In acknowledgement of International Women’s Day today, UnitingWorld Associate Director for Relief and Development Mr Rob Floyd has asked for us all to reflect on not only the contribution women make to communities around the world, but the hardships they often face on a daily basis.
In developing countries, women are often denied access human rights, such as education and maternal health. Some are forced to walk for hours each day to collect water from remote sources. Girls often forgo formal educational opportunities to help raise their siblings.
Mr Floyd has also said that this day should serve as a reminder of Australia’s obligations as a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are a blueprint of eight areas agreed to by every country and several major world institutions to work towards a more equitable world by 2015.
“The economic and social development of women is key to the economic and social development of entire communities. Healthy, well educated and empowered women create strong communities which are far more likely to overcome poverty.
“This is the reason that all of the overseas projects of the Relief and Development unit of UnitingWorld are either based on or have a component of overcoming gender inequality.”
In India, the Tribal Development project run in partnership with the Church of South India seeks to empower some of the most marginalised people in the country by advocating for the human rights of women and establishing local schools. Women have been encouraged to form self help groups, and many have gained greater independence by starting small businesses.
Other projects, including the Papua New Guinea Rural Village Water project in Milne Bay, and the India Rural Village Water project in Vellore have focused on the role women undertake as water collectors. By making clean water easily accessible, girls are released to gain an education, women have time to assist their children with education and work towards other forms of income generation.
“Please take this opportunity on International Women’s Day to pray for the futures of women around the world and reflect on how you might support women’s rights in the future.”
This week I received a letter and brochure from UnitingWorld regarding a request for finances for Leadership Training for Church Founders. Yes, I could support that until I read on and found that they were all males. Where are the females? I can assure you they are there, the Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, Apostles, Healers etc., just call them forth for Father has.
In this article you speak of the hardship women and girls face daily and I say, right throughout the millenia. It is time for it to stop and if not through the Body of Christ then where else can it be achieved with love and dignity? Please don’t point out the damn obvious to us once more about the abuse to the female at every level of existance, we know it, we’ve experienced it and it’s got to stop. Do something concrete in releasing the females in Timor Leste from the tyranny of evil at work for far too long not only in the world but in the Church. There is no excuse in the PostModern era, in the 21st century for this patent discrimination to go on.
The finance I thought I’d send I did not. Not that the males are unworthy, No but that the females by their absence obviously are I will not support mysogynae in any way shape or form.
The Church in Australia needs to be putting strategies in place that encourages the new, emerging Church such as in Timor Leste to stop this erroneous thinking based on redundant centuries old teaching based on blind, fleshly prejudice and ignorance in advances made in Linguistics and Archiological findings over the last century.
I would strongly recommend you read, “The Source New Testament with Extensive Notes on Greek Word Meaning” by Australian Linguist Dr. Ann Nyland.
Please, work with due diligence with this new emerging Church so as to promote those Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, Apostles, Healers etc who just so happen to be Man in the female form. Restore the balance of the human race within its ministries just as Father has called that same balance into His Body and it will function well.