Restored - Ending Violence Against Women

Again there is so much to give thanks for over the last month and God is continuing to bless us greatly!
 
Events
 
Latin America
We had an excellent week in Ecuador at the end of September at the invitation of the Micah Network in Latin America.  We felt that this was the gathering of many of the people we would most like to work with across Latin America.  Peace and Hope, http://www.pazyesperanza.org/ a founder member of Restored, were prominent in leading the event.  It was full of joy and hope alongside the recognition of the huge issues of domestic violence and machismo culture faced by all the countries.  Micah Network is going to develop a strategy for addressing domestic violence through the church across the continent.  We very much hope that Restored can be a part of this.  
 
Restored also spoke at a Men’s breakfast speaking to 50 pastors about violence against women and masculinity of Jesus. You can read a short blog on this here http://www.restoredrelationships.org/info/blog/2010/10/11/50-pastors/
 
As you will be aware from the various prayer emails you received while they were away, the political situation when they were away was extremely volatile, so praise God they made it home safely with very little difficulty.  Thank you for all your prayer support throughout that time.
 
Tunbridge Wells Women’s Day
Mandy and Natalie Collins (Restored’s Development Officer) travelled to St Matthew’s Church in Tunbridge Wells on Saturday 16th October for a Women’s Day they were holding.  It was a last minute arrangement as they had booked a different speaker who had to cancel at with only a few days notice.  There were over 100 attendees and although they were not expecting to hear about Restored or violence against women issues, the feedback was that attendees felt God had really spoken to them and found the day really useful, and many felt it must have been God’s plan for Mandy to take the day.
 
Cabbage Patch 10 Race
Eleven people including Mandy and Peter ran the Cabbage Patch 10 (mile) Race on Sunday 17th October, to raise money for Restored.  They raised their target of £1000 for Restored and had a great day.  Please visit Mandy’s blog about the race at http://www.restoredrelationships.org/info/blog/2010/10/22/running-restored/ .
 
DRC
The situation in DR Congo continues to be uppermost in our minds.  We have asked Linsey Pollard, who has recently returned from DRC, to help us develop a plan for how we can make a difference.  Please remember HEAL Africa, a Restored member, in your prayers as they work on the front line performing surgery for women with fistula and seeking to change the culture that is perpetuating such brutal violence against women.
 
We are delighted to welcome Ed Thomson as a volunteer who is developing our work on legal issues and impunity.
 
Governance
We are beginning to sort out our governance arrangements. We have held two meetings of our Board which consists of: Jill Garner (Chair), Babatope Akinwande, Paul Brigham, Matthew Hutton, Betty Makoni, Maddy Mould and Val Stevens.  Please pray for them.  
 
Website
We are continually updating the Restored website (www.restoredrelationships.org), and have quite a few new blogs.  If you would like to write a guest blog, or have any resources or other items you would like us to put on the website, please do get in touch.
 
Church Pack
The latest version of the Church Pack is available to download.  We are encouraging Churches to download the pack and trial it from 25th November, which is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/violence/).  Please do encourage your Church leaders to download it from the website (http://www.restoredrelationships.org/ ) and please pray for it to have great impact on the Church.
 
Funding
April 2011 is getting closer and so far we have secured nearly £7000 for the next financial year. Funding can seem a difficult issue to pray about yet Restored and its members cannot continue without sufficient resources. We recognize our members are struggling with funding allocations in this difficult financial climate. Please do pray our members and Restored will find enough funding to continue the work we have started.  
 
Prayer Points
•    For the progression of work tackling violence against women in Latin America and Restored’s involvement in that
•    For the situation in DR Congo
•    For the release of the Church Pack
•    For protection for the Restored Team
•    And as always we pray:
o    For men’s attitudes and actions to change so that violence against women is ended;
o    For women to examine their own attitudes and hearts about unhelpful beliefs and attitudes
o    For Christians to catch the vision, share God’s heart for this issue and take action;
o    For unity in the church to act as one in ending violence against women
o    For the many thousands of women suffering daily in abusive situations that they would find .  freedom, justice and love
o    For the continued development of Restored; that it will honour God, know his blessing and make a significant difference in addressing VAW;
o    That we stay close to God and don’t take any wrong turnings
o    Give thanks for the different types of support we have received for this work to enable us to get this far
 
Thank you for continuing this partnership in prayer. Please do feedback any thoughts, words, pictures that you may have as you pray. We really do value and appreciate you setting aside time to pray. It is very much appreciated.
 
Mandy Marshall
Peter Grant
Natalie Collins
Ed Thompson
 
If you would like to donate money to Restored, you can do so via the Charity Giving website here http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/donate/donate_b.asp?charityid=2585 or by donating via Tearfund and clearly allocating your donation for Restored. If you would like to start organising fundraising events for Restored, please contact Natalie at natalie.collins@restoredrelationships.org.