Zondervan - The Mother and Child Project: Raising Our Voices for Health and Hope

One of the best ways we can tackle extreme poverty is one family at a time, empowering women with access to healthcare, education, and the economic opportunity they need and deserve. This compelling and wise collection of essays tells you how to join the fight.

President William J. Clinton

I began to cry after about five minutes of reading, and didnt stop till I put the book down, equal parts heartbreak and gratitudeheartbreak because Im a mom, and the realities that mothers and children experience globally are unspeakable, and gratitude for the brave and intelligent people that God is using right these wrongs. A hopeful, important, inspiring book.

Shauna Niequist, Author of Bread & Wine

If you want to improve the welfare of a country, you must uplift the caliber and character of the healthcare available to mothers and children, the very life force of a nation and key to its longevity. The Mother & Child Project uniquely explains how each of us can participate in changing the access to healthcare for women and children around the world.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, The Potters House

Every child deserves a healthy mother. And every mother deserves a healthy child. If only the world were that simple. The stories in the TheMother & Child Project offer a window into the struggles of families worldwide when people lack access to health care, nutrition, and education. The good news is that we can do something; we can help change lives. Be inspired to get involved as you read the powerful words in this book.

Sheryl Crow, Grammy-Award Winning Singer and Songwriter

The progress the world has seen against poverty, preventable child deaths, mothers dying in childbirth is nothing short of miraculous. But progress evil twin is complacency, a tired sense all will be well. The Mother and Child Project is the clarion call to ensure we finish the job, until mothers have what they need to raise healthy families and no child dies for lack of vaccines and medicines we can get at any pharmacy.

Michael Elliott, President and CEO, ONE

Few things in life are as important as a healthy family, and around the world today that often starts with the flourishing lives of women and children. This must-read book illustrates why maternal and child health are of such crucial importance for thisand futuregenerations. It could be your first step to offering hope for millions.

Richard Stearns, President of World Vision US and author of The Hole in Our Gospel and Unfinished

From introductions by Kay Warren and Melinda Gates to stellar chapters from a whos-who in Christian thought and leadership to helpful how-to appendices at the end, this book will help you understand why helping mothers and children is key to making the world a better place. And more: youll learn how you can get involved, right where you are, to make peoples lives better everywhere.

Brian D. McLaren, Author and Speaker

God calls us all to serve as advocates for the poor, the marginalized, and the disenfranchised, at home and around the world. The Mother & ChildProject calls us not just to speak up, but to take action on behalf of millions of young women and children in developing nations. In the health of these women and children rests the promise of a better future for everyone.

Lynne Hybels, Advocate for Global Engagement Willow Creek Community Church

Mothers and children are at the heart of vulnerability of extreme poverty and diseases, like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The Mother & ChildProject describes ways in which you can get involved to help moms around the world have a better chance at surviving pregnancy and childbirth and help kids thrive in their early years. This strong start can provide a solid foundation for families to have happier, healthier lives.

Dr. Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund

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ZONDERVAN

The Mother and Child Project

Copyright 2015 by Zondervan

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition March 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-34164-2

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The views expressed in the essays in this book are those of the essays individual authors and do not reflect the views of the editors, the publisher, or the other essayists. The editors have listed organizations in the Resources section that they think are useful, but these listings should not be construed as an endorsement of the organizations. The editors and publisher have no connection with these organizations and accept no liability for the advice, acts, or omissions of these organizations.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Compiled by Jenny Eaton Dyer, PhD, Kate Etue, and Hope Through Healing Hands

Cover design: Dual Identity

Cover photography: Esther Havens

Interior photography: Unless noted below, World Vision, Inc. 2014. All Rights Reserved.

Stephanie May Wilson,

Brianna L. Danese,

Interior design: Kait Lamphere

First Printing February 2015

For the 287,000 women who lost their lives last year due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth.

And for the 220 million women around the world awaiting the education and services to time and space their next pregnancy in a healthy way.

We lift up your voices. Because no mother should fear the birth of her child.

Contents

, Kay Warren

, Melinda Gates

, Amy Grant

, Rachel Held Evans

, Bill Frist and Jenny Eaton Dyer

, Michael Gerson

, David Stevens

, Cathy R. Taylor

, James and Jena Lee Nardella

, Phillip Nieburg

, Shannon Trilli

, Victoria Jennings

Elizabeth Styffe

, Kent R. Hill

, Ray Martin

, Shepherd and Anita Smith

, Kimberly Williams-Paisley

, Hillary Clinton

, Bruce Wilkinson

, Sherry Surratt

, Kay Granger