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07056 January 29, 2007
PW Birthday Offering recipients announced
Promotional materials are available Feb. 1
by Jerry Van Marter
LOUISVILLE - Five programs in Africa, South Korea and Tennessee have been named recipients of the 2007 Birthday Offering sponsored by Presbyterian Women.
Since 1922, the Birthday Offering has channeled nearly $30 million to mission projects around the world. The goal for the 2007 offering - which is customarily received between February and June - is $1.2 million.
Grants will be funneled to the projects as Birthday Offering funds are received.
Promotional materials for the 2007 offering, many of them free, will be available after Wednesday (Jan. 31). Materials may be ordered by calling Presbyterian Distribution Service at 800-524-2612 or by visiting the Presbyterian Women Web site.
The five recipients, with information on them originally published in the January/February 2007 issue of HORIZONS, the magazine for Presbyterian Women:
Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries, Talitha-Kumi Christian School, Arandis, Namibia: there is nothing that a child deserves more than feeling safe and secure. Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries is a Christian humanitarian aid organization that seeks to establish homes in which orphans can be fed, taught, healed and embraced by Christ's love. With the help of Presbyterian Women, Hope's Promise will address the vulnerability in Namibian children's lives that is exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This pandemic has left approximately 15 million children in Namibia without parents or caregivers to provide for their basic needs. Many face the risk of exploitation and some have become surrogate parents themselves.
During the next 10 years, the Birthday Offering will assist Hope's Promise in serving Namibian children who have been orphaned and abandoned as a result of HIV/AIDS, and other children who do not have access to medical and educational assistance. Hope's Promise believes that education is one of the keys to breaking the cycle of poverty. Thus, this investment by Presbyterian Women will enable the organization to renovate a hospital and its facilities into a boarding school with classrooms, living space, playground, offices, furniture and staff. This school will provide a safe and loving learning environment in which the students can reach their full potential.
With funds from the Birthday Offering, Hope's Promise will expand its program to care for children from kindergarten through sixth grade. The school hopes to one day establish a fully-staffed Christian school for children in kindergarten through 12th grade.
National Organization of the Korean Presbyterian Women, House of Peace, Seoul, South Korea: Relocating and adapting to a new home is not easy. Adapting to a new country, a new political system and unprecedented freedom makes relocation even more complicated for North Korean refugees. Culture shock and a sense of alienation are some of the challenges faced by North Korean families seeking refuge in South Korean. The National Organization of Presbyterian Korean Women has a global vision of unification that guides them as they engage in mission, education and social service projects in South Korea and abroad. Helping relocate North Korean families adjust to their new environment is part of this vision.
By providing funds for the construction of the House of Peace, Presbyterian Women is empowering the Korean Women's organization as it assists North Koreans adjust to South Korean society. The Birthday Offering also will provide counseling opportunities and educational courses for these men, women and children who are dedicated to improving their quality of life. The facility will be equipped with an office and counseling room, seminar and education rooms, lodging quarters, a worship space, cafeteria and recreation room. At the same time, the project will employ pastors and social welfare specialists who will provide educational and social welfare programs.
Kwangju Christian Hospital, Physical Rehabilitation Ward, Gwangju, South Korea: Physical rehabilitation is essential for persons who are physically disabled and seeking to improve their quality of life after suffering from an illness or accident. In the city of Gwangju and in the Jeonnam province of South Korea, there are not enough physical rehabilitation facilities to assist the increasing number of patients disabled by cerebral palsy, strokes, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and other illnesses or injuries. This has forced families to travel to Seoul or other cities so that patients can receive good rehabilitation treatments, resulting in increased financial burdens for many families.
Presbyterian Women will play a significant role in assisting the Kwangju Christian Hospital to improve the quality of life for persons who are physically disabled. The Kwangju Christian Hospital hopes to establish a physical rehabilitation ward on its site, with plans eventually to expand the ward into a physical rehabilitation center. With help from the Birthday Offering, the hospital will renovate old operating rooms to create a rehabilitation ward, and will purchase equipment and 46 beds for the ward. The construction of this ward will decrease the financial strain on patients' families and maximize the range of activities that persons who are physically disable can engage in, thus increasing their opportunities to engage in society and return to work.
Mulanje Mission Hospital, Renovation and expansion of family shelter, Mulanje, Malawi: Unlike hospitals in the United States, hospitals in Malawi do not offer patients food as part of their care. Patients must rely on family members to provide food, psychological support and clean clothes. Mulanje Mission Hospital takes the responsibility of providing shelter for the relatives who help care for family members while they are hospitalized. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has caused the number of patients to increase, and this has led to an increase in the number of relatives accompanying patients. At times, there can be as many as 50 people staying in one room. The current facility is not adequate to meet the space and hygiene needs of patients' families.
With a grant from Presbyterian Women, the hospital will improve the conditions of its guest facilities by expanding and renovating the shelter. This will increase the number of beds available and provide rooms for men, women and children. The hospital also will construct a kitchen, toilets and a laundry area, install a water pump and train people in the use of firewood-saving stoves. Overall, the Birthday Offering grant will allow the hospital to provide relatives with sufficient living quarters, as well as environmental (rational water consumption and firewood saving) and practical health education (hygiene).
Living Waters for the World, Clean Water U program expansion, Franklin, TN: The need for clean water in our world is overwhelming. More than 3 million people, most of them children, die each year from illnesses related to contaminated water. Living Waters for the World equips congregational mission teams with the skills needed to form partnerships with communities in need of clean water. These teams install the Living Waters for the World water purification systems and equip local community leaders to operate the systems long-term. Systems have been installed in Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, India, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Belize, the Philippines, Ghana and the United States. Each purification system can supply up to 300 people with clean drinking and cooking water at a cost of 60 cents per 300 gallons of purified water.
To continue to save children and communities from the illnesses and complications that come from unclean water, Living Waters for the World seeks to increase the number of available trainers through its newly created training program, Clean Water U. With a grant from the Birthday Offering, Living Waters will expand the number of annual Clean Water U training sessions, empower more mission team leaders to equip their congregations and subsequently install more water systems around the world. The grant will also assist Living Waters in promoting awareness about Clean Water U throughout the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Over a three-year period, additional training sessions will prepare approximately 147 mission teams to install water purification systems.
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