Note from the Board – Rod Robison - October 2024

Empowering Women and Girls the Jesus Way

One of the most impactful revelations my wife Jeannie and I experienced while visiting villages in Kenya and Ethiopia recently was how women and girls are being empowered there by Unite 4 Africa. There are many culturally endemic problems women, and adolescent and younger girls face in rural villages. Problems that Unite 4 Africa is helping to solve. Let me give you just a few examples.

Thirteen of us from our church and Unite 4 Africa traveled for hours along bumpy, dust-choked roads, up and out of steep dry river ravines, to reach the very remote village of Esiteti, Kenya. For generations women have traveled by foot for miles to gather a few gallons of water from hand dug wells along one of the dry river beds. The vast majority of the year, there is little to no water on the surface. But dig deep enough and water can be found. From these shallow hand-dug wells the women pull up water in five-gallon buckets. Then they journey miles back to their village, hauling their heavy burdens.

When we arrived at the village, we met several of these women. As they greeted us, their beaming smiles and warm embraces revealed a gratitude for something that had just recently transformed their lives. We set off to see what that something was.

A pathway, maybe a quarter of a mile long, had been originally created by generations of elephants. Massive piles of dung punctuated the path here and there. But now that same path led to a tall, blue well-drilling derrick that we could see from a distance. A few minutes later the villagers and our team reached the derrick. And it was there that we saw life-giving water flowing from a pipe. Water that had been tapped from hundreds of feet below the surface just a week before.

The villagers and our team gathered around the flowing water and prayed, thanking God for His provision that would transform not only the lives of the women of the village but every life in Esiteti and the entire surrounding community.

The chief – a dignified woman attired in a bright, colorful dress – spoke about how this abundant water source would now allow the women of the community to spend their time on more productive pursuits. Then she said something that struck me as perhaps more profound than anything. At last, she said, the women could rest.

Drilling wells, especially in these remote villages, is expensive. This one had a sponsor from the United States that provided the funding. But more often Unite 4 Africa helps many other remote villages build more affordable water sourcing solutions. Water catchment systems that gather rainwater and store the precious resource in large tanks also transform women’s lives and those of entire communities.

But empowering women to live more abundant lives isn’t confined to water sourcing. Here are a few of the other ways God is using Unite 4 Africa and those who support us with their generous donations.

Adolescent girls often miss days of school every month during their periods. Sanitary pads are either unaffordable or otherwise unattainable. Unite 4 Africa provides thousands of these girls “dignity pads,” allowing them to stay in school and build better lives for themselves. Our team distributed dignity pads to hundreds of girls during our visits to Kenya and Ethiopia. Men and women from our team took the opportunity to affirm these girls, assuring them that God had created them for a very special purpose.

Unite 4 Africa is championing victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Maasai community. Working with the local government and churches, Unite 4 Africa invests in training many leaders who in turn train others at the grassroots level about the dangers, risks, and diseases associated with FGM. Many girls are being rescued from this practice, especially in marginalized communities.

Girls who have been abused are given life-affirming counseling and care.

Young girls who have little to wear are gifted brand new, beautiful dresses, lovingly crafted by women from our church, including my wife Jeannie and our daughter Julia.

There is a massive men’s discipleship movement sweeping the region. Part of the training includes equipping men in their marriages and to provide for the emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of their wives and daughters – and preparing their sons to do the same.

Women’s discipleship, counseling, and business training is an integral part of empowering them to discover and embrace all that God has created them for, improving their lives and those of their families.

Young girls and boys – especially orphaned children – are given a goat along with training on how to help provide for themselves and their adoptive parents by selling the milk and expanding their herds – invaluable entrepreneurial training for their futures. Our team had the privilege of giving several of these goats to girls and boys in need.

The Bible holds women in high esteem. Galatians Chapter 3 states: For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

That was a very radical concept in the first century. But Jesus brought a new way of viewing women to that era and culture. One that Unite 4 Africa is dedicated to modeling “the Jesus way” in this time and in all cultures.

Your donations to Unite 4 Africa accomplish so much. My wife and I have seen firsthand what your gifts will do to improve the lives of women, teens, and little girls. And, in fact, entire communities. I want to personally ask you to join us in giving today by visiting www.unite4africa.org/donate. Thank you for caring.

Rod Robison

Unite 4 Africa Board Chairman