Working Together for Lasting Change
I love this tagline for Episcopal Relief & Development. It summarizes perfectly how we work with faith communities and their partners to transform lives. The Diocese of Alabama has set aside the fourth Sunday in Lent as Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday. So I would like to share why I have such a passion for this ministry.
Years ago, I went on pilgrimage to Ghana with Episcopal Relief & Development to witness our work there.
John’s story comes to mind, especially as we reflect on our Gospel reading for Sunday which broaches the subject of disability.
John is an orphan. John is deaf from a childhood illness of spinal meningitis.
John lives in a small village in Northern Ghana. People with disabilities are shunned in his village.
But John has skilled hands.
Episcopal Relief & Development partnered with ADDRO (the Anglican Diocese Development and Relief Organization) and sent John to carpentry school to learn a skill to support himself.
John has a heart filled with gratitude. He opened a carpentry shop in his village and invites other disabled boys to join him. He has gone to families who rejected their disabled sons and brought them to live in his shop where he teaches them woodworking.
John now manages the Anglican Woodworks Training Center for Persons with Disabilities in the Diocese of Tamale, Ghana. The students, some blind, some deaf, some with other physical disabilities make doors, beds, and cabinets with John’s guidance. The wooden items are sold to support their school and their lives there.
John also has a voice, a very loud voice, which has become a voice for the voiceless. With persistence and passion, John advocates for the rights of the disabled, winning for the boys their 2% government benefit.
John’s gifts have transformed his life and the life of his village. John is spreading the gospel of love and hope to other disabled boys and is transforming his community, economically, yes, but, more importantly, by changing attitudes towards the disabled.
Consider a gift to support the amazing work of Episcopal Relief & Development: www.episcopalrelief.org
God’s peace, Judy Q
