spread of disease. Children and families also receive hygiene education to learn how to stay healthy.

Currently, the Church of the Nazarene is working with six communities in Sierra Leone. Within those communities, 11 primary schools, seven secondary schools, and four health clinics will benefit directly. Church leaders are hopeful they will be able to expand to other communities where Nazarene churches are present as a way to care for others in the name of Jesus, who offers living water.

To learn more or to help provide water, sanitation, and hygiene for children and families please visit ncm.org/WASH.

Summer 2016 | 19

NET G A I N

S

tanding where the Alligator and George Brook Rivers converge in Freetown, Sierra Leone, you’ll find hundreds of shanty houses squeezed together along a concrete labyrinth of narrow walkways.

You’ll also see that the water collecting here has become a giant sewage pit.

This is Kroo Bay, the largest slum in Sierra Leone’s capital city.

Pa Alimamy Kargbo Kabempa, section chief of Kroo Bay, pulls out a ledger reporting a population of 14,800 people within 2,622 households. Most families are from rural communities. Many originally came to escape a brutal 11-year civil war. Others came looking for a better life with employment and education for children. Instead, families of six, on average, live in one-room homes made of corrugated metal sheets.

Theoretically, the streams should flow easily to the Atlantic Ocean, but the filthy water is stagnant. Wealthier communities dump household garbage and raw sewage, which flows downstream. In an

20 | NCM Magazine

Preventing the sting of malaria in a Sierra Leone slum

By Beth Clayton Luthye Photos by Jeffrey Purganan impoverished area with few sanitation facilities, many Kroo Bay residents are left with no choice but to use the water as their toilet, too. Here, children play and bathe, alongside pigs who root in the muck—and swarms of deadly mosquitoes carrying malaria.

SAFETY NETS Not long ago, Sierra Leone was battling the Ebola virus, which caused 3,000 deaths. It was a crisis, to be sure. Yet even months after the country was declared Ebola-free, another crisis remains. Malaria is the number one cause of illness and death in the country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Each year, more than a million cases are reported, and thousands die each year, making Sierra Leone the country with the fifth highest prevalence of malaria globally.

“Children die from malaria,” says Chief Kabempa, a determined, grandfatherly figure. “I want health for the community.”

When Rev. Vidal Cole, the Nazarene district superintendent in Sierra Leone, met with Kabempa and other community members, the priorities they named were related to malaria: bed nets and tools to clean garbage and stop water stagnation.

“Mosquito coils don’t solve the problem, and people can’t afford nets or insecticides,” Kabempa says.

The Church of the Nazarene in Sierra Leone has partnered with Kroo Bay to provide bed nets for 1,500 households. At about $10 (USD) each, insecticide-treated bed nets are the most cost-effective way to prevent the transmission of malaria through mosquito bites.

Adama, 28, is a mother of three children, ages 6, 3, and 7 months. She says her 3-yearold was sick recently but is now improving.

That’s no small victory in a country where 41 percent of childhood hospital deaths are

related to malaria, according to WHO. Fear is a constant companion for parents of young children, but bed nets help everyone sleep more soundly. “The net is doing very well,” Adama says. “When I have it, the mosquitoes don’t bite.”

The project is providing nets first to children under 5 and pregnant women—the most vulnerable. In Sierra Leone, 18 percent of children die before their fifth birthday, which is the highest rate of under-5 deaths in the world, according to UNICEF. Pregnancy reduces a mother’s immunity, making her more susceptible to malaria, which increases the risks of miscarriage, still birth, and low birth weight. By preventing malaria, bed nets are saving lives.

Katiatou, 20, is also a mother of three children, ages 6, 3, and 9 months. She works as a petty trader selling snacks, but when a child is sick, she not only has to pay for medical care, but she also misses work and the income that comes with it. Her older children have both had malaria. “I can’t work when they’re sick,” she says. “The net helps.”

Fatmata, 75, lives in a one-room home with four grandchildren, including an infant granddaughter. Their mother died from Ebola, and their father passed away years earlier.

The grandmother once had a soap-making business, but the last time Kroo Bay flooded, the waters carried away all her supplies— and her livelihood.

At least now there is one thing she doesn’t have to worry about. Before, she and the children were sick from malaria periodically, but with the new bed net, she can sleep peacefully, knowing they are protected from disease-carrying mosquitoes.

“Blessings on the church [that gave the nets],” Fatmata says.

Although Alusine and the others receive a small stipend for their work, he says, “We’re not doing this for the money. We do it because of the community.”

Cole originally asked how the church could help because of work that the group was already doing. “I met them when they were doing the work for free, with no tools,” he says.

Henry, 32, also helps with the clean-up efforts. “All my life I’ve lived here, and things are getting worse,” he says. “I won’t sit back and watch my people die, my community go down the drain.”

Kroo Bay can’t be cleaned up overnight, but through a partnership with the church, the community can make steady improvements and work to prevent the sting of malaria. n

HERE, CHILDREN

“I want health for the community,” says Chief Kabempa.

PLAY AND BATHE, ALONGSIDE PIGS WHO ROOT IN THE MUCK—

AND SWARMS OF

DEADLY MOSQUITOES CARRYING MALARIA.

M

alaria is a silent killer. Mosquitoes that carry micro-

scopic malaria parasites transfer them to humans when they bite.

RUBBISH ROUND-UP Alusine, 30, a young leader in Kroo Bay, is part of a group of 25 who work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. two days a month clearing out garbage from the waterway where mosquitoes breed. The Nazarene church provides gloves, buckets, and other tools to assist the group in their work. He points to a bridge crossing the water. Pieces of trash catch on the concrete footers, adding to the problems of stagnation and flooding during rainy seasons.

“If we reduce the garbage, we will reduce the flooding and mosquitoes,” he says.

Fatmata cares for four grandchildren on her own. A new bed net protects her and the children from the threat of malaria.

If not treated, people die—thousands of them each year in Sierra Leone, and more than 400,000 each year globally. For the cost of about $10 (USD), an insectiAdama says their new bed net “is doing very well” for her three children.

cide-treated bed net can prevent the deadly disease. To learn more or support the church’s efforts in Kroo Bay, visit ncm.org/kroobay.

Summer 2016 | 21

IN A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE IN CENTRAL EUROPE, ONE CHURCH IS TEACHING WOMEN AND MEN THEIR TRUE VALUE.

By Dorli Gschwandtner, NCM Europe Illustration by Amy Gilles

“

tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do” (Matthew 21:31, NLB). And so He angered the religious people of His time by associating with sinners, liars, thieves, and prostituted women, accepting them, loving them, and sharing with them the purifying grace of God. When Maria* was asked to start a church in a small mountain village in central Europe, she decided to do as Jesus did.

A few years ago, a woman who had heard of Maria’s ministry invited her to come and start a church in her village. “I did not know what type of people would come,” Maria remembers. As it turns out, most of them were pimps and prostituted women.

But Maria was not shocked. In fact, she had come in contact with a pimp in this village before. For a while, Maria had led a Bible study at his house, and he had asked her to pray for his business—but when she discovered what it was, she instead prayed for God to change his business. After a lot of arguments and prayers, he agreed to change jobs as long as he could earn enough money to provide for his family. Maria helped him secure a loan to start a livestock project, and he is now happily employed in honest labor.

Since Maria had witnessed the change in this man’s life, she wasn’t shocked when she found out who made up her new congregation.

“I just looked at them as normal people, people with messed-up lives—as almost all people have,” she says.

Having worked in this geographical area for several years, Maria knew that most of her parishioners were men and women with no work and no education, individuals who got involved in this life because it was a way to feed their children.

“Those are broken people, but we are all broken in some ways,” Maria says. “I

think the whole idea is to look at those people as human beings and to treat them as human beings.”

So Maria started a church plant with pimps and women who were prostituted.

Between six and ten adults and several children began to meet as a congregation once a week. And while the services overall are “fairly normal,” Maria has had some contextualizing to do.

showing His love to us.”

Her patience is paying off. While the men originally came to the church “just to see,” and none have yet made a conscious decision to accept Christ, they are clearly interested.

“They ask us to pray, they confess what they’re doing and ask for repentance; they’re interested in the sermons, they listen carefully, and they ask questions after the sermons,” Maria says.

Maria’s simple, honest ministry is having other effects as well. At least one man and woman have spoken to Maria about “leaving the business,” and she is helping them find a new means of income.

Compassion is “just a way of living,” Maria says, “accepting everyone, no matter what the differences in background or social status. It’s walking through the difficult times with them.”

Doing as Jesus did? Maria knows what that means.

“We need to show them grace, the same grace that God showed to us,” she says. “We did not deserve His grace, but we received it. We should be the channels of this grace!

This is why I keep going there.” n *Her name has been changed for security reasons.

“I have to contextualize my sermons every time I preach so they can be in light of their understanding of life,” she explains. “About half of my sermons are about holiness and what it means to live as holy people, to live life differently, how to treat people humanly, with love, [and] what the word love means.

And everything is in light of the Bible and the way God is

A version of this story first appeared in Engage Magazine at engagemagazine.com.

Summer 2016 | 23

Reporting by Anna Jara, NCM CIS

T

here are six adults in Anna Hakobyan’s household, but none can find a stable job in Armenia. Every year, Anna’s husband leaves their village and travels to Russia, hoping to find work for a few months at a time.

“In the community where we live, there are not too many job possibilities, and everything seems very hopeless,” Anna says.

Once part of the Soviet Union, Armenia became independent in 1991, and the industries once linked with Russia declined. With few natural resources and closed borders, the costs for imports are high—and nearly everything is imported.

The best job opportunities in the country are in the capital, Yerevan, but the average monthly salary of 55,000–72,000 Armenian drams ($115– $150 USD) barely pays for an apartment, which costs at least $120 at the most basic level. Anyone coming from outside the city will struggle with the high cost of living, especially when the harsh winters cause the cost of utilities to skyrocket.

More than 80 percent of the population survives on bank loans or has to pawn family heirlooms. Most men, like Anna’s husband, rely on finding work in Russia. But in the past few years, lower salaries abroad have forced entire families to begin to migrate.

Even so, Anna perseveres in her village, Maralik.

Like most people there, she scrapes by on “survival agriculture,” raising whatever meager crops she can manage to grow during the warmer season and storing a small harvest for the difficult winter months.

Even in the heat of the summer, families must think about the winter. Maralik is located in the Shirak province, where temperatures in the winter can drop to -30 degrees Fahrenheit. When they can, people in the villages store food and wood for winter. With few forests, though, wood is expensive.

Those who have animals dry and store the dung to heat their houses. Many rural families can only afford to heat one room in the house, so during the winter everyone lives together. Those who can’t afford even that live without heat altogether.

Anna’s family was chosen last year to receive sheep, which they could raise for milk and wool, through a compassionate initiative of the Nazarene church. With this new promise of an income, their future finally felt brighter.

A year later, the eight sheep Anna’s family received have given birth to six new lambs. The family now enjoys regular milk from their sheep, and can sell wool and manure to buy healthier food, heat, and other necessities.

24 | NCM Magazine

By raising sheep, Anna Hakobyan can provide milk for her family and sell wool for income.

CHICKEN AND SHEEP ARE HE

Photos courtesy of Anna Jara

LPING SECURE FOOD

“The project seemed to be a light in the darkness and a hope of starting something that will take care at least of basic needs of the family,” Anna says.

HAVE YOU ANY WOOL?

Gevorg Serobyan is able to provide for the nine members of his family thanks to the sheep project.

MMUNITIES IN ARMENIA

AND A FUTURE FOR RURAL CO

Sheep and chicken have become the Nazarene church’s response to the high unemployment throughout Armenia’s Shirak province, especially in rural villages of Maralik and Akhuryan.

Moved by the increasing difficulties families face, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries partnered with Foods Resource Bank to address the problem of hunger and poverty. Now, three years in, the church and communities are working together to help local families raise sheep and poultry to generate milk, wool, eggs, and manure that provide the stable incomes families need to improve their well-being.

To date, 30 families like Anna’s have joined the sheep project in Maralik, and 30 have received chickens in Akhuryan.

Most of the participants have some experience raising sheep or chickens, but they gain more knowledge and confidence from training that addresses skills such as how to recognize and treat diseases and infections, how to protect livestock from wild animals, where to get better prices for grain and vitamins, and how to find grass and prepare for winter.

“The training about taking care of the animals and also about nutrition and hygiene for our families was very helpful and gave us a lot of knowledge,” Anna says. “Every year we are getting more experience in raising animals.”

Participants from the first two years of the project are now able to give back, too. Many still attend training sessions so they can help the new beneficiaries by sharing their own experiences and insight.

Participants also agree to share 25 percent of their earnings with the project so that another family in the community is able to start their Summer 2016 | 25

Siranush Babudzyan and her husband know what food security feels like now.

own small business next. Compassion keeps multiplying.

“We are very happy seeing the results of the project, when we have access to the wool, milk, manure, and lambs,” Anna says. “Now we are dreaming and hoping to grow the project. Our goal is to make it into a family business. Even if it does not become a big farm, we know that we have the animals and that we are able to take care of at least our winter needs.”

And for Anna, the changes to her family’s well-being are evident. “My life is different, as the project is something that I am mostly managing, which gives more importance to me as a woman,” she says. “My son is doing very well, a very happy boy. I am very grateful to be part of this project.”

SO MUCH LOVE To feed the nine members of his family, Gevorg Serobyan used to rely on the potatoes, greens, and beans his family could grow on a small portion of land in front of their house. Gevorg is a war veteran, and his mother suffers from problems with her back. With three children—one only three months old— and no stable source of income, Gevorg and his wife struggle to meet their daily needs.

26 | NCM Magazine

Fortunately, they had experience raising cattle and pigs, so when the sheep project came to Maralik, Gevorg’s family saw it as hope for a better future. They received eight sheep, which have since given birth to four lambs. The wool their sheep produce is a valuable commodity, used in Armenia to make the blankets and mattresses that are essential during the cold winter months.

With wool and milk, Gevorg can trade in

local markets to gain different types of food, clothing, and shoes for his family.

Before she received her chickens, 59-yearold Siranush Babudzyan didn’t know what food security felt like. Her husband and two grown sons could find only occasional work, and with four grandchildren depending on them and one son facing critical health problems, the compassionate project came as a gift from God. Siranush is taking great care of her chickens, and thanks to income from selling eggs, she is now able to provide daily bread for her family.

“The project was a real blessing for me and my family,” Siranush says. “Not only do we have unlimited access to eggs, but also we are able to exchange the eggs in the local market and get bread, pasta, sugar, tea, sausages, etc. Now I know even in need, at least the daily basic needs of my family are provided.”

Because of their experience and the relationships they formed through the food security project, Siranush and her grandchildren started to attend the Nazarene church in their community.

“Through the project I experienced so much love and compassion by the church people,” Siranush says. “The church helped my family with chickens without any conditions, but only with love and care, teaching me to be responsible, helping other people, and teaching me very important values in the church.”

She adds, “I have learned the love of Jesus Christ in my life.” n

GROWING PROJECTS This project in Armenia is possible through a partnership between Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and Foods Resource Bank (FRB). Through this partnership, individuals and churches are able to respond to hunger in tangible ways through Growing Projects.

Nazarenes around the U.S. have joined this effort and are doing some inspiring things. A youth group in Marysville, Washington, is growing sweet corn. A farmer in Montana is growing canola, wheat, and corn. A group in Bucyrus, Ohio, receives donations of grain at a local elevator. And a farmer in northwest Missouri contributes his skill and equipment to farm with donated seed, fertilizer, and land.

To learn more about how you can get involved in a Growing Project, go to ncm.org/growing or email info@ncm.org.

Called to Compassion.

Side by Side

and he won’t quit. He will be your biggest success story if you take him.”

“He is going to come back out and How relationships can fail,” the man said. humanize the homeless “No! Today is different because he

by Merideth Spriggs has me. He has us,” I said while motionmet Dave when I was doing homeless ing for the program director to walk over. outreach in downtown Las Vegas, Ne- Maybe he had failed in the past, but the vada. Dave was a heavy drinker. We had difference that day was he had someone tried three times to get him sober, but walking with him, both figuratively and each time he left detox and returned to literally.

Dave went to detox that day. For the drinking on the streets. One day, though, next several days, I called or went in perhe reached out to me for help.

A friend who directs a sober living pro- son to make sure he knew someone was gram and I created a plan to help Dave. cheering for him. I also called and sent a We would take him with us to a one-day slew of emails reminding people up the intervention being held by homeless out- chain that they had given me their word reach agencies in the area. Even though to keep Dave in their housing.

That next Monday I got the call I was he had asked for help, I still feared Dave waiting for. “We did might be drunk and it,” Dave said. “I’m in. miss the appointment, Thank you.”

“Two are better so I surprised him with Two years later, a 4:30 a.m. wakeup than one. …

God has completely call. I climbed over If either of them transformed Dave. He rocks and shimmied falls down, is sober and reunited into a small gravel pit one can help with his family after 10 between a fence and the other up. a freeway on-ramp. I But pity anyone walked carefully so I who falls and wouldn’t step on any exposed needles, and has no one I woke Dave that mornto help them up.” ing. After two heart at— Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV) tacks, he was feeble and needed a walker and some assistance to move. My husband and I helped him into the backseat of our car.

After getting him to his appointment, I was helping with crowd control at the event when my husband, who had been shadowing Dave, called me over. I walked up to the table and saw Dave shaking as he clung to his walker, tears running down his face. The case manager was refusing to take him. Dave had failed too many times before, he said.

“I don’t want to waste a bed on you, Dave. We have people that want help,” the man said, crossing his arms.

“Today is different!” I said. “He is going, and you are taking him! He said he wants our help. We are going to help him,

I

years. He is also putting his two master’s degrees to good use by teaching at an education program. He has a love for the outdoors and no longer needs his walker. Now he enjoys going on hikes in the mountains.

Dave jokes that so many missed the mark trying to help before. “I was homeless,” he said, “not sandwich-less. You picked me up and walked with me.”

The loss of a job and the death of his mother had sent Dave into a deep depression, which spiraled into addiction and eventually homelessness. He needed more than a meal. He needed someone willing to walk with him while he did the hard work of recovery.

Dave’s story encourages me that anyone can be transformed—if we are truly willing to walk with individuals to understand their needs and help restore them back to community.

Formerly homeless herself, Merideth Spriggs is a graduate of Nazarene Theological Seminary, an elder in the Church of the Nazarene, and the founder and chief kindness officer of Caridad, a homeless-service provider based in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.

Summer 2016 | 27

Love in Action.

Come to the Park An East Toledo Church Creates Change Through Relationships

by Callie Stevens, NCM Communications

I

n 2014, a half-million people in Toledo, Ohio, lost access to safe water due to a toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie, which supplied the city’s water. At that point, the East Toledo campus of Hope Community Church of the Nazarene took action.

The church believes in partnership— both with the community and other organizations. They called up a partner that helps get food to people who need it most, and within 24 hours they had 1,100 cases of bottled water to distribute.

“It’s just a practical way to show people the love of Jesus by giving them water,” says Jacob Hawes, pastor of Hope Community’s East Toledo campus.

BEING CHURCH The church’s East Toledo campus started four years ago, though they have been holding worship services for only two years. Rather than building on a service inside the church walls, they first wanted to build a foundation of service to the community where they were located.

“We didn’t just want to do church,” Hawes says. “We wanted to be church.”

The church was an answer to the dwindling number of Nazarene churches in the area; since 1980, the number has gone The East Toledo campus of Hope Community Church now owns and maintains a city park that was once in disrepair. Today, the congregation uses it to host backyard Bible clubs, throw block parties, and connect with the community.

28 | NCM Magazine

from nine to two. Since they didn’t want to duplicate efforts that were already in place, the congregation began to support organizations like the East Toledo Family Center, which was already doing positive work in the community. The church helps provide volunteers for the Family Center, where they also meet for worship services and have office space.

“No matter what we ask of them, they [the congregation] try really hard to do it and are always giving back to the community,” says Jodi Gross, community builder at East Toledo Family Center.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Both the Family Center and Hope Community believe relationships that lead to empowerment are what will ultimately help community members. The church helps the Family Center run holiday events, and together, they are building relationships that will enable them to empower people on a path out of poverty.

“We’re all East Toledo,” Gross says.

“Let’s work together to create change,” Hope Community believes they can embody what it means to be church by building those relationships, then watching God work. According to Hawes, East

Photos courtesy of Hope Community Church

Toledo is on the brink of change, and he wants to make sure the church is there to do God’s work.

“We’re at a make or break time in our city. If the church doesn’t come around and start being the church—not just on Sunday mornings—the city is going to slip,” Hawes says. “But if the church comes around in the parks and neighborhoods, it can be redeemed. It can be saved.”

Those parks and neighborhoods are some of the places the church is most

events even easier to host.

“When we have work days, it’s not just church people,” Hawes says. “It’s neighborhood people [too].”

This summer, they are expanding their programs past their one park to the rest of the city with two trailers holding everything they need to host block parties. In eight weeks, they will throw six events all over the city to see where people want to get involved. Those spots will then be considered for new missional commu-

“We haven’t created a whole lot of new things. We’ve stepped into the gap and tried to figure out how we can help.” excited about working. In fact, many of its programs run out of a park. In another display of relationship building, the church reached out to the City of Toledo to ask if they could own and maintain a park they had noticed was in disrepair.

When the city agreed, the church knew it had its home base.

There, they host backyard Bible clubs, throw block parties, organize service days, and do just about anything they can think of to connect with the community. Neighborhood residents joined the church to raise enough money to put up pavilions and picnic tables to make those

nities or church plants. Throughout the project, they will be praying and trying to discern whether God is leading them to start churches in each spot.

The main purpose of those parties, Hawes says, is “basically just to build relationships with people and get to know them.”

Hope Community is also trying to develop relationships with young people in the area. “We realized that we have people we’re sending to our Nazarene schools [universities], and they’re not engaging with the church,” Hawes says.

“We’re kind of losing them.”

FILLING GAPS The block parties this summer will be run in part by young adults through Youth in Mission, which provides mission opportunities for young adults between the ages of 18 to 25. Ultimately, new churches will also be started through the initiative of young adults.

“Young people are creative and ready for a new type of church, something that will reach their friends,” Hawes says.

Right now, the church is in the beginning stages of developing a system to have different stages of volunteers and staff ranging from high schoolers to post-college graduates.

If Hope Community’s other projects are any indication, their pattern is to move where God leads them to work in the community. From making sure a local elementary school had full access to their library to providing assistance to their many community partners, the East Toledo campus of Hope Community has been on the move.

“We haven’t created a whole lot of new things,” Hawes says. “We’ve stepped into the gap and tried to figure out how we can help.”

And whether it’s through trailers full of activities, bottles of drinking water, volunteer hours, or a park where relationships are built, it’s clear that the East Toledo campus isn’t going to stop engaging their community anytime soon.

Summer 2016 | 29

Snapshot.

30 | NCM Magazine

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Purganan

In Ogoo Farm, Sierra Leone, the recent installation of a new water well was cause for much celebration. This young boy giggled as he splashed cool, clean water on his face. The new well means easy access to safe water for the whole community. It also means children no longer have to walk a dangerous path to collect water for their families.

Through Workplace Giving, you can make a difference for children and families around the world.

COMBINED FEDER AL C AMPAIGN

UNITED WAY C AMPAIGN

S TATE & LOC AL C AMPAIGNS

Between Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, all U.S. federal, military, and postal employees can give to Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Inc. (NCMI) by payroll deduction through the Combined Federal Campaign. To give, designate CFC #11735 on your pledge card.

If your company participates in a United Way giving campaign, you can support Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Inc. by writing “NCMI, 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Ste 100, Lenexa, KS 66220, 800.214.4999” on your donor choice card.

If you are a U.S. state or local government employee, ask if your employer does a charitable giving campaign. If so, check the Neighbor to Nation Charity Guide for the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Inc. to find the code for your pledge card.

NCM .ORG / WOR K PL ACE Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Inc. • 800.214.4999 • workplacegiving@ncmi.org

NAZARENE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES Church of the Nazarene 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362 info@ncm.org

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

General Board of the Church of the Nazarene

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE?

Through a Child Sponsorship Endowment, you can leave a Legacy of Compassion.

Pass compassion down through the generations by ensuring a child is sponsored in your name in perpetuity.

For more information, contact the Church of the Nazarene Foundation at 866-273-2549 • info@nazarenefoundation.org • www.NazareneFoundation.org.