know what she could do from her home
in Killaloe, Ont. God prompted her to use
her leftover yarn to make a tangible difference.
She and her sister crocheted afghan
squares and encouraged their friends to
do the same. They pieced the assorted
squares into blankets.
Thousands of women have since put
“compassion into action,” says Trafford-Welk, by knitting and crocheting blankets with scraps that would otherwise
be thrown away. The colourful creations
are tucked into “backpacks of hope,”
together with a teddy bear and school
supplies, and donated to any missions
team that requests them.
“There’s something about using the
work of one’s own hands,” agrees Elizabeth Wray of Belleville, Ont., who has organized her own knitting parties for abandoned or orphaned children in Kenya.
Wray has shipped three tons of donated
yarn to a home there and hopes to launch
several knitting micro-businesses.
A less obvious opportunity arose when
a member of their team noticed sanitary
supplies for women were sadly lacking
among the poor. A team gathered back
in Canada and held “the strangest sewing
parties ever,” as they assembled hundreds
of flannel and fleece sanitary pads. “It’s
great to give money,” says Marilyn Grim-mell, who has participated in the sewing
projects, “but it’s so wonderful to be able
to use the crafts we love, too!” FT
–SHEILA WRAY GREGOIRE
streams: entrepreneurial, non-profit or
international business.
At a total cost of about $30,000, a
TWU MBA isn’t cheap, but McKay insists
it’s good value. “We’re a great deal,” he
says, “because we’re leveraging our
existing overhead; we’re not building
a new school.” Not yet, anyway. There
were 14 students in the first graduating
class, but McKay says, “Our target long-term is somewhere around 100 students
graduating in any given year.” FT
—PATRICIA PADDEY
Bolivia has an extremely high rate of sexual violence against women and children. International Justice Mission
Canada (IJM) is doing something
about it.
When Nancy Allen, an assistant
pastor from Edmonton, Alta., went
on an IJM mission trip last year,
she shared her story of abuse with
a group of 64 Bolivian pastors and 86 leaders from 61
churches. They were moved
and determined to take action.
The participants were on an IJM retreat, led by six Canadians who specialized in
theology, law and medical practices related to the topic of sexual abuse. The retreat
challenged Bolivian churches to become safer places for children by examining their
attitudes and practices. Thirty-one of the churches expressed interest in a six-month
IJM training course that will equip them to provide healing for abuse survivors.
IJM was started in 1997, in response to a study that uncovered overwhelming
abuses of power by police and other authorities reported by 40,000 missionaries
and other workers from 65 organizations around the world.
IJM Canada, which focuses its work in Bolivia, was established in 2002 “to edu-
cate, empower and engage Canadians in the pursuit of justice for the oppressed.”
In an effort to help transform the notoriously corrupt Bolivian justice system,
the team of six Canadians, led by Ontario Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Pedlar,
provided four days of training to police officers, prosecutors, judges and other
professionals who deal with child abuse cases.
“I think there are few organizations that do true structural change. In medicine, I learned years ago that to really change things, you have to do preventative
work as well. It’s doing the upstream work. And that’s what IJM does so well,”
said Dr. Leslie Damude, a family physician from London, Ont., who also participated in the trip. FT —SANDRA REIMER
Challenging Bolivian church- es to become safer places for childen: Participants meet at he IJM retreat.
Not Mission Trip as Usual
all athletes are disciplined in their training.
they do it to win a prize
that will fade away,
but we do it for an
[1 Cor. 9: 25 Nl T]
