Disciple: A Season for Acts of Love
Diocese of NC is taking part in ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from God. (Psalm 127:3)
As we celebrate the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, I find myself thinking about children. During Advent we prepare for the coming of the Christ, who comes in the form of a baby born to Mary and Joseph. At Christmas we celebrate Jesus’ birth and revel in the sheer joy of children (of all ages) who love the Christmas season. During Epiphany, we remember the journey of the Magi who came to see the child, and we hear stories of Jesus as a baby and young child, knowing what God envisioned for that baby.
We know that Jesus was God incarnate, “God in man made manifest,” as the hymn says. We know he grew up to be a miracle worker. A savior. He was all of those things. But he was also a baby and then a little boy. He was just like all the children in our lives. He got hungry. He got sick. He played with other children. He learned and grew. His family took care of him and provided for him until he was old enough to take care of himself.
A HEALTHY START
Work with children is a top priority for Episcopal Relief & Development’s global work because of the transformative opportunity it presents, not only for each child, but for entire communities. Research tells us the most important time to help children become all that they can be is during the first five years of life. If you can’t ensure healthy growth, appropriate nutrition, nurture, stimulation and education during those formative years, it is virtually impossible for those children to catch up. If we can help children thrive during that critical period, however, we give them a chance to become everything God dreams for them to be. We can also transform their communities, because 15-20 years from now, those children will be healthy, productive adults who contribute to those communities.
Capitalizing on this transformative opportunity, Episcopal Relief & Development and its partner in Zambia, the Zambian Anglican Council Outreach Programme, launched a community-led, holistic approach to address the interrelated needs of families with young children: parenting, health, nutrition, food security and livelihoods. Community volunteers are key to this program, meeting with caregivers in their homes each month to ensure that:
- Mothers get prenatal health care, babies are weighed and measured each month to ensure they are reaching the appropriate health and development milestones, and children are vaccinated. Caregivers are connected with local health clinics to address healthcare needs.
- Families have mosquito nets to protect them from malaria.
- Families participate in nutrition classes, learning how to make nutritious meals from readily available foods in the community.
- Caregivers learn the importance of sanitation and how to access clean water.
- Caregivers participate in peer-to-peer parenting groups to share best practices and support each other.
- Families are given seeds for a garden that allows them to generate income from sales of produce as well as to feed the children nutritional food.
- Children ages 3-5 are enrolled in play groups, where they socialize with other children, learn letters and numbers, and eventually learn to read and do basic math so they are prepared when they start school.
- Women have access to savings and loan groups, called Savings with Education, where they learn the benefits of saving, have access to loans on terms set by the group, and earn a profit from their savings by sharing the interest earned on the loans at the end of the year. Our research shows that participants typically use their earnings to expand small businesses and to cover health, nutrition and education expenses for their children.
One participant in the Savings with Education groups reports, “We thought we were too poor to save, but we learned amounts can’t be too small to save. And even with the small amount, we can do something to earn income.” Think about the power of that last sentence: “We can do something to earn income.”
I had the opportunity to travel to Zambia in 2019 to see this amazing work. The bishop of the Diocese of Central Zambia, the Rt. Rev. Derek, told us the real success of this program—beyond the measurable impacts of improved cognition, improved nutritional intake and better health—is the change in mindset. People realize they have abilities and resources and can change their own lives.
This approach—connecting individuals and communities to their capacity to make change happen for themselves—is at the heart of everything we do at Episcopal Relief & Development. Rather than impose solutions, Episcopal Relief & Development and our host country partners listen to, learn from and work together with community leaders and volunteers to build on local knowledge and strengths. By following this approach, we respect the dignity of every human being, ensuring that our programs are appropriate for the context and drive sustainable change.
Sue Guptill, a member of Diocesan Council for the Diocese of North Carolina and a person with a career focus on child health and development, wanted to ensure that Episcopal Relief & Development’s approach to its work with children was “both evidence-based and culturally appropriate.” After learning how the program was designed and is implemented, she remarked, “I was particularly impressed there was a strong emphasis on recognizing and supporting the strengths that already existed in the community and that participants had a leadership role in determining the direction of the work done.”
Our Diocesan Goal : $198,000
In a world full of division, we want to help spread some of God’s love. The Diocese of North Carolina has joined Episcopal Relief and Development’s “ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE” campaign by pledging to raise $198,000 by the end of Epiphany to nurture and nourish more than 13,000 children and their communities in meaningful, sustainable and culturally respectful ways.To reach our pledge, we are asking our churches for a pledge of $15 per member. This will help thousands of children, their families and larger communities in the form of mosquito nets, bicycles, nutrition and parenting programs for young families, economic assistance, and assistance with care for newborns and their mothers.It may not seem like much, but in the right hands $15 changes and saves a lot of lives. Please join us in sowing some seeds of grace in a needy world!
ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE
Episcopal Relief & Development has launched a campaign to expand this work with children. The campaign is called ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE in recognition of the critical first 1,000 days of a child’s life. The goal is to expand the work we launched in Zambia to other countries in Africa and to expand similar work, such as water, sanitation and hygiene programs in Angola. These reduce child mortality by creating sustainable community-led access to water along with Savings with Education groups and kitchen gardens in Latin America.
The Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church and honorary co-chair of the campaign, says, “Love allows us to bridge great distances so that children an ocean away are as precious to us as the little ones living right down the block. Episcopal Relief & Development’s programs with children share our love with thousands of children in Africa, Asia and Latin America. With your help, we can demonstrate God’s love to thousands more.” Indeed, the goal is to reach as many as 100,000 children by the end of the campaign.
I’m excited the Diocese of North Carolina is embracing this opportunity to help children around the world. Participating in ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE lives into our work to foster beloved communities where all people may experience dignity and abundant life and see themselves and others as beloved children of God. This local campaign also gives our diocese and congregations an opportunity to focus outward during a year that has been so inwardly focused. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire planet and reminds us that we are all God’s children. Let’s reach out and give children across the globe the opportunity to thrive throughout their lives.
The monetary goal for our diocesan campaign is $198,000 by the end of Epiphany. This represents just $15 for each person in the Diocese. Fifteen dollars is the cost of a package to nurture children in Episcopal Relief & Development’s Gifts of Life alternative gift catalog. For $15, you can transform the life of a child! If we reach our goal, together we can transform the lives of more than 13,000 children and their communities for decades to come.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Foundation in Salisbury is already a proud supporter of ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE. The Rev. Dr. Robert Black shared, “The organizing vision for our Foundation is ‘Christian service in the spread of the Gospel message through missionaries or missions, health services or education by nonprofit organizations, particularly those associated with the Episcopal Church.’ When we learned about the ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE campaign, we knew it fit perfectly with this framework and fits with our parish’s commitment to becoming the beloved community. We like giving through Episcopal Relief & Development because we trust their process and know they are doing good and holy work.”
The diocesan campaign launched on November 13, which was World Kindness Day, and it was widely celebrated during the online diocesan gathering on November 21 (page 16). Episcopal Relief & Development designated World Kindness Day as a day of Love, a day to do something kind for others, but we know every day can be a day of love. The tool kit created for the occasion can be used any day, as it is a tool kit for individuals and families to reflect and choose an act of love.
Thank you for engaging in this season for acts of love, and thank you in advance for participating in the campaign—giving of your time and treasure to transform lives and communities. Together, we can ensure lasting change.
GET INVOLVED
DONATE
The easiest way to take part is to donate $15 directly to the campaign. You can do this in two ways:
The easiest way to take part is to donate $15 directly to the campaign. You can do this in two ways:
- Online: Visit bit.ly/1000DaysofLove to make your contribution.
- By check: Send to Episcopal Relief and Development, P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058. On the memo line, write the name of your church and the city and state in which it is located so your church will receive credit for the donation
TRACK OUR DIOCESAN PROGRESS
The information is available at https://www.episdionc.org/1000-days-of-love/.
RESOURCES
Enjoy the resources from Episcopal Relief & Development:
- Learn about the campaign at https://www.episcopalrelief.org/1000DaysofLove/.
- Download worship resources for the campaign at https://www.episcopalrelief.org/1000daysoflove/wor....
Josephine H. Hicks is the vice president of Episcopal Church programs for Episcopal Relief & Development.
Tags: North Carolina Disciple
