Some words from Mercy for Mamas Board Member Beth Schafers. I love her and her heart to minister to women all around the world.
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When Melissa asked me to write a post about why I work with Mercy for Mamas, I jumped at the opportunity. It has given me a great chance to reflect on why I am willing to put so much time and effort into this organization and what it means to me.
| Beth (in the purple shirt) enjoying her first Ugandan meal during our trip in 2012. |
The easy answer would be that I love and trust Melissa. She is one of my closest friends and she has proven herself time and time again in the 8 years that I’ve had the privilege of calling her my friend and pastor’s wife.
Her passion for this work is second to none. She’s seen the problem, she’s seen the solution, and she cannot sit idly by without doing the work required of someone in that situation. She’s seen the faces and circumstances that surround the work that she’s doing and she is driven by the love that God’s shown her for those beautiful women and children.
That’s where the easy answers stop and my own wrestling begins.
You see, God spent a long time preparing me for the ways that He’s using me today…especially where this work is concerned.
He’s planted in me a heart for reaching other girls of all ages. He started it a long time ago, when I realized that, in being honest about my own life, I helped others know that they weren’t alone in whatever it was that they were going through or struggling with. We women, no matter what our age or life experience, are the best at understanding each other and helping one another and God begs for us to hold each other up and press on together.
He’s given me great avenues for this passion over the years. From rocking babies in the church nursery, working with the teen girls in youth group, helping the leadership of our women’s ministry, or even attending the senior women’s class at our church, God’s presented opportunities galore for me to do the work that He’s pressing me to do and has shown me, in countless ways, how He uses us all together to grow His Kingdom.
So this ministry with Mercy for Mamas, while I love supporting my friend’s endeavors and passions, is SO much more than that. It is an amazing organization that has proven to make a profound impact in the lives of women – here in the States and in Uganda (and lots of other countries too).
We’re giving the women of Uganda a tangible resource for having safe, clean births. We’re able to give them the tools that they need to survive this amazing experience and to see their babies grow and flourish. We’re giving these babies a chance to grow up with their biological mother guiding and loving them as they grow. What a huge ministry that is on its own!
But we’re also giving them all a chance to hear the name of Christ and to trust Him with their lives. Each and every woman who receives a Mama Kit has a chance to know that the kits are given in His name and because they and their child, are loved – not just by us, but by their Maker.
It doesn’t stop there. We’re using these kits to not only equip missionaries in Uganda with a tool to build relationships and bless the people in their mission field, but we’re pouring love and encouragement into their lives as well. We’re putting things in their hands that they can use to break down walls, all while praying over them and allowing God to use us as a vessel for renewal in their work.
I have truly seen this organization, in its short life since inception; bless a countless number of women in an amazing variety of ways.
I firmly believe that every woman who is involved with our work sees the beauty in all of this and is ministered to as well. In giving as little as $7 for one kit, they can directly impact women across the globe and that speaks volumes to a woman’s heart. It’s amazing to see how girls of all ages, in all walks of life, are willing to step up and help in this work. It’s caused us to all rise up and band together…
Because we’ve all seen the problem, we’ve seen the solution, and we cannot sit idly by without doing the work required of someone in that situation. We’ve seen the faces and circumstances that surround the work that we’re doing and we are driven by the love that God’s shown us for those beautiful women and children.
And that – in all of its beauty and wonder – is what makes this work so worth it.