God among my neighbours

We are standing at the entrance of a growing movement. Christians are feeling a burden, I believe, moved by the Holy Spirit, to refocus on their community. How would we identify God's presence in the neighbourhood, if we remain alienated from it? When He moves in my barrio, what does it look like?

People I work with in South America and the Caribbean are developing creative ways of integrating Jesus' teachings into their every day life at the market place, the school, with their neighbours and family. It looks quite different from place to place, from home groups to local schools, craft fairs and volunteer associations, the spectrum is wide, the opportunities many.

One challenge I see us facing: Are we going to make the time to give back to our community? My biggest concern is that most of those elaborating a theology of Community Ministry are not ready to pay the price of getting their feet wet in the sea of problems, personalities and short comings of working with people of all backgrounds and not always as receptive as we wish they were.

May we follow clear directions from God as we embark in this exciting venture of seeing His Kingdom come amidst our neighbours!

2010 New fresh start!

What was 2009 like for us? Though living temporarily in Canada, our work focuses in South America and the Caribbean. Bibiana kept travelling to different countries and found tremendous people eager to continue with a ministry to the whole person, with a strategy for Development and Christ centered. Colombia and Peru are opening up to training and interested believers continue to keep in touch to learn more about Community Health Evangelism. Other partners in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina are active teaching and living what they learn. Many of them have not seen the expected results. Some communities are still struggling with this change of approach, hoping for handouts and foreign aid. However, the vision is so clear that the trainers keep teaching what God has shown them in his Word and in the many lessons that are available in their local languages. Many of our co workers are volunteers that have faithfully taught people in the villages how to develop in their faith, how to grow vegetables and generate income, how to purify water, how to start a business, how to be a good leader, how to deepen their relationship with God, how to deal with anger and bitterness, how to build an energy saving stove called rocket stove, and many other practical lessons, modelling with their own lives a Gospel that is really Good News for all in the community. The residents of a slum asked for forgiveness to a land lord for throwing their garbage over the fence into his plot, people working together had a meeting to forgive a member of the team that had stolen money from them, a community pharmacy was started in another place, signs of the Kingdom are popping up here and there, and we know the end of the story, so we enjoy being part of it.
Do you want to be part of God's story in the lives of many?
Do not let 2010 pass without getting involved in the real world out there, where brothers and sisters are actively seeking ways of serving each other and knowing God more through this service.
Bibiana

Being a Medical Doctor from Argentina, Bibiana MacLeod was sent to Haiti by her local church to work in Missions. This is her story:
“Though I initially wanted to fulfill a call to serve the whole person with Jesus’ message, I found myself in situations of desperate need of health care and was overwhelmed with cases of disease that could have been prevented in the community like Malaria, Dehydration, HIV/AIDS, Maternal and infant mortality, Tetanos, Preventable Infectious Diseases, Malnutrition, Intestinal Worms.
One particular night, a nine month old baby was brought to me severely dehydrated as a result of having diarrhea. After a night long treatment of IV solutions the baby’s life was spared. However, a few months later while driving through the village, I saw the same little baby greeting me from the distance. She was naked, bare foot and with an extended belly, probably the consequence of contracting intestinal worms.
Right then, something in my heart was changed. I could no longer be fulfilled providing curative care to a people that didn’t feel responsible for their own wellness and who believed they couldn’t choose to have a healthier life. My journey of searching for the right way to help the poor see themselves as God sees them brought me to a ‘philosophy of care’ that has become my passion.“
‘Our vision is to see the poor taking full ownership of their situation, recovering their dignity and fulfilling God’s intention for their lives and their community.

Today Bibiana and her husband Alexander are serving a number of countries through Medical Ambassadors Canada. (MACA) Their goal is to practice a wellness strategy that integrates physical and spiritual concepts into community development through the countries were there are undeserved and marginalized people. This approach to wellness began in the early ‘80s in Africa and today is referred to as Community Health Evangelism (CHE).
CHE CORE VALUES:
o The recovery of dignity of the poor
o Our involvement as partners, not doers or providers
o Development of relationships, not projects
A strategy that integrates the Spiritual and Physical teachings