F A I T H L I N E S
17 November 2021
Join the 100 + 1% Challenge
to Donate, see our new Videos or for more Information
This Sunday is FaithWorks Sunday
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In this Issue:
$100,000 Matching Challenge Grant
FaithWorks in Haiti through PWRDF:
meet Nurse Benicie
A Prayer for FaithWorks Sunday
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Join the 100 + 1 % Challenge
100% participation +
1% increase in donations
This "extraordinary" challenge has been given to us by Bishop Andrew to celebrate the 25th anniversary of FaithWorks. We are challenged to achieve 100% participation by Anglican parishes and individuals and a 1% increase in donations in this year's fundraising campaign.
This would produce an extraordinary result that would allow FaithWorks to offer extraordinary assistance to the most vulnerable among us during these extraordinarily difficult times.
That would be something to celebrate!
Join us and rise to the Challenge.
The following article from our ministry partner PWRDF is an example of the work that your donation to FaithWorks supports.
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A small PWRDF grant makes a big impact in Haiti
by Janice Biehn,
Communications and Marketing Coordinator
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Hurricanes, earthquakes and political corruption tend to keep Haiti in the news, and this past year has been no exception. Its president was assassinated in July 2021, just weeks after that, a magntitude 7.2 earthquake struck, with Tropical Depression Grace bearing down on it.
But headlines do not a country make, and bely the resilience and spirit of the Haitian people. This was never more apparent than in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, Nurse Bénicie Pierre feared she would have to close the Saint-Laurent Healthcare Centre of Barbe, where she is also CEO. There weren’t enough rooms, medicine or face masks to keep people safe. But she knew that pregnant women and sick babies would be at risk without support or intervention. “We were very afraid when we heard about the pandemic, because we don't have appropriate technologies to deal it,” she said. “We prayed to God to protect us, because prayer was the only refuge we had at this time. So we women discussed what kind of initiative we could take.”
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Local NGO Rayjon Share Care Haiti (RSCH) recognized Pierre as a strong and capable leader and started looking for funding partners to help her keep the healthcare centre open. PWRDF supported RSCH with a $10,000 grant.
“We thought it was important to share information about the pandemic, because there were a lot of stories going around,” said Renaud Thomas, Community Coordinator and Program Manager of RSCH. “We worked with the Haitian Women's Federation to organize awareness, to tell people the truth. We communicated with the women, we shared data and statistics. And we worked with different institutions, like the Hospital of Saint-Nicola and the Ministry of Health. We tried all kinds of strategies to protect people in the villages.”
Pierre and three women from the Haitian Women’s Federation and the health centre used some of the funds to travel to a training session at the Hospital Saint-Nicola. “The hospital organized training for women who would then teach people in their villages how to prevent the spread of COVID,” said Pierre. Funds also allowed RSCH to provide some medication and equipment to organize the campaign to raise awareness about pandemic prevention.
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When the appearance of the virus derailed the plan for follow-up conferences in churches and schools, the women were not deterred. Instead, they drove a pick-up around the town and into remote areas using megaphones to tell people about the pandemic and how to prevent being infected. Then they distributed face masks in the communities, prioritizing high-risk individuals with widespread community contact, such as motorcycle drivers, patients coming to the centre for treatment, breastfeeding women and elderly people.
Back at the Saint-Laurent Healthcare Centre, there were still insufficient patient rooms, especially a place for women in labour. Pierre pushed to use the funds to improve and expand the building, put on a new roof, stucco the walls, install doors and build a fence.
Completing a construction project in just one month, in the middle of pandemic, interrupted by a hurricane, and complicated by regional gang activity, required all hands on deck. Other local organizations were astonished to see how fast the centre was finished. Members of the Women’s Federation are now more aware of their strength and believe in organization and planning. For the next project, they know they will be able to be even more effective.
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The healthcare workers have more space to welcome sick people, they have an expanded dispensary and pregnant women have a new, clean room in which to give birth. They also found a local solution to provide a gynecology table, which was proving too costly when purchased from Port-au-Prince. Instead of giving up, Pierre was able to use the final bit of PWRDF funds to hire a local craftsman to build not one but TWO exam tables, plus a couple of chairs and benches for the clinic. A plan to divert rainwater from the roof into a new garden will be financed by the community and the healthcare centre.
The grant from PWRDF made all these initiatives possible, but it also did something else. It showed the community how effective RSCH could be. Other local groups are now beating a path to partner with them.
The project motivated members of the Haitian Women’s Federation, too. They saw first-hand what can be accomplished when partners commit to supporting one another. “They became aware of their strength,” says Renaud Thomas of RSCH. “Not because of Rayjon but because of our own attitudes. It’s a privilege, it’s an opportunity for all of us to learn. And I think the work we did was good. We could see the result.”
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Prayer for FaithWorks Sunday, The Reign of Christ
Let us celebrate the Reign of Christ today in remembrance that Divinity arose among us in Jesus, lives within us, and sees us daily in the lives of those who call out for assistance.
We pray for all those who work within the FaithWorks family of support. We pray that our gratitude for their work may enrich their lives and sustain their energies for the great work that they are called to do.
We pray for all those whom they assist that their lives may be renewed for full participation in the human family.
We pray for the success of the FaithWorks fundraising campaign that we, too, may be given a chance to be those hands that do the work of saving lives and offering hope for so many. Help us to be as generous as possible, especially in this time when we are made aware of what it is to be alone, in need, and fearful of the future.
May the eyes of our hearts be always open to the full humanity of all.
Almighty, God, we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ who is alive with You and the Holy Spirit, today and forever.
Amen
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FaithWorks Videos
The FaithWorks website, faithworks.ca has been updated with new videos to promote FaithWorks. There are short, medium and long videos to include in your parish's online presence as you need.
We hope that these videos will encourage the 100 + 1% parish participation that is our goal during this 25th anniversary year.
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In-person, Virtual and Video Sermons available
If you would like Peter Misiaszek, Director of Stewardship Development, or me to speak to your parish during your Sunday worship please contact the FaithWorks Speakers Bureau at
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Peter Mentis (he/him)
FaithWorks Campaign Manager
135 Adelaide St. E.
Toronto, ON M5C 1L8
416-363-6021 ext. 242
1-800-668-8932 ext.242
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We build healthy, missional Anglican communities that engage faithfully with the world and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I acknowledge that my office resides on the territory of sovereign Indigenous Nations, the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat. I acknowledge especially the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Toronto Treaties.
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