Ethiopian Jewelry

At the Entoto Community Center, men and women are earning a living creating beautiful jewelry. 105 people are now being trained in this job creation program. Many of the residents of Entoto Mountain, outside of Addis Ababa, live with HIV/AIDS. They have no real way to meet their daily needs, no access to clean water, no adequate shelter, no quality health care and little means of sustaining themselves and their families. But they do have the will to create and to build on opportunities presented to them.

Beza International, WOGA's Ethiopia partner, began this jewelry-making program just a year ago and is currently working on finding both international and national markets for this creative and unique jewelry.

WOGA: LA's team to Ethiopia spent a day and a half at the Entoto Community Center and got to meet and spend time with these gifted men and women and their children.

If you are interested in the jewelry, some of which is made using coffee beans, contact Cheryl Lovejoy at lovejoyrc@aol.com

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

After returning from Ethiopia, the WOGA: LA team wanted to share the joy with their friends and family. What better way to do this than to hold a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony. Holding this ceremony is a way to communicate friendship and respect - both of which we feel towards all of those who supported and encouraged us in our trip.

And God did more than we imagined! We did our best to pull together all of the needed items for the ceremony. As we set up what we had brought, who should enter the room but Brandon, one of our team member's friends. Brandon, as it happens, is a barrista at Starbucks and has a passion for. . . the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony! So he came with all of the elements needed for the ceremony - beautiful pitcher, coffee cups and incense included! Not only did he set this all up for us, but he agreed to start off our meeting by sharing a few words on the meaning of the ceremony. Turns out he had just given a presentation on the ceremony to a group of Starbucks executives.

God also provided for a wonderful conclusion to our ceremony. When we attended an Ethiopian church service in preparation for our time in Ethiopia, we met a woman named Alem. She came to our gathering and asked if she could share a few words once we'd finished the meeting. She beautifully wrapped up our meeting by her personal sharing of all that we'd seen and experienced in Ethiopia.

Thank you, Brandon and Alem, for adding so much to our time together. We make our plans, but God always seems to have something even bigger in mind! And God is doing some BIG things in Ethiopia and we were so grateful to have seen and experienced His people at work in this nation.

Eight WOGA: LA Members Make it to Ethiopia!

WOGA: LA Ethiopia Team

Thank you to the friends and family who helped us get to Ethiopia! We spent an amazing 10 days in Addis with WOGA's Ethiopian partner, Beza International. If you missed our Coffee Ceremony at Ecclesia last week, come to Silverlake Community Church on Sunday, 11/9 at 12 noon to hear about the trip.

We felt like we were in the center of a whirlwind of the Holy Spirit's activity. See our trip blog for stories: www.wogaethiopia2008.blogspot.com

WOGA's Meeting on FGM.

A very big thank you to Nellie Shani and the Los Angeles chapter of WOGA goes out for a successful WOGA event on Female Genital Mutilation, (FGM.) We had a very nice turn out for the event, during which we were able to view the film "Moolade" by Ousmane Sembene, a film about FGM which is now out on DVD, and also a short demo of "Primal Cries" produced by Dee Smith and directed by Maki. Both Dee and Maki attended our meeting, in what we felt was definitely a God-connection!

Both films were an eye opening experience to many who attended, who previously had never been aware that FGM exists and is still going on in many parts of the world.

We were able to spend time in prayer with Nellie, our guest speaker, whose work throughout Africa has put her in contact with many women whose lives have been affected by FGM. We prayed together for a swift ending to this practice.

Nellie spoke of how she asked God what she could do, as one woman, to make a difference on such a huge issue. God led her to consider what was 'in her very hands,' to make a difference, and her answer was her artwork. As an artist, Nellie had not painted for 10 years and after hearing God's answer to her, she picked up her brushes and made a grouping of photos just for our WOGA: LA event in honor of ending FGM. The photo above is from this collection and they are available for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to PACWA's work to end FGM in Kenya. If you are interested in purchasing this artwork, email Cheryl Lovejoy at lovejoyrc@aol.com.

One of the attendees was WOGA: LA member, Kathlee Roscoe, who shared with us that her team was working on forming an NGO that will draw together those who are working to fight trafficking, (more information about her group in the sidebar!). A first time attender, Maki - a young Ethiopian filmmaker/producer shared with us her short clip of the documentary on FGM that she is in the process of raising funds to complete.

We were so glad to have these rare opportunities to share and support the work that is currently going on to end this ritual and raise awareness. Taking action on this, we raised funds for PACWA, WOGA's partner in Africa, in their Kenyan project to train young Kenyan women to say no to FGM.

A great thank you to all who participated, attended the event and gave so generously of themselves! Our continued prayers for the end of FGM! And a special thank you to Nellie Shani for helping us to process this film and answering our questions on this issue.

Contributed by Sharone Goe

Peace Nihorimbere, WOGA Director for Central Africa Region to visit US in March

Peace Nihorimbere

"Thank you for making Burundi known in America and around the world." Peace to Emily Voorhies, Executive Director of WOGA

This March, WOGA's Central Africa Director, Peace Nihorimbere, will be visiting WOGA Chapters in Los Angeles, Houston and Tampa Bay.

Peace is a survivor of the genocide in her native Burundi. After living as refugees with her family in Canada, Peace was directed by the Lord to return to Burundi to help rebuild this nation.

Since then she has begun programs to nourish, both physically and spiritually, AIDS and genocide widows in Burundi and in Rwanda. In these programs, women are trained in microenterprise skills within two businesses - tailoring and hair-styling. Following is a story from one of the women in this program:

• Theresa, from a slum area, had never owned more than one outfit at a time. The last thing she dreamed of was being able to make a dress for herself or for her children. Now she makes dresses for sale and can even make her own clothes. She is confident for her future. She says she was blind but now she can see.

We rejoice over the hope that these women are finding as they come to know the Lord who created them and as they learn skills to support their families. This kind of hope and healing is critical for the women of these nations.

In Burundi, the World Bank estimates that the gross national product (GNP) per capita, which is a measure of national income per person per year, is the equivalent of $90US. This means that daily, many people in Burundi are living on far less than the $1 that is the global standard for absolute poverty. Although $1 will go further in Burundi than it will in the US, it does not go far enough to take good care of a family. For instance, a 1.5 pound bag of beans in Burundi costs almost 70 cents. So if a mother is earning the national average, her income will be enough to buy less than one bag of beans a day.

If you are located in LA, Houston or Tampa Bay, come and hear Peace speak to our WOGA Chapters. The Los Angeles meeting will be held during the morning of March 8. Details will be posted in the Upcoming Events section closer to the date. If you would like to support the work with widows in Burundi and Rwanda, go to the Global Action website at: www.globalaction.nu

Vision Stars Lifted up to God at WOGA: LA 2008 Kick-off Meeting

Women of WOGA: LA gathered on January 27 so that we could together offer up our dreams and visions for 2008 to the Lord. We also rejoiced in what God has done during WOGA: LA's first year and looked forward to what 2008 holds. We prayed together for our city, for other WOGA chapters in North America and across the globe, and for justice issues impacting women worldwide.

Many thanks to all of the women who made this event possible - to Kelli for coordinating the meeting and to Kelli and Lisa for opening their home, to Becky for the great star idea, to Lori for creating our local, national and global prayer stations, to Rhonda for designing our WOGA: LA letter for 2008, to Tara for sharing what it has meant to her to be a part of WOGA, to Michelle for creating our agenda for the evening and for bringing three new leaders to join us and to all of the women who made it a great meeting by coming! As you can see, it takes a whole village to make this happen!

Have you Heard? WOGA Women Speak Up

From Mary, after attending her first WOGA: LA event:

It was God's perfect timing for me to come to the meeting on Sunday night. I can't wait to help network and spread the word. Is there anything else I can do for the next event? I have already invited ten friends and they are all in.

From Missy, WOGA: Houston Coordinator, after their first event:

I find myself sitting and beginning to ponder what God is doing with WOGA and each of our lives and I often have to stop for a moment and walk away. I get so overwhelmed with emotion and joy that I find myself speechless and sitting in awestruck wonder. I can't understand why He would let me be a part of this. I probably look like a crazy loon sometimes!!!

From Judy Mbugua in Nairobi, Kenya:

Over the weekend, my grandfather's family had to move to my Mom's place after their homes were completely burned down with everything. One member of the family died. Can you imagine 40 people in Mom's house?

From Cathy, WOGA: Tampa Bay Coordinator:

It's hard to believe only our THIRD meeting is Peace coming to speak! We feel sometimes like we are on a runaway train!!! But God is the engineer so we are fine!

Pray for Kenya!

Kibera Slum outside of Nairobi

WOGA (known as PACWA in Africa) works closely with those suffering in the slums of Kenya. They work with both AIDS widows and AIDS orphans in Kibera, Africa's second largest slum. A million people make their homes here and it is one of the areas where rioting is the worst as a result of the current political crisis facing Kenya.

Below is a request for prayer from Judy Mbugua, Director of PACWA:

"We really need to pray. The country is being divided in the middle. I am reminded of the story in 1 Kings 4:16-28. Just like the lady in this story was ready to give up her son, so that he could live; our earnest prayer is that we may have the real leader arise, give up power and personal ambition before we as a country are divided in the middle. Only God will cause such a thing to happen. We really need divine intervention!

Please pray specifically for the church, the divisions in the church and for the truth to come out in a way that would not disrupt peace and for tribal animosity to die in the name of Jesus!

Because of the numbers of the displaced people, we need supplies to be able to help them."

If you would like to send support that will be used to help those who are displaced in Kenya, contact Global Action at: www.global_act.org.

WOGA Houston Up & Running

Bea Balbuena and Missy Barron - WOGA Houston Organizers

WOGA Houston had a great first gathering last night. 18 women gathered to learn about WOGA, to pray for the situation in Kenya and to consider their future involvement in this blossoming chapter.

They met in a local restaurant which opened its doors to them for the evening. Even the waiters got involved as one of them, watching the preparations, offered to drive home to get a black cloth for them to use as a backdrop for a video they were showing. One woman shared about a local ministry she was starting up and connections among the women began to develop as they stayed after the meeting to get to know each other better.

A leader from one of the local churches was present and invited Bea and Missy to share more about WOGA and the March visit of Peace Nihorimbere (WOGA Leader for Rwanda and Burundi) at their upcoming women's retreat. Very encouraging!

We rejoice with you on a great beginning, WOGA Houston!

First WOGA Chapter Meetings of 2008 in Houston and Canada

Pray for our sisters in Houston, Florida and Canada as they hold their first meetings for 2008. Cathy Schmidt is leading the first Pinellas (Florida) meeting on January 10, Missy Barron and Bea Balbuena will lead the first meeting ever for WOGA: Houston on January 21 and Barbara Prefontaine will lead WOGA Canada's first meeting of 2008 on January 16th (they are a new chapter - began in the final months of 2007). Pray for them!

WOGA Members Going Global!

WOGA: LA member, Laurie Ishii, heads to Thailand and Cambodia this Sunday. For more details, see sidebar.

Connecting Women Across Los Angeles

Lori Fox, Rhonda Waller-Bautista and Kathlee Roscoe at the first Thread Foundation Event in 9/07

"In July I stumbled upon a flier about WOGA and decided to attend the meeting. I was so excited to have found people with a similar heart and passion as myself. One such person was Rhonda Waller-Bautista. I am currently a student at FIDM (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) so Cheryl was quick to point me in Rhonda's (fashionable) direction. I am so thankful for this! Since that time I have connected with Rhonda and have had the privilege of working with her for the Thread Foundation. She is such an inspiration to me and filled with love and vision. Thank you WOGA for introducing us!" (Written by Lori Fox)