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| Women from Tanzania attending the SisterCare seminar (picture by Mennonite Women USA) |
My Sisters in East Africa are some of the strongest women I
know! I have learned to appreciate their ability to manage their households and
feed their families on a very limited income through rigorous hard work in the
fields or small businesses of their own that give a very small margin of
profit. Life is difficult, and the pressures they face give very little time
for rest and selfish pursuits. But this month, forty women of the Tanzania
Mennonite Church, and a group about the same from Kenya Mennonite Church had
the opportunity to put their lives on hold for a week to participate in the
Sister Care Program given by Mennonite Women USA.
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| Final healing service, anointing and blessing each other (picture by Mennonite Women USA) |
(The women were encouraged to think of themselves as Beloved
Daughters of God who
are individually known, loved, and transformed for use in
God's kingdom. We were reminded to love ourselves, care for ourselves, and to
invite Jesus into the wounds of our hearts. How do women who have always been
there for others, learn the importance of taking care of themselves? How do they
make sense of the difficult things they have experienced and still believe in
the love and presence of Jesus in their lives? In a society of secrecy and no
legal rights as a woman, how can one be healed of the injustices done to them?
And how can we, who have so little power, be agents of change in the church and
in our society?  |
| Sharing and praying for each other (picture by Mennonite Women USA) |
We, the participants in the seminar, were led by the sharing
of scripture and personal stories, by reflective thought and meaningful
symbolic rites to accept ourselves with our pain and grief and to allow God's
healing river to flow into our hearts so that we then could be
"healers" of our sisters. I cannot begin to describe the tears of
joy, the celebratory worship, and the quiet peace that filled our hearts.
Without a doubt, Sister Care, has and will continue to have an impact on the
women who attended and on the church as a whole as this ministry continues. (reported
by Gloria Bontrager)
