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• A Personal Story of Human Trafficking

  The United Nations recently reported that approximately 2.4 million people across the globe are victims of human trafficking at any one time, 80% of that number are being sexually exploited in the modern sex trade. While in Manila recently we were facilitated by Peace for Life in an encounter with the work of Migrante International and heard the personal story of Melith Ante.

   

  Ante was "facilitated" in leaving the Philippines for work in Jordan on July 7, 2010, believing that she would work as a janitor with a monthly salary of $400. Upon arriving in her host country, however, she was told that she would have to work as a domestic helper instead. Her salary was downgraded to $100 and she was told that she would not be receiving it for the first three months as payment for her "deployment cost."

  

   

   

  "I was willing to stay for as long as my employer would treat me well," she said, adding that she badly needed money to send her younger sibling to school and to pay for the hospitalization of her mother, who just had a stroke. However, she noticed how her male employer would peep into the restroom every time she took a bath.

  On Sept. 18, her employer tried to rape her. "I managed to escape at around 9 p.m. when the couple (her employers) was fighting about what happened," Ante said. She stayed with a friend for five days before asking the help of the Philippine Embassy in Jordan.

  Ante stayed in a shelter provided by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office – Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Jordan. There she witnessed and experienced for herself the struggles that undocumented migrant workers go through.

  The case officer handling Ante did not even bother to ask her what happened. "They just looked at my papers, stamped something on it and started looking into my things." She said that they searched all her belongings "from underwear to cellphone" and made a list of it. "It felt like we were being sent to prison for stealing," Ante said. The food that was being provided to the stranded OFWs were like, as Ante described it, "kaning baboy," or food fit for a pig. "If only we were not hungry, we would not bother to touch it at all. But we were hungry and had no choice."

   

  Abuses

  Before her suffering in the POLO-OWWA shelter, Ante experienced much torment in the hands of her employers.

  She was only fed once a day, she said, at four in the afternoon. Along with another helper, an Indonesian girl, they were made to sleep at three in the morning and forced to wake up at six in the morning. "We cleaned many times over. My employers were very strict in maintaining the cleanliness of the house. They separated the spoon, plate and glass that I used as if I had something contagious."

  After a week, her female employer saw her scratching her head. "She summoned me and sprayed my hair with Baygon. According to her, it would take out the lice."

  The incident was repeated at least three times over, she said. "My head hurt as well as my neck because the Baygon spray would roll down my neck. My sight was damaged. I thought I was going blind. I cried heavily every night."

  "As the times went by, I counted the days until I can go home. My body was almost dead from too much working and I trembled in starvation," she recounted.

  The last straw came when her male employer attempted to rape her. She ran away that night.

   

  Shelter

  At the POLO-OWWA shelter, Ante almost lost all hope.

  "They told me to just withdraw the attempted rape and physical abuse charges I wished to file against my employers. I was forced to sign into such an agreement out of my desperate desire to come home to the Philippines. In return, the runaway case filed against me was also withdrawn and I was not put to jail like others before me," she said.

  Ante said that she agreed to withdraw the charges to be able to get her passport and salary. "I also got scared that the owner of the agency might just sell me again to another employer."

  She said that she did not expect that there would be hundreds of other OFWs stranded in the POLO-OWWA. Almost 300 fled from their abusive employers. Some of them have been staying there for five years. Their cases varied: from not being given their salary for three to four years, raped, sexually and physically abused, mentally ill, and minors who got to Jordan. The welfare officers themselves were forcing these victims to go back to their employers.

  They were also asked for deployment cost which prevented them from coming back to the Philippines. There had been many Filipinas behind bars who sought the legal help of the Philippine Embassy but, more often than not, the POLO-OWWA officials in Jordan took their appeals for granted.

   

  On October 11, 2010, Ante finally arrived in the Philippines. Her employers were forced to shoulder her flight fare back because of the campaign by Migrante International and the church through the Bring Them Home alliance. Since then, Ante devotes her time in helping other OFW victims like her as a staff of Migrante International. The illegal recruitment and human trafficking cases she filed are still pending in court.

  Melith Ante, like many other overseas Filipino workers, fell victim to abuses in the hands of their employers and recruiters and so was forced to return home. She left behind hundreds more of OFWs stranded in Filipino shelters and halfway houses or in detention centers.

  Ante, now a full-time volunteer staff of Migrante International, a migrants' rights watchdog, recounts her grim story as she calls on the Philippine government to hasten the repatriation of those she left behind.

• PCI Strengthens its Services to People Living With HIV/AIDS

  India has the 3rd highest number of People Living with HIV AIDS after South Africa and Brazil. With its huge population of more than 1 billion, the prevalence rate is only 0.28%.

• Hope, the language of life

  Hope, the language of life

  When a poor boy in the remote village is studying under the street lamp, the ray of hope is visible. When a small girl works in the match factory to feed her family, her hope becomes obvious.

• LBJ Medical Center (American Samoa) ‘the crown jewel’ of the South Pacific

   LBJ Medical Centre (American Samoa) 'the crown jewel' of the South Pacific

  Recently, people in American Samoa expressed their serious concern on the London B. Johnson (LBJ) Tropical Medical Center the only hospital in the country

• Smokey Mountain – where Empire and Mission meet

  While preparing for an Oikotree Facilitation Group Meeting in Manila we took the initiative to arrange an exposure on the challenges faced by the church in the Philippines. The exposure was facilitated by Peace for Life with varied NGO’s and ecumenical groups. To those people we met we are eternally grateful. This is the first of three articles on our encounters.

• In God’s World, Called to be One

  Rev. Dr. Prince Dibeela, moderator of CWM, recently delivered a key note address at the 33rd session of the Synod of the Church of South India, held in Kanyakumari, India. The theme of the synod session was "In God's world, called to be one."

• Jamaican Patois and the Bible - Much ado about nothing

  Language is a central feature of human identity. When we hear someone speak, we immediately make guesses about gender, education level, age, profession, and place of origin. Beyond this individual matter, a language is a powerful symbol of national and ethnic identity. (Spolsky, 1999, p. 181)

• An Interview with Dylan Rhys: From Training in Mission 2011

  Can you briefly describe your experience of TIM?

  After coming back home, I am now able to see what a fruitful experience the programme was. It offered the opportunity to meet new people and new communities. It was being in the new communities within South Africa and India that made me think about my own community back home.

• Among strangers

  Randolph Turner gets lost and found in Delhi

  "Do you want me to take you somewhere for shopping?" with these words my colleagues and I begin a 48-hour journey of association with a stranger in Delhi.

• People's tribunal slams Orissa government complicity in violence

  An independent tribunal on anti-Christian violence in eastern Orissa state in 2008 has lambasted the state government's willful failure to protect its own people. Anto Akkara reports.

• Bangladesh: community strength key to cyclone survival

  Bangladesh has built its first disaster-resilient settlement, designed to minimise damage during natural disasters.

• Can the G20 mend the economy? Could Robin Hood help?

  The Robin Hood Campaign looks at the opportunities of the G20 meeting.

• Malawi: Tea tells the future of the climate

  Changing weather patterns are undermining the ability of smallholders in Malawi to grow tea.

• Grand Prix exposes India's winners and losers

  A triumph: Former F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton hails India's Buddh International Circuit the best track in the world. Yet there are discordant voices amid the exultation of India's inaugural Grand Prix race on 31 October. Anto Akkara reports.

• Reformation Day message

  The church today needs to be a “living church” that continues to be renewed so that it can be a source of transformation in a dramatically-changing world.

• Church leaders' vision for a fair society

  New Zealand church leaders unite behind a vision of justice

• Justice begins at home

  Local congregations are ideal places to tackle Zambia's gender justice problem.

• Fighting hunger in Tuvalu

  Scarce fresh water is not the only worry for people in Tuvalu.

• Myanmar: freed political prisoner 'half happy'

  Myanmar has said it will release 6,359 prisoners over the next three days.

• A sense of place

  CWM's secretariat is preparing the move from London to Singapore.

• Leprosy makes a comeback

  Mamysoa realised she had a problem after she stepped too close to the fire. "I burned my foot quite badly, but it hardly hurt at all".

• Why we are here

  Simon Peters reflects on the first weeks of a year in the Amsterdam Mission House.

• Our daily bread

  Rev Majaha Nthliziyo considers the significance of asking God for our daily bread.

• Fighting frustration in Guatemala

  Mari Fflur returns from a whirlwind tour of Guatemala overwhelmed by frustration.

• Putting the colour back into church

  It has been invisible to the community for decades. But thanks to a striking new mural painted in bright colours on one outside wall, the Bethnal Green Meeting House church in East London is finally hoping to reach local people with its welcoming message.

• Worship: what does it say about your church?

  PCANZ pastor Rev Dr Graham Redding talks worship, and why he believes each church's unique way of holding a service reveals a surprising amount about its congregation.

• Practising the art of generosity

  After NZ churchgoers delivered $70,000 worth of grocery vouchers to quake-hit families in Christchurch, Presbytery Moderator Rev Martin Stewart reflects on how giving a little can go a long way.

• Daring to dream the impossible

  For coffee farmers in Nicaragua, producing a good quality brew can mean the difference between providing schooling for local children or not.

• UK riots: where is God?

  URC Co-Moderator  Val Morrison reflects on the outbreaks of violence which have hit many of England's major cities in five nights of rioting.

• Return to the land of the unexpected

  More than two decades since UK ministers Bernie and Gwen Collins packed up missionary life in Papua New Guinea to head home and resettle on British soil, they are preparing a return visit.

• The price of an open society

  Lydia Ma of Taiwan Church News reflects on the price of promoting multiculturalism and diversity in smaller countries in light of Norway's recent terror killings.

• NZ neighbours day connects communities

  Residents in New Zealand have been doing the neighbourly thing as part of a special initiative to get people making new friends and turning their streets into communities.

• Mizoram churches fight election corruption

  Churches in Mizoram, led by the  Presbyterian Church of India (PCI), have initiated a people's movement to cleanse the election process in India, Anto Akkara writes.

• Japan quake: ARI teamwork heals community

  Four months after the Japan earthquake struck, the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) leadership training centre at Tochigi-ken has made strong progress on the long road to recovery.

  Amidst the chaos, it is a strengthened sense of teamwork that is pulling the community through, says ecumenical relations coordinator, Steven Cutting.

• Moeding chapel: sifting the ashes

  A community in Botswana comes to terms with the devastation of their chapel amid tense public sector strikes.

• Local seed varieties: the rice of life

  As monsoon rains turn erratic in Orissa, India, farmers who depend on their own seeds cope better.

  
• Prayer first

  CWM missionary in American Samoa, Rami Fanai, tells CWM why putting God's agenda first makes life run more smoothly...

• The status of women

  Pamela Tankersley reviews her role as the Association of Presbyterian Women United Nations Convenor.

• Power for the future

  Before the Malaysian government takes the country down the path towards nuclear energy, the nation needs an informed debate on the issue of energy. Ken Yeong weighs up the options.

• A church in prayer

  As the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand battles an ongoing decline, PCANZ moderator Rt Rev Peter Cheyne asks: can the church survive?

• Falling on grace

  Zambian missionaries Elizabeth and William Chirwa have spent five years helping Jamaican congregations to find strength within, finds Kenwyn Pierce

• Churches win deadly pesticide ban

  Protests for a total ban on deadly Endosulfan pesticide that has caused widespread death and sickness in India have ended in success.

• Belonging before believing

  Jesus' disciples were encouraged to 'belong' before they believed. Shouldn't it be the same for our children asks Jill Kayser.

• Europe: sowing the seeds of hunger

  Europe is facing a hungry future unless it changes agricultural policies and makes farmers the main participants in agriculture research, a new report has found.

• "Rebirth" for Jamaica's young people

  As the WCC's International Ecumenical Peace Convocation gets under way, the spotlight turns to Jamaican organisations working to give young people a fresh sense of direction.

• Sri Lanka: women still fighting for survival

  Sri Lanka's civil war ended two years ago this month, but for war-affected women – widows, mothers, daughters, and former rebels – the struggle to survive rages on, writes Amantha Perera.

  
• Ending Guyana's legacy of domestic violence

  Youths in Guyana are working to weed out domestic violence in the next generation.

• A church without walls

  Malaysia’s Presbyterians are working on a 10-year plan that aspires to transform its approach to mission.

• Jesus is risen. Alleluia!

  Mrs Val Morrison, moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, offers some thoughts on the truths of Easter and how they are for an eternity, not just a season.

• Learning identity

  Missionary from Ghana to Jamaica, Dr Daniel Antwi considers his history, culture and calling in the light of his Christian faith.

• One week in Dhaka

  From hair-raising scooter rides across the city to Mehndi painting on the roof - Bangladesh-based missionary Sarah Hall shares a glimpse of daily life in Dhaka in her account of a typical family week.

• PCANZ: family is everything

  Parenting course facilitator Liz Bruce from the Island Bay Presbyterian Church in New Zealand talks kids, parenting and how her church is using new resources to get members passionate about family.

• Haiti: Why partnership is vital to relief work

  Christian Aid worker Branwen Niclas witnessed the devastation of Haiti's earthquake firsthand when she visited the region just days after the disaster struck in January 2010.

  

  A year on - the charity's communications manager for Wales takes stock of how communities are healing under the care of dedicated aid agencies.

• March for the Alternative

  General secretary of the United Reformed Church Rev Roberta Rominger addresses the March for the Alternative in London

• Thirst for change

  Canadian Kevin Freedman is celebrating World Water Day by living on 25 litres of water a day, instead of the North American average of 330 litres per day. And he has enlisted 31 others in his “Water Conservation Challenge” to go water-lean, using just 25 litres per day for cooking, drinking, cleaning, and sanitation for the entire month of March.

  
• Telling stories without words

  Taiwanese children’s author Ching-yen Liu has branched out from writing to handcraft a range of silver jewellery that is spreading the word of God one sparkle at a time.

• Tuvalu’s ongoing battle: culture vs constitution

  Rev Tafue Lusama explains how a clash of law and culture lies at the heart of political tensions in Tuvalu.

• Leadership from the ground up

  What do Biblical heroes Abraham, Moses and King David have in common? They all prepared for leadership by tending sheep. The Asian Rural Institute teaches practical know-how and hands-on sustainable living to develop a new generation of leaders.

• Plastic bags continue to clog Bangladesh

  Throughout markets in Bangladesh’s biggest cities, plastic bags continue to change hands nine years after the government outlawed their use.

• NZ quake: worship amid the rubble

  Church leaders in Christchurch survey damaged buildings, wounded congregations, and prepare for the huge task of recovery. Dave Crampton reports.

• Kandhamal convert stands firm in faith despite brother's murder

  Twenty five year-old Sukheswar Digal became a Christian in 2003 along with his elder brother Biswati Digal. The brothers had to pay a heavy price for their new faith in the aftermath of the widespread anti-Christian violence in troubled Kandhamal, Anto Akkara writes for CWM.

• You know I'm hungry, feed me today

  A universal income grant in Namibia would alleviate poverty in one of the most unequal societies on earth, say campaigners. Free handouts only lead to laziness, responds an unwilling government.

• Quilts strengthen Kenyan connection

  When Judyth Henson from the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand asked God what he wanted her to do - she never imagined that making quilts for African children would be his answer.

• God's spa

  Rev David Walton explains how two churches in Glasgow, Scotland, are finding new ways to connect with their communities.

• Back to school

  CWM missionary couple Denzil and Joy Edwards return to school to reach out to the children of an impoverished Johannesburg community.

• Lessons in the land

  Knowledge passed from one person to the rest of the community can be all it takes to transform it for good.

• Stop the black rain

  For New Zealander Faye Pouesi the patterns of a violent and abusive childhood quickly followed her into adult life – leading to a string of hostile relationships and rock-bottom self-esteem.

• Mizo women's exchange

  On a recent exchange between Taiwan and India, CWM missionary Sapi Zaidar led women from the Presbyterian Paiwan Women Ministry on a visit to the Mizo Synod Women Ministry.

• Haiti earthquake: a year on

  A year on from Haiti’s devastating earthquake, CWM general secretary Rev Dr Collin Cowan reaffirms CWM’s commitment to stand in solidarity with the nation as it heals.

  It is now just about one year since an earthquake of unprecedented proportion ravaged the Caribbean nation state of Haiti, leaving a trail of fatalities, homelessness and untold suffering.

• Following pioneer footsteps

  In 2010 New Zealander Frances Morton retraced the steps of her PCANZ missionary great aunt, Mary Salmond, on a special trip to India.

• Still no room

  Bethlehem could not find a place for a pregnant unmarried woman. Today the church in Taiwan is finding room for those that society would prefer to forget. Lydia Ma of Taiwan Church News reports.

• Peace on Earth. Really?

  The angelic host proclaimed peace and goodwill to the shepherds. CWM general secretary Des van der Water explains what fires his hope this Christmas

  

• Bags change lives

  In January, nine people from New Zealand head off for a mind­altering experience in Calcutta, India.

• Gap year with a difference

  Twenty-year-old Carly Rogers from Wales has joined six others at the Mission House in Amsterdam.

• It's urgent!

  Act International calls for progress on a climate deal in Cancun for the sake of the poor.

• Supporting orphans

  A New Zealand church is funding childcare training in Madagascar, thanks to two special volunteers.

• Mandarin ministry tackles mission field on Aukland's doorstep

  An urban Auckland ministry to Mandarin speakers is bringing the Gospel to people who have never experienced church before.

• God is still speaking

  Rev Roberta Rominger shares her passion for the URC's venture into advertising and viral campaigns

• Dialogue with God

  At the opening of the Trustee Body Meeting Rev Tara Tyme from the United church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (UCJCI) led a series of daily devotionals aimed at getting the trustees to focus on ensuring a greater dialogue with God throughout their decision-making process.

• Where are we with the strategic priorities?

  Rev Dr Jerry Pillay, convenor of CWM's strategic review groups, explains the strategic priorities to the general secretaries' meeting in Jamaica.

  
• Leaders consider theology and empire

  Rev Dr Collin Cowan has presented CWM's theological statement to general secretaries meeting in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

• A test of faith

  Rev Lala Rasendrahasina explains how churches in Madagascar are dealing with political turmoil.

• A cry for help

  Preventing youth suicide is the focus of a major new programme in CWM’s East Asia and Pacific regions

• Give us friends

  CWM general secretary Rev Dr Des van der Water addresses the general secretaries conference with a call for openness to change and for integrity in relationships.

• A sense of expectation
  

  Despite hardships, the church has plenty of good news to share with the people of Myanmar

• Anglican church heads gets royal reception in Chennai slum By Anto Akkara

  Head of the Anglican church, Archbishop Rowan Williams on a two-week long visit to India, got a royal reception in Chennai – capital of southern Tamil Nadu state and one of the oldest Protestant centres in India.

• Taiwan ministry: remembering the elderly

  Lydia Ma explores how Taiwan's church has stepped in to provide care for the elderly in the wake of typhoon Morakot.

• Youth olympiad marks 40 years of unity

  While the Commonwealth Games was in progress in New Delhi in October, a different Olympiad was in progress at Nagpur in central India, Anto Akkara writes

• How persecution strengthens the church

  Christians and church leaders shudder at the news of persecution of Christians in different parts of the world. But for those living in the midst of persecution, the fear is much less.

• Leading change

  Rev Dr Collin Cowan prepares to take up his new role as general secretary of CWM

• Dancing in a strange land

  Tuvaluans facing relocation must think about their identity now, says Maina Talia

• Testimony: Jesus kept me alive

  Meet living miracle and survivor of Kandhamal's anti-Christian violence, Junos Nayak

  
  
• Human trafficking: what’s the church doing

  Elizabeth Simpson reflects on a day of visiting projects helping the victims of human trafficking in New Delhi, India.

• From money to ministry

  Former banker Rev Iain May shares how life has transformed since pursuing his call to ministry

• Turn again to mission

  New Presbyterian Church of India moderator Rev L S Khawbung, is striving to make his church more mission focused, Anto Akkara reports.

• Forgiveness wins

  Extremists who attacked churches in Kandhamal are turning to Christ.

• Churches raise a black flag

  Churches in India protest the continued discrimination against Christian Dalits.

• Adding up grace

  Accountant Dingindhlela Mlambo recalls his role balancing the church books in Zimbabwe.

• Mission that bleeds

  Being prepared to absorb some of the pain that damaged young people experience can be the start of mission and the road to healing.

• Draw a wider circle

  Why mission is about taking the church to the community – not getting the community to church.