Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
MCC recognizes – along with many Canadians – that it’s important for women to be at the core of our development work if we want to create lasting impact for families and communities.
In this issue you will meet two Bolivian women, Irene and Maria Elena, whose participation with MCC partner El Comedor de Niños moves them from a state of impoverishment and worry for the basic health of their children, to a place of modest economic independence. This is MCC’s vital story of women and development.
There is, of course, a story of men too. You will see that El Comedor also reaches out to husbands and fathers of participants in order to teach them economically valuable skills. And in Maria Elena’s account, it is only when her husband’s angry opposition to her participation at El Comedor changes to active support that the benefits to her and her family take root.
At MCC, we know women must take strong leadership in community development. We also know that sharing God’s love and compassion for all cannot exclude men.
We invite you to dig into this issue of ACP to read how education and training help women and communities thrive. And we invite you to support MCC as an agent of learning for all members of society who seek right relationships with God, each other and creation. Thank you for your commitment to women, men, children and whole communities as they experience relief, development and peace in the name of Christ.
In Christ’s peace,
Rick Cober Bauman
MCC Canada Executive Director
rickcoberbauman@mcccanada.ca