Who's Paul?

It took a minute.  Who's Psul _______________?   I know someone in Jackson with that name, but the context of the email didn't seem to fit the man I know.  THEN I remembered.  He's the pastor in South Africa who worked with me several years ago when his church had adopted a Zambian studying in his country.  The student had gotten into financial difficulties, "robbing Peter to pay Paul" in an attempt to stay in school and in the country.  Finally, the truth began to emerge, and when it did, the student didn't stay under the authority of that church. Without church support, EAFC couldn't or wouldn't continue to send funds.  We weren't there.  If the church said, "no" then we said "no" too.

Fast forward to this past week.  That's when these memories came roaring back, a letter from Paul about the student.  The student is back in Zambia and is doing quite well.  Paul gave me the student's email so I could write him.  I'm still waiting for that response, but I'm rejoicing with Paul over how well our system has worked.

IF EAFC ONLY WORKED with STUDENTS and EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, we would have had NO MEANS of follow-up.  We wouldn't have an email.  We wouldn't have anyone who know what happened to this student.

Can you see the difference?  I hope so, and I hope that you will feel led to help EAFC enter into more relationships with churches who have, not perfect men and women to recommend, but those with a relationship with Christ who DO RETURN BACK, REPENT and BECOME LEADERS.

Our address is:
PO BOX 5303
Jackson, Ms 39296

You can write exec@eafc.net for more information.

What my sister says

My sister and I talked Sunday, as usual. I pondered with her about why I had such trouble winning hearts toward Albert, my Liberian friend that with a Masters degree in Communications would be prepared to do in that country what I went to Liberia to  help with.  After 14 years of war, there are just not enough trained people to teach on the college level or run radio stations, etc.  Adding to my confusion is that people here gave for me to go over there for seven weeks, and I DO appreciate it!

Those of you that have followed this blog know that  it was HARD on both professor and students. It is hard to learn a Southern accent, new expectations and complete all those assignments for 6 hours of credit in just seven weeks.  It was hard for me to leave my husband and family for seven weeks, adjust quickly to a very different culture, get across the concepts that needed to be taught in such a short time.

But that doesn't have to be like that! That's what frustrates me. With Albert's training, radio proclaiming the gospel to a nation could take place 24/7, 365 days a yeat. With Albert trained, it would cost only a little more than it costs to send me there for SEVEN weeks. Albert's pastor yesterday sent a passionate plea for us to partner with the ECUL church in Liberia.  They already have a radio ministry and are wholeheartedly endorsing both Albert and his wife Priscilla travel to Kenya for two years.  Priscilla will pursue a bachelor's degree in Communication.  This church partnership is so re-assuring to us who have tried for many years now to establish strong church partnerships.

"Tell that story", my sister said.

"But I have" I told her. " Remember the two stories I sent to you and all the others who have given to
EAFC this past year? There was a two page story about a women's empowerment propject, And Albert's story was just ONE page! It seems easier to me for someone to find time to read Albert's story than Ruth's, but Ruth's  story seems to have touched hearts SO far than Albert's story has."

Can anyone help me figure out how to tell this story better? Can development in Africa touch lives like relief work?

Email me at vvickery@gmail.com if you have ideas or suggestions. I really do want to hear from my friends!

EAFC's Women of Purpose

"Hearts burn" might be an expression that more accurately describes who we are than "passion." Originally we used the word"passion" to describe a new focus EAFC is experimenting with, but a godly man suggested we rethink the word. We went to the dictionary and discovered that the definitions are full of synonyms that hint of sexual connotation. That is NOT the message we wanted to get across. So April 10,2011 a group of women in Liberia renamed our project.

 We are or hope to become Women of Purpose.

Yes, our hearts are FOCUSED, and yet we want chapters to spring up all over the world, that have FLEXIBILITY to craft themselves with not just focus, but with wisdom, and goals that meet their felt needs. This is not a top down, highly structured undertaking, but is an attempt to share a vision with the church.

Women of Purpose want and need their Christian fathers, husbands and Christian brothers to rise up and encourage the advancement of these chapters in their own villages, churches and nation. We believe that  Christian men have been silent too long. Women have attempted to bring up their unique issues, sometimes with a fighting spirit. This is not acceptable to Women of Purpose. We have no desire to fight anyone but to resist the enemy that would hold us down from achieving God-given dignity. Together we resist the second class status that has been strangling us since the fall in the garden.  We believe that if we marginalize the need of the church in our effort  we will be diminished. Just like EAFC refuses to grant partial tuition scholarships without the active participation of the local church's assuming its responsibilities, so this philosophy must permeate "Women of Purpose."  To do otherwise would dilute our efforts.

There is no need to spell out all the atrocities women all over the world still endure on an hourly basis. If abuse is not one's present condition, then these ladies are blessed so that they can be a blessing to the widows and orphans around us all.

We are urging those whose "hearts burn within them" to  learn of the plight of others, to communicate with sisters across the world, to raise awareness,  to share skills, but most of all to pray for one another.

Pray for mercy, for compassion, for wisdom. Pray that chapter leaders will be well chosen. Pray that education will be available to women, formal training where needed, and informal too. Pray that women be creative in finding skills to support their families when they have been abandoned so that they are not tempted to sell their bodies. Pray that they be strong. Pray that their minds be reborn to see the dignity and worth in them. May each rest in the knowledge of how Jesus Christ showed a model of respect and love in a culture where women were very much second class citizens.

Would you think with me? Would you ask God to cause your heart to burn within you if you are to explore establishing a Women of Purpose chapter in your area?  If interested, will you contact us at admin@eafc.net?  We look forward to hearing from you!

What A Day!

Today, May 24, has been a day to MARK as special, a day that will go down as significant.  "Why?" you might ask.

Well, in 1996 Barry and I met Japhet Mchakulu, a young man who had just graduated from ABC in Malawi.  When we knew him then he was managing the radio station on campus.  That tells you a little about how ABC leadership on campus felt about him.  We shared their admiration, but as we got to know him, well,  he became "my African son".  In 1998 he came to Mississippi College and in 2000 he graduated with a master's in Communication.  That in a nutshell is how EAFC came into being.

TODAY,  EAFC embraced its future.  Today,  I got to announce at the Liberian recap meeting that Sarah Sullivan is the new Executive Director of EAFC.

I've known Sarah for three years now.  I'm always honored when the very young want to take walks with me, to meet me for a cup of coffee etc.  For 3 years, Sarah and I have gotten better and better acquainted.  Neither of us every envisioned what has transpired in the past few weeks.  For as Sarah wrestled between February and May over determining God's next step in her life,  I kept  listening and empathizing with her. BUT WHILE I WAS IN LIBERIA,  I couldn't get her off my mind.  I knew she fit SOMEHOW in what was happening with me, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how.  About 3 weeks ago, as we had coffee together and she shared what her next step was, it kind of CLICKED with me.  "What about EAFC?" I asked.  As you can imagine, her first reaction was "NO WAY".

I've learned!  Don't push it!  If God is in this, it WILL happen.  I won't go into the details.  I'll just say that Sarah's saying YES and my being able to tell the group that gathered today that EAFC has an executive director from the NEXT GENERATION absolutely overwhelms me with GRATITUDE.

God WANTS this ministry to continue! What a comforting thought for one who has struggled since 1997 wondering what God had in mind when He began EAFC.

  Liberia and Rwanda are the focus for 2011.  In 2012, we'll see what God says through Sarah's leadership as to how it is to develop, but I am confident that it'll be good.

In October, 2011,  I get to introduce my friend to my friends in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.  Oh,  I have LOTS of other friends in Africa who Sarah will probably have to meet on her own, but it is my privilege THIS YEAR to facilitate the transition from one generation to another.

Will you pray?

Oh, and by the way,  I LOVED being able today to share with those who came stories that didn't make the blog.  For those of you who would have liked to have been there,  I would still be willing to share stories at your churches or Sunday School classes, or with some of your friends.  Can you tell my passion hasn't died down?  In fact even now, Sarah and I have been invited to a round table women's group August 26.  I'm hoping that the WOMEN OF PURPOSE chapter that is being formed right now in Ganta Liberia will have a report that we can share.


Will you pray?   Will you write me back?

You are very important to me!  Many of you kept me going during those seven weeks that at the time seemed long and often hard.  Today, as I predicted, those weeks are a vapor that I hope has significantly changed me and maybe you too.  Let me know.

Your itenerate missionary,
Val

Notice of What Happens in Less Than One Week

Can you believe that it's been more than a month since I "re-entered" America after 7 weeks in Liberia.? Why do weeks seem to FLY here more than when I was there?  We'll discuss this question and MANY more if you will join me at
11:30 A.M.  on Tuesday, May 24
First Presbyterian Church, Patterson Hall, on the Belhaven Str side of the church

It's a brown bag lunch.  We'll have slides and a come and go informal time to share.
You are FREE to invite /and/or bring friends with you.

If this is out of the question for you for various reasons AND you'd still like to hear about how I grew through Africa, will you call or email me and invite me to a church event at YOUR church?

I do hope to hear from you.  My email is vvickery@gmail.com

If you can come and will let me know, the church will prepare the room for us.

Feedback

Today I road bikes with a family friend who's moved back into the neighborhood.  You'd think that the hills around Yekepa would have prepared me, but alas, I discovered that I'm in bad shape.  Not only that, but with so many options of what to eat whenever the urge comes upon me, the "skinny me" is quickly changing!  See,  I'm still growing through Africa. ha!

As my friend and I rode bikes around the neighborhood, he gave me feedback on my Sunday School report last Sunday.  He said,  "You know, you were in negotiation, don't you?"  Well,  I guess I was.  He also told me that people are interested in MY story, not necessarily the stories of people they've never met.  So,  I guess if my story links with THEIR story, "I kill two birds with one stone." as they say.

I really do care that THEIR story resonates with my friends.  I really, really LIKE my new friends.  I am inspired by them.  I think they have a story worth knowing.  I think that they can make a difference in their world.  I think that they need my friends HERE to catch the vision.  BECAUSE together we can reach the world with the GOOD NEWS.

Just think, if EAFC has reached 600 people (conservative numbers) in 12 years with funds for leadership training, and these 600 touch 100 other people, look what an impact one "small" ministry can make.

TODAY I got a NOTE accompanying a check that came to the EAFC post office box.  This young friend was thanking us for our commitment to Africa.  He said that his family was going to that night read the stories that we'd mailed out this week.  Is my excitement coming through?

We try and try and try.  Some ideas we've tried over the years have proven to be effective in communicating our message.  Others have been tools for our learning.  We don't do those things any more, but we try to learn from the experience.  What I'm asking you is that I get feedback from you,  friends like you who are reading this.  I want to be an effective communicator.  I want to do a better job!

This week I decided that a store I'd gone to, I'll never go back to again.  The owners of the store don't know of my decision.  It may or may not matter to them why I made such a decision.  BUT WITH YOU, I DO care.

Will you give me feedback?

Can I Make Them REAL?

Jamaima, Rosylene, Julia, and Edith, "Women of Purpose"

Oh how I want to make my new friends REAL to my old friends here.  I write this post as "A Woman of Purpose".  The day I left Yekepa (right before the helicopter ride) I met with four of my friends.  Some of these ladies I had previously discussed changing Passionate Women Chapters of EAFC to something else.  Barry had been musing with me that he thought the word "passionate" might have connotations that in some circles could miscommunicate what we meant .  When we looked up the word, the dictionary seemed to concur with Barry's impressions.



There's ALBERT LLOYD.  He's a leader in the denomination, Evangelical Church Union of Liberia. (ECUL)  The REST of the leaders of ECUL chose Albert to pursue a master's degree at Daystar University in Kenya in communication, so he could replace teachers like me!.

Albert and Priscilla Lloyd at the University of Liberia the day they toured me around Monrovia.  Albert checked to see if he could get a masters degree in communication from the University, but it's not available.  The educational system in Liberia needs so much help.  That's why his church leaders chose a Christian university in Kenya for his continued education.

 EAFC wants to help the church, but we can't unless there are others HERE who are touched by his story.  If you will email me at vvickery@gmail.com, I'll attach a copy of Albert's story for your consideration.

THEN there's Ruth Paye's story.  She's helping women in the city of Ganta HEAL from all the indignities they were subjected to during the 14 year war in Liberia.  I'd love to share HER story and her project proposal too. You'd be amazed by how little she asks for the 20 women with whom she works.

Would you ask me to send you her story?  Ah, that'd be a gift to both me and to those we want so to help.

Stay tuned.  There's other stories I think you might want to read.

I'm amazed that I THOUGHT I could be finished with this blog.

It's MAY now.  On May 24 I hope to see some of you at First Presbyterian Church, Patterson Hall at 11:30 A.M. for a time of reunion and sharing.

1 Corinthians 2:10 in The Message gives us a Scriptural mandate for what we are talking about.

Your fellow missionary,
Val