Christian Families in Pakistan Uniting to Learn Self-Government

YounasANDMarthaGroup photo with Pastor Sharoon.jpg

Younas and Martha Martin are from a small Christian community in Lahore, Pakistan. While looking for a school to send their daughter to, they researched the top U.S. universities to see which ones had the strongest family values. They ultimately decided upon Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. After their daughter married and settled down in early 2015, she learned about a type of family communication and parenting called, “Teaching Self-Government.” This began a chain of events that today is transforming whole communities of families in Pakistan.

How It All Began

It’s not every day I get Facebook calls from Pakistan, but that’s just what Younas and Martha Martin did. They called me.

Through phone calls and emails, I learned about the work they were doing in Pakistan with a Catholic program called “Family Life.” This program helps women and children in their Christian community and around their area. It’s designed to strengthen family relationships, improve character and protect the sanctity of human life.

“What a small world!” I thought. Our family had also just been approached by the “Family Life” office for the Catholic Diocese in Kenya. They requested for us to come to Kenya for 3 weeks to train the leaders in the Catholic church who are over family programs. I mentioned this coincidence to the Martins and they said they would love to have our family do a similar training in Pakistan.

Sadly, we just can’t go everywhere we’re requested to go for multiple reasons, so I had to tell the Martins I wouldn’t be able to come to Pakistan to train their families. However, helping the families in the Christian communities in Pakistan is a perfect match for the mission of Teaching Self-Government, so I suggested that we donate an online training course to them to use for the “Family Life” group there.

Each month the Martins invited their community to gather in their home for lessons about being calm, strengthening couple relationships, and establishing loving but firm parenting skills. They have been helping many community members transform their family cultures so that their homes are more emotionally and spiritually safe, as well as empowering.

[[{“fid”:”223″,”view_mode”:”default”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:228,”width”:466,”class”:”media-element file-default”},”link_text”:null}]]

[[{“fid”:”224″,”view_mode”:”default”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:1235,”width”:2200,”style”:”width: 450px; height: 225px;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”},”link_text”:null}]]

After a few months of teaching the group, it became too large for the Martin home to handle. They had to look for a larger location. With help from The Worldwide Organization for Women, a nonprofit charity, they located and rented a larger facility for their monthly meetings.

Monthly — and sometimes more often — the Martins open the doors of their Family Life center in Lahore to teach the self-government principles that are bringing needed peace and understanding in their homes and community.

[[{“fid”:”225″,”view_mode”:”default”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:1840,”width”:3264,”style”:”width: 450px; height: 254px;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”},”link_text”:null}]]

[[{“fid”:”226″,”view_mode”:”default”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:304,”width”:715,”class”:”media-element file-default”},”link_text”:null}]]

One recent attendee to the Teaching Self-Government classes emailed me to tell me how her family has drastically changed. She said it was due to focusing on strengthening their family relationships by learning new skills for communication and understanding.

As part of their family outreach and healing, the Martins also prepare clothing and food packages for poor children and women in their community. Each year the Martin’s funds have decreased, but they still do what they can and try to get others to help too.

[[{“fid”:”227″,”view_mode”:”default”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:206,”width”:343,”class”:”media-element file-default”},”link_text”:null}]]

No matter where we are around the world, the human family shares one thing in common: the love and need of family. We all have families. Families are our greatest influencers and learning environments for our lives. So, if family life is not feeling calm, loving and united, then the whole family struggles. In fact, our societies and the world also struggle. It’s inspiring to see people dedicate the golden years of their lives to making the world a better place and sacrificing so much to bring families closer together.

To donate to the Pakistan Family Life Project, visit worldwideorganizationforwomen.org . Since WOW is a registered nonprofit, your donation is tax deductible.

 

Human Trafficking Being Done By Teens?

girls-wallet.jpg

This darling red head was almost made into a sex slave.

Father, Scott Lee Jenkins, says his young daughter was nearly trafficked because of a 15 year old boy named Bruce. Apprently Bruce was used by the traffickers to lure teenage girls to them and their trafficking business. 

Some states like California and Nevada have extremely high trafficking rates due to their high amounts of tourism, but even Michigan, where Jenkins lives is rated as the number 7 trafficking state in the United States. 

Read Jenkin’s story of how he almost didn’t know that his daughter was getting ready to have a “meet up” with traffickers and how he stumbled upon a clue and took quick action. This story shows how important it is for parents to know what their children are looking at online at all times and why it really is a danger for a child to have a social media account at all. Here’s his story. 

I may be weird but I have always insisted that I sign my children into any digital device we have and that they use it in my presence. We also don’t give our children cell phones of their own. They can use our “kid phone” which is NOT SMART. It can call and send single texts only. That is it. This phone can be borrowed when they are going to a friend’s house or when they are going to work or something important, like maybe a date. That is the way we keep our children from being addicts to media and from getting into things they shouldn’t online. 

My adult children have each told me that they are so glad I had these digital boundaries for them. They get to college and see other young people addicted, distracted, and unable to carry on healthy converstaion because they have had way too much digital. 

WOW tries to stop trafficking before it starts by supporting policy that protects the consciences of children and holds the pornography industry accountable for the damage they are causing to society. 

Christian Mother’s Innovation Helps Girls Grow In Faith

hannahaudreypinkcouch-1824.jpg

At a recent mother’s event I met Sara, a mother who acted on a feeling to make beautiful dolls for girls that promote faith too. 

Years ago, I was frustrated as a mother that the American Girl dolls my daugther and all her friends wanted to have were part of a company who changed it’s values away from family and faith toward trendy, changing values. So, when I met Sara I was inspired. I don’t have little girls anymore, but I immediately saw the value in her idea to make dolls that promoted her vaules instead of the values of trendy society. Here is a short article written by Sara about her dolls and her mission to make the world a bit better. 

 

Do you have any little girls in your family? If so, you are probably aware of the 18 inch doll craze they all seem to go through. I became aware of it when my oldest daughter was six or seven years old. It seemed that almost every little girl we knew either had an 18 inch doll or was asking for one. My little girl was no different. I began to think it would be a great idea to use little girls’ love for 18 inch dolls as a fun and creative way to teach them more about God. I imagined creating doll characters based on my seven- year old and a few of her friends.

It was a fun daydream to develop in my mind while I completed the tasks of diaper changing, feeding, and the other jobs that went along with caring for my two youngest daughters who were both still infants. That is all it was – a daydream – for almost two years, until one day I mentioned it to a friend. She loved the idea and encouraged me to make it a reality. An encouraging word from a friend – that’s all it took. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

It was clear that this was God’s project right from the start. Not only did He prompt my friend to encourage me that night, but He lined up every event that followed. From leading me to friends who offered sound business advice, to answering my prayers for help with the huge task of writing stories for each doll character, to providing me with a business partner, Shane Hodges, who had what I lacked – God has been in charge of Girls of Faith from the beginning.

Besides the Christian theme of Girls of Faith, another thing that sets our dolls apart from any other on the market, is that they are made in America. Being able to create and develop the only toy vinyl doll that is made in America is further proof of God’s working.

Our first doll, Audrey, is based after my oldest daughter. In her story, Audrey reaches out to a new girl at her church school. As she tries to share her faith with her new friend she learns that although she may not have all the answers she can make a difference in someone’s life by simply sharing the love of Jesus. Having three daughters myself I know the social struggles little girls go through. Our goal with this doll is to encourage girls to be inclusive in their friendships, and by doing so they can be living examples of God’s love.

Our second doll, Hannah, is based after one of our good friends, Hannah Truckenbrodt. In her story, Hannah is forced to get out of her comfort zone and make a bold move for God. The story concludes with her making a decision for baptism. Our hope is that this character will inspire little girls to follow Jesus no matter the cost.

Our third character will be released soon, and her story tells of a little girl with big plans for the future. She is inspired by stories her grandparents tell of their missionary adventurers. This story will help little girls understand that they don’t have to wait until they are grown to do big things for God. There are plenty of missionary opportunities surrounding us each day.

Creating Girls of Faith has been an exciting and educational journey so far. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” God has continuously built the next step in this “staircase” at just the right time and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for Girls of Faith. You can read more about our story and see our beautiful dolls at www.girlsoffaithdolls.com.