August 2008

Contents

• Micah Network 4th Triennial Global Consultation on Climate Change: Nairobi, Kenya, July 13-18, 2009
• Micah Network Global HIV Consultation - Churches Living with HIV: Pattaya, Thailand October 21-25, 2008
• Micah Network Integral Mission Initiative
• Micah Network Disaster Management Practitioners' Forum
• Micah Network Asia Regional Coordinator Appointed
• Stepping Stones Revisited: Stories from the Village of Buwenda, Uganda - By Glen Williams
• Research: Christian Relief and Development from a God's Mission (missio Dei) Perspective
• Report: UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic
• August Prayer Points

Micah Network is pleased to announce that the 4th Triennial Global Consultation on Climate Change will be held from July 13 -18, 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya. Work is well underway to finalise the venue and costs. Please mark these dates on your calendar and we hope to provide you with more information very soon.
Micah Network would also like to acknowledge our members and friends in Kenya for their participation in the 1st meeting of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) which was held in Nairobi on August 6, 2008. The LOC team will be responsible for the key aspects of the event that would need to be managed within Kenya in preparation for the Global Consultation.
Our heartfelt thanks to the members of the LOC and we look forward to a fruitful time of working together over the coming months:

• Andrew Mnjama
• Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK-DOSS)
• Care of Creation Kenya
• Christian Reformed World Relief Committee ( Kenya)
• Compassion International (Kenya)
• Evangelical Alliance of Kenya
• Tearfund (Kenya)
• World Concern (Kenya)
• World Vision (Kenya)

The International Program Team will be connecting soon to begin developing the program for the consultation, which will have a global flavour with speakers from Asia, Africa, Latin America and beyond. In doing so, the team will facilitate participatory processes to ensure that feedbacks and ideas can be provided by the member base.
A Climate Change Advisory Group has also been set up to bring together Micah Network members who have particular expertise and experience in the theme of climate change and related issues, and will act as a resource to the International Program Team. Please email Jane Furniss at ic@micahnetwork.org if you are interested to join this group or know of someone who can provide crucial inputs to the development of the program.

We have received a lot of registrations and as places are limited, please register early if you have not already done so.
Please go to this link to view the consultation details and download the flyer and booking form: http://en.micahnetwork.org/events/global_hiv_consultation_2008.

As reported last month, Micah Network has launched a new initiative to support our aim of "encouraging a deeper understanding of integral mission" (AIM 2). Members were requested to provide information and expressions of interest through a questionnaire. Some of you have responded and we are immensely grateful for your comments.
As members' inputs are vital for the development of the project, we would like to urge more members to complete the questionnaire by visiting this link: http://en.micahnetwork.org/ integral_mission/integral_mission_initiative.

An electronic forum on Disaster Management is being formed; please visit this link for the Term of Reference: http://en.micahnetwork.org/forums/disaster_management_forum.
If you are interested to participate as a member of the forum, please email Mairo Retief at Mairo.Retief@tearfund.org.

Micah Network is pleased to announce the appointment of Sundar Daniel to the role of Asia Regional Coordinator from August 25, 2008.
Sundar comes to us with more than 20 years experience in Christian community development, particularly in the area of drugs and HIV programming, and has also served in different capacities with member organisations Sharan, NEIDAC and CANA.
Sundar is an Indian national based out of Kodaikanal, India and he can be reached at this email contact: Sundar.Daniel@micahnetwork.org.
Please join us in congratulating Sundar on his new appointment and to provide your utmost support as he seeks to serve our members in the Asia region.

The original, highly acclaimed 'Stepping Stones' training package, published in 1995 by Strategies for Hope and ActionAid, is now used in over 100 countries worldwide. The package - a 240-page manual and a 70-minute workshop video - is designed to help women and men explore their social, sexual and psychological needs; to analyse the communication blocks they face; and to practise different ways of addressing their relationships.

This new, 27-minute film takes us on a journey back to the village of Buwenda in southwest Uganda, where the original 'Stepping Stones' workshop was conducted, and the video was filmed, in 1994. Participants in the original workshop tell us about the changes that have since occurred in their lives. These include, for example:

- less domestic violence
- reduced alcohol consumption
- greater self-esteem among women and young people
- greater teamwork between spouses
- greater understanding and support for HIV-positive people
- a sustained increase in condom use
- greater abstinence from sex, especially amongst widows, who realise that this is their right, if they want it.

To order copies of 'Stepping Stones Revisited', please contact: TALC, P.O. Box 49, St Albans AL1 5TX, U.K. Tel.: +44 1727 853869. Email: info@talcuk.org. Website: www.talcuk.org. To view a 7 minute clip of 'Stepping Stones Revisited', please visit www.stratshope.org/t-video-revisited.htm.

For more information about Stepping Stones, please visit www.steppingstonesfeedback.org.

Organisations based in sub-Saharan Africa that are unable to purchase this or other Strategies for Hope materials may request free copies from: Series Editor, Strategies for Hope Trust. Email: sfh@stratshope.org. Website: www.stratshope.org. Fax: +44 1865 436069

UNAIDS has recently released its 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, a document prepared every 2 years to report on the status of the global AIDS pandemic. The report can be read online or downloaded at this link: http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/
GlobalReport/2008/2008_Global_report.asp.

Please join with us in prayer for the following:
World

• Pray for an end to the conflict between Russia and Georgia. Russia's attacks in South Ossetia has already resulted in the death of many innocent victims and forced a great number of civilians to leave their homes.
• The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be at the centre of conflict that has resulted in a humanitarian crisis. Pray for an end to the violence and for member organisations living and working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Porte de l'Esperance, Alliance des Eglises Libres Evangeliques au Congo and Joseph Nkinzo and others at Micah Challenge Congo.
• South African President Thabo Mbeki travelled to Zimbabwe on Saturday to hold talks with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Please pray for a good outcome from these talks and positive steps towards the future of Zimbabwe.

Events

• Micah Network will be holding a West African consultation on Integral Mission and Good Governance from 18-22 August 2008. Please pray for Micah Network Africa Coordinator, John Wesley Kabango, Danladi Musa and the local organising committee in Jos – for a meaningful consultation that will make a difference to the governance of our West African member agencies and an encouraging time to pray, connect and learn together. Many people are still in the process of booking tickets and obtaining visas too.
• Please also pray for the Micah Challenge African national facilitators' meeting being organised by Regine Nagel alongside the Nigeria consultation. We are thankful that the UN Millennium Campaign has agreed to provide USD 10,000 towards the event and that a German Christian group has provided USD 20,000. Pray for Regine as she tries to finalise this meeting with significant challenges. We pray that the meeting will be very positive for Micah Challenge African campaigns, and an encouraging and inspiring time for all involved.
• Plans for Micah Network's global HIV consultation on the theme of Churches living with HIV are progressing well. One current priority is to find ways to ensure the meaningful participation of people living with HIV in the program and staff member Greg Manning is exploring with UNAIDS ways they could help facilitate this.
• Micah Network will be holding a strategic conversation on disaster management in Thailand in September this year with participants from approximately 25 member agencies from around the world. We are thankful to God for the resources which have been provided by various member agencies to help make this meeting a reality, and continue to pray for program planning – that the discussions will give rise to tangible and constructive ways in which Christian agencies and Churches can work better and more swiftly together in the face of disasters. Pray for Jennie Collins as she prepares to facilitate this gathering.

People

• Please pray that Micah Network will be able to get the assistance of a third Portuguese translator to join our two dedicated volunteer Portuguese translators, Tatiana de Baptista Raineri and Sonia Miranda. Thank God for the hard work and support of Tatiana and Sonia.
• We give thanks for the interviews held last week in Delhi for the position of Asia Coordinator. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Sundar Daniel to this position and pray for him as he takes up this role.

Thank you very much for your prayers and support.
If you would like to contribute to or be added to Micah Network's weekly prayer update, please contact Anita Deutschmann (Anita.Deutschmann@micahnetwork.org).