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!