Today we want to share some of the work that TWR Women of Hope are doing in Ethiopia. In the Ari tribe, women are often ostracised from the community when they suffer from obstetric fistulas, a childbirth injury that can cause significant complications if left untreated.
The size of the Ari tribe is growing, and the Ari language has seen an increase in use and development in recent years. However the vast majority of Ari speakers are illiterate, and while some also speak the official language of Ethiopia, over half are monolingual.
This is why the TWR Women of Hope series Healing Voice is so important. Aired in the Ari language, the motto of the audio drama series is “No mother should die while giving birth—stand up for African mothers” and aims to bring hope to women and girls experiencing fistulas.
Healing Voice is a channel of both spiritual and physical healing. The powerful message of the Word of God leads the listeners to receive Jesus as their Lord for eternal healing, but the message also serves as an awareness tool to enable the Ari people to change the harmful cultural and religious practices that are oppressive to women.
Hirut Beyene, TWR Women of Hope national coordinator in Ethiopia, recently shared: “We thank our Lord for the Healing Voice programme and for those who are serving in this ministry. Since the beginning of this project, the aim is to bring awareness to the women in the Ari community that they can improve their life situation. Healing Voice has been instrumental in changing the lives of Ari men too. Healing Voice is influencing and bringing change in the Ari community.”
An Ethiopian couple recently shared the impact that Healing Voice has had in their lives. The husband shared, “It is good that we heard Healing Voice. Our lives changed. We accepted harmful tradition as the right tradition. If we died or were wounded from these practices, then it added glory for the men. We accepted it. The women have been suffering for a long time from the traditions. The consequences of these traditional practices are harmful to both the mothers and their children.”
His wife shared, “Before we listened to Healing Voice some of the advice and teachings given to us at the hospital were not very clear. Healing Voice explained in our own heart language and helped us to learn and know more. It opened our eyes to change. It makes life easy and clear.”
Join us as we praise God for the spiritual and physical healing women and girls are experiencing as a result of the Healing Voice programme! We also lift in prayer all those around the world who are ostracised from their communities due to health conditions, outdated traditions and lack of education. We pray that the hope of Jesus would change their lives inside and out.
