Villa de la Mujer

For some time now we have been talking about our plans for the Women’s Village in Trujillo. I am happy to tell you that the Women’s Village (Villa de la Mujer) plans in Trujillo are beginning to gather steam. The Villa was opened in a public ceremony in October 2009 and accommodations for sixteen women were developed in the same building in Trujillo where the administrative offices for the project are located. The meeting was well attended by local dignitaries as well as some visiting PNHI board members and their spouses. It appeared at that time that we would be overwhelmed with women with needs we could help with but, unfortunately, it turned out that government regulations were going to be our foe and not our friend. Consequently, there have been only four women treated to date, although Mara has gained much visibility for the project and has the attention of civic and court leaders to remove some of the hurdles. We expect significant growth in our abilities to help to come in the near future.

The Villa has a paid staff of two women, Mara, the leader of the project, is the former special assistant to Mayor Acuna of Trujillo and Daysi, an educated and trained psychologist. There are also about one hundred volunteers working with Mara and Daysi.

Much of the effort being carried out by the staff and volunteers is to educate the local population in two areas. First, they are reaching out to the women in Trujillo who may be victims of physical and/or sexual abuse (the two “different” types are usually linked and accompany one another). The other effort is to reach out and educate the public officials about the scope and severity of the problem and to inform them as to how they can assist in referrals and in helping in the daily performance of their occupation. Mara recently spent considerable time working with a gathering of the National Police, for instance.

Efforts are underway in both Trujillo (led by Mara) and the US (led by Amber Riddell) to begin raising funds to support ongoing costs of operation, which are approximately $3,000 per month for salaries, rent, promotional materials, etc. It is estimated that a “customer” will cost approximately $40-$50 per month for sustenance and help.

We are currently focusing on battered women, getting them to a safe refuge away from the batterer (generally a family member), medical attention, helping to file reports with the police (there is a strong aversion to this by the victims, unfortunately), psychological help and job training. Of course, they are certainly going to hear about the love and peace of Christ along their journey! In fact, the first woman to visit us has accepted the Lord and been immersed in His name. Praise the Lord! In the future, as the Villa develops, we will expand into other areas, such as un-wed mothers, drug and alcohol addiction, elderly and infirm, perhaps prostitution and birthing clinics. But first we must get the startup going well. It should also be noted that receiving and treating different types of needs for the women of Trujillo will raise the need for expanded and especially separate facilities. But, more on that later as progress is made and plans develop.

This is a slowly evolving project. We are currently developing a three year plan to outline facilities needed, staffing levels, “target” groups of women, budgets and other aspects. Very soon there will be a web site with more information about the Villa in particular with an on-line opportunity to make small or major contributions to help with the daily operations and eventually with building funds.

God Bless!
Mack

Servant Leader Training in Perú Update

I know that Mike has already given you a brief update on our seminars. He kind of beat me to the punch, but there is much more to add and from my perspective. I could hardly contain my excitement after teaching that I was eager to get the pen to paper. So as you take a look at this week’s blog, read it as if it were a diary entry. I hope this conveys the excitement that we all feel about the work going on Trujillo!



Sunday April 11th
I am sitting in the airport in Lima, Peru, on my way home from the most fulfilling experience. I had the privilege of teaching our second Servant Leadership Training on Saturday, April 10th. We considered the first seminar, with John Hendee, a great success, with 150 attending.

On Saturday we had 176 adults, over 200 counting children. I was so anxious for the training and so prayed up. Would the material translate? Would I have a good translator? Would I be able to be practical and interesting for four hours? Would people listen, or would they go to sleep? I was overwhelmed. My translator, Dinko, a pastor in Trujillo, was one of the best I have every work with. I hardly knew he was there. He matched my paths heartbeat for heartbeat, gesture for gesture. The people were attentive and engaged. I was getting feedback during breaks that let me know that the Spirit was using the training to speak to the key leaders of PNHI. I had prayer over all of our Trainers the day before as I watched them play soccer together, and asked God to help me focus on them in my teaching. Just hours ago, before I got on the plane to fly home, I sat with one of our key barrio Trainers and he was able to open up about the challenges of leadership and I was able to do some personal counseling based on the training on Saturday. Saturday evening and Sunday at church I was getting feedback that just filled me up.

The training, “The Inner Formation of a Servant Leader” describes the process and teaching I have used over the years to disciple young believers. Almost every believer in the project is a baby believer, even some of our leaders, so the subject spoke to a very real need.

The Servant Leadership Training is meeting a need and we already consider it an unqualified success. My thanks to Mike and Danielle, to Elena the Project secretary, and all of the barrio Trainers who made the training work. My special thanks to Kellie Castaneda, our Short-Term Group Coordinator and coordinator of the Servant Leadership Training for taking my materials, getting them translating and putting them in an attractive, inviting form, and for developing a power point in Spanish from those materials. She is my hero.

Our leadership in Trujillo is looking forward to the next Training in May with John teaching on the subject, “How To Make Sense Out Of The Bible.” What a great subject for John. I wish I could be there for the session!


Tim Coop

Leader Training Semainar #2

Last weekend, April 10th, Pastor Tim Coop came to Trujillo to teach our 2nd seminar in our series of Bridge Training. Tim is a board member for Project New Hope International. Once a month we have a Pastor/board member give a seminar on certain topics to help train and equip our leaders and future leaders of Project New Hope. The first seminar was taught by John Hendee and we were pleasantly surprised that we had 150 people attend. We thought if we have more next month the people are interested in these seminars. Well we’re happy to report that we had about 180 people attend Tim’s teaching! One of the universities in Trujillo was gracious enough to lend us one of their auditoriums. After the event we were talking to one of their staff members and he said it was a pleasure serving you. He also said that most churches that use the facility leave it in a mess. He told us that he really enjoyed the seminar and would look forward to seeing us again; he added that he would communicate this to his boss.
We were proud to hear this because it shows the integrity and character of our team and the people who we are training and disciplining to become ambassadors for Christ. We had so many people come up to use after Tim’s teaching and say they want more! We want to thank John, Tim and all the future Pastors who will be coming to Trujillo to teach these seminars. We really believe this is a blessing and benefit that complements all the training that we are doing to make disciples!
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mathew 28:18-20
In next week’s blog, Tim Coop will share more about the seminar!

God Bless!

Mike and Danell

I’M PSYCHED!!!!

I’M PSYCHED!!!!

I was waiting for a program to come on TV. Whatever had been on had my half hearted attention. They were telling the story of a man who had lost his job and the emotional trauma it had caused him. He was going to a counselor trying to deal with it all. Being unemployed and not being able to find a new job left him with a lot of free time on his hands. One day he went to the kitchen and decided to make some pickles like his grandmother or mother did when he was a kid. Doing so got his mind off his problems.

He kept making pickles. He shared some with family and friends. They went wild over them and asked for more. His kitchen operation grew and grew until he was jarring pickles and selling them to stores and restaurants. It grew into a significant business and he was making more money than at his old job. At one point in the interview with him he made a comment that just blew me away. He enthusiastically said, “I wake up every morning psyched!” About PICKLES and his work! It was like a slap in the face to me.

It was a wake up call. It put me to shame.

I thought “How many mornings do I wake up feeling so-so, well it is another day, aahhh I have so many things to do today, or thinking of the not so pleasant things I might have to deal with. How many days do I wake up psyched?”

I am a child of a King. I have the privilege to work on a project that is changing lives. We are helping poor people learn how to take control of their life and improve their reality. We are helping rich people learn how to think about something other than themselves. We are helping people discover how to be a peace with God and with each other. God is daily involved in our lives to help us grow and mature and become a complete person. We have a great team with others who support us and encourage us.

We have a great MISSION. And the man wakes up ‘psyched’ every day about pickles.

I am resolved to be more grateful for all I’m blessed with. I am resolved to focus more on all the blessings I have. I am resolved to give thanks to God for everything, knowing he will even help me through the challenging things in life (He always has). I am resolved to trust God and be grateful. We are working for the Creator! We are cared for and commissioned by our Creator. How can we be anything less than PSYCHED every day, even when we encounter the crisis and problems of life. I remember a saying I’ve shared with you in the past that someone passed on to me long ago. “If God brought you to it, He’ll get you through it.” That is a PSYCHED person’s confident assertion that even when we face hard times, God is with us, cares for us, and will help us get through any and all problems.

So, here is to waking up Psyched every morning.

God bless

John