Leadership Training and Education 

Many Christian women in the areas where we work, though believers for many years, have never been told they have a significant and unique role to play in the Kingdom of God. They are requesting basic leadership training to be fruitful in service within the family of faith. "I am eager to understand my strengths and my weaknesses, so that I can serve the women leaders of Indonesia, empowering them to serve and train women in their circle of influence also," said one trainee. Leadership development courses focused on character and ministry skill will take place in Sudan, Nepal, and North Africa in the coming year.

Scriptures In Use, one of our strategic alliance partners, has launched "Women in God's Story," an excellent teaching module that trains women to memorize the stories of Scripture and then share them as a means of evangelism and discipleship of non-literate women. This outreach model provides women with methods that are culturally, linguistically, and spiritually in tune with the worldview and learning styles of the regions where they minister. "Women in the Window," an inductive Bible study curriculum, allows women to go deeper in their understanding, application and ability to pass along God's Word in story form. Women in India, Sudan, Kenya, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Middle East, and Vietnam will be trained in this method this year.

In India, Partners International partners with Bi'r Myah to reach the four million Muslims in one urban area of central India. The majority of them are very poor and illiterate. In addition, their tradition of polygamy has led many families into vulnerability and suffering, especially the women and children. We support Bi'r Myah's community center whose vision is to see women and girls realize their God-given potential and to improve their living condition through health, education, and economic and spiritual development.

 
Spiritual and Ministry Training

Sadly, many women around the world, even in the Church, are often relegated to second-class status. In too many congregations, women have no one to disciple them, and their potential as transmitters of the Gospel goes largely untapped. Our ministry partners understand the power of women to further the Kingdom on a grassroots level and are working to equip women to be effective church planters and evangelists.

Globally, four billion people are known as “oral communicators,” or non-literates, and do not yet have the written Scriptures in their mother tongue. A like-minded ministry called Scriptures In Use (SIU) has developed a successful methodology to reach non-literates which includes storytelling, dramatic presentations of the parables, cultural adaptations of Scripture to song, and memorization. The training provides church planters with methods that are culturally, linguistically, and spiritually in tune with the worldview and learning styles of the people they minister to. In coordination with Partners International Women, 20-30 Dalit women leaders from Bible Faith Mission will come together for a training conference on Scripture storytelling. This is a follow-up event to the SIU beginner course “Women in God’s Story” that the women took previously. This excellent teaching module trains women to share the Gospel with non-literate women.

Partners International has been partnering with Bible Faith Mission to bring economic, social, and spiritual transformation to the Dalits of South India since 1984. BFM’s church-planting strategy follows the biblical mandate of holistic transformation, which addresses the needs of the whole person, not just physical or spiritual. Today, BFM is a key force in the establishment and development of the Dalit Church.

Vocational Training 

Because of poverty, girls around the world miss out on education and vocational training opportunities. Yet, when they grow up they are also the ones most concerned for their family's development and living standard.

Timbuktu, Mali, was once a prosperous trading and cultural center in West Africa. Today, with a population of 30,000, the city is desperately poor with an unemployment rate up to 70 percent. Our partner, Tahanint N' Massinag E Tinbuktu (TNT), which means "Merciful Grace of God for Timbuktu," has a variety of outreach projects to meet the tremendous needs in their community. One of the most successful is their women's vocational training center. Here, each year 100 women attend classes to learn marketable skills. Four days a week, skills such as sewing, knitting and embroidery are taught. On the fifth day, a Bible class is conducted. Today, the center is praised by local Muslim authorities and so popular that TNT can only accept one-third of the women who apply.

In North Africa, Partners International supports centers in two cities to help mothers of disabled children and other poor women increase income generation by learning vocational skills including cloth painting, toy-making, sewing, cooking, and computers. Many of the women learn to make educational toys that help their disabled children improve their motor skills, concentration, and reasoning ability. Nearly 90 percent of the women in these areas are non-literate and have little education, so they are also trained in literacy, child nutrition, health education, and languages such as French and English. The ministry team creates an environment where the women are comfortable to come for a chat and cup of tea, build friendships with other women, and learn more about Jesus.

Medical Care and Nutrition 

Women in rural areas of the Third World have little or no access to health care. Most have not received training in basic nutrition and hygiene, yet they are the primary health and nutrition providers for their families.

The health care system in Senegal, West Africa, is unable to provide proper care to its poor and rural communities. Malaria and malnutrition abound as do anemia, meningitis, and polio. Dental work is a luxury. Severe health problems result from water and food contaminated by parasites. Not surprisingly, medical care is one of the people's greatest needs. The House of Blessing is a holistic community center located in the suburbs of Dakar that provides medical services and a nutrition program to women and their children. Last year, the team treated more than 8,400 people, and supplied 52,000 medical prescriptions. Through this center, the ministry team is planting seeds for an evangelistic breakthrough among the almost 100-percent Muslim Wolof people.

In the mid-1990s our partner Oasis India became alarmed at the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS among women. Mumbai (formerly Bombay), the financial capital, is also turning out to be the AIDS capital of India with over 500,000 women prostitutes. Estimates are that over 70 percent are HIV-positive. Sex trafficking of children is rampant as well. In 1998, Oasis India opened a residential care facility called House of Wholeness about 80 miles northeast of Mumbai to care for women and children with AIDS who often face discrimination from families, community, and even doctors and hospitals. Suicide among those suffering with the disease is common due to both poor health and social ostracism. Through our partner Oasis India, the Indian Church is being mobilized to care for these women and children and to see their lives restored by the power of Jesus.

Outreach to Children 

Because serving women is inextricably linked to serving their children, this initiative includes programs dedicated to helping children as well through education, evangelism, and other means. In many impoverished, unreached regions of the world, schools are non-existent or extremely sub-standard. Teachers are few, poorly paid and under qualified, and poor families cannot afford the school fees, uniforms and other supplies required to send their children to school. That's why Partners International supports many school projects around the world. Over the years, we have learned that there is no greater inroad into the hearts and minds of unreached people groups than providing their children with access to education.

25 years of civil war have destroyed the majority of schools in southern Sudan. As a result, a whole generation of children in this region have not had the opportunity to attend school. In other areas of the country where government schools operate, children are required to attend Koranic kindergartens before being accepted into primary schools where the Islamic indoctrination continues.

To offer an alternative to an Islamic education, Partners International works with Africa Inland Church of Sudan (AIC) to establish Christian schools. Currently, there are 11 AIC schools throughout the country - three preschools, seven primary schools, and one secondary school - where children are provided a basic education and introduced to Christ.

Many faithful supporters of Partners International are involved in our child sponsorship program which supports the needs of individual children around the world. Their regular monthly contributions provide children with basic needs such as food, medical care, and education as well as evangelistic outreach.