New Partnerships Will Expand Girls’ Clubs

Not too long ago, I had coffee with my friend, Nancy Duarte. I love to have coffee with friends on a Saturday morning, but this coffee was special, because we had it in Wheaton, IL.

Nancy is a dear Chilean friend of ours from Temuco. She is a clinical psychologist specializing in family systems, and is now the Program Director for Family Bridges, a faith-based organization helping Spanish-speaking immigrant families transition well into life in the United States.

Nancy began consulting with me on the Girls’ Clubs project when she lived in Temuco and was chair of the psychology department at the Universidad Mayor. Now she will serve on a newly formed consulting team that is helping me redesign the program so that it can be replicated, and the girls’ progress can be tracked.

Many of you asked me when I was speaking on home assignment if it would be possible to expand the Talita Cumi Girls’ Clubs Project to other countries, including the U.S.

I believe God is opening doors for that, and probably for things greater than I can imagine, to equip us and others to help girls and young women grow to become “oaks of righteousness,” the oft-stated goal of our ministries here.

Thanks to a grant from One Grant Hour of Sharing, we have formed a consulting team made up of psychologists from Fuller Seminary’s Thrive Center for Human Development, Nancy, and the psychology department head at Temuco’s Universidad Mayor.

We are engaged in a formal review of all the materials I have written, and developing a mentor training program. Over the next year we will begin interviewing participants and leaders of our current program and measuring progress on developmental scales.

The goal is to see the Girls’ Clubs project become an evidence-based curriculum and program.

Oh my, my head hurts! Excuse me while I go hide under the table.

Okay. My crises of panic do pass quickly, because God keeps bringing wonderful, qualified, generous friends to accompany Dwight and me as we pursue this vision that many of you have supported for years.

So as Nancy and I sat down to work, we mapped out a plan to develop our mentor training. We reviewed some curriculum, shared notes, and sketched out a work plan for the next few months.

So much remains to be done, but for the first time I can see that it really is possible. I can’t do it alone. But God provides the help I need.

Thank you, dear friends, for being the voice that called this ministry into existence. Please pray for us more fervently than ever as we climb this steep road. Rejoice with us, too, as we welcome our new partners from Fuller Seminary’s Thrive Center (www.thethrivecenter.org) and Family Bridges to walk alongside us.

Rainwater Harvesting Project

“These tanks saved my garden”

“I wasn’t going to plant this year because there’s not going to be enough water.”

These are typical comments from people, like Flora here, with new rainwater harvesting systems.

Thanks, again, to a grant from One Great Hour of Sharing we have been installing simple systems that use rainwater to alleviate a severe water crisis in southern Chile.

Climate change is real

Rural families that used to depend on springs and shallow wells, and sporadic rain throughout the summer now find themselves without water from January to June.

Our average rainfall compares with Seattle, but most rural houses do not have gutters, and storing rainwater is a novel idea, until recently.

Municipalities are trucking in 1,000 liters a week to rural households, which is not enough.

So the purpose of the Rainwater Harvesting project is to demonstrate a viable solution for rural households.

Our systems can provide water for household gardens, and other non-potable uses during the summer.

We can’t provide all the tanks they really need. So this project is meant to stimulate the use of this simple technology for conserving water.

Participating families provide their own kind of “sweat equity” and they will come up with ways to expand their systems.

City of Temuco asks us to set up a demonstration project

Rainwater harvesting is catching on in Chile.

The city of Temuco asked us to set up a demonstration site serving the needs of a cluster of rural households.

Before they consider installations on a massive scale, they recognize the need first of all to educate and convince the rural population that rainwater harvesting can play a big role in alleviating their water problems. We look forward to this opportunity to support Temuco’s vision of a sustainable community, starting in November.

Did you know?

This year, your annual World Mission Offering gift can do twice as much.

If you give to I am IM – WMO between now and September 30, you will be not only supporting crucial ministries around the world, but also encouraging others to join in and do the same!

Here’s how it works: I am IM is a challenge opportunity to kick off our 2016 World Mission Offering. From now until September 30, gifts from generous partners like you will be set aside as “seed money” to create the I am IM Challenge Fund.

Your generosity will enable every undesignated dollar donated for the WMO after September 30 to be DOUBLED up to the total of the Challenge Fund you help to create.

This challenge opportunity is for the support of all of IM’s global servants and all the work of IM and is not intended for support of specific projects or global servants.

How to give:

• To give online, go to: https://internationalministries.org/drives/41
• To donate by check, write I am IM – WMO on the memo line and mail to International Ministries, PO Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482- 0851.
• To give by phone, call 610-768-2323. International Ministries