“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”Isaiah 57:15

Just a little over a week ago we returned from our Women in the Window training with Lakota Sioux Native American women. These women embody this Scriptural truth that the One who inhabits eternity makes Himself at home only in humble and contrite hearts. They have experienced much pain and shame with the startling reality that nearly 80% are unemployed; 90% of all girls experience sexual abuse by the age of 18, and 100% of their families are impacted by alcohol and drug abuse. Yet, in spite of this, or perhaps because of it, their hearts are open to the power and love of Jesus Christ.

We were deeply enriched by our time with them, and richly blessed to receive these comments from our Lakota Sioux sisters in Christ regarding the Women in the Window training and what they enjoyed:

• The care and comfort of the leaders who taught us, feeling welcomed, laughter and fun. The atmosphere was warm and not intimidating. We were free to be ourselves.
• Deborah and women in the Bible, lots of good info, spiritual gifts inventory, you ladies really listened to us.
• Learning about Deborah and that she is a women warrior who is not afraid to speak or do anything.
• Good organization and creative teaching, I especially liked the inductive bible study.
• I enjoyed watching each woman walk out her spiritual gifts in front of others so they could see what God can do! We were truly equipped and empowered to be who God wants us to be!

Your prayers were felt and each specific prayer request was answered with very specific answers.

Our scripture was like prophecy, “You will have courage because you will have hope.” (Job 11:18) Because of Jesus and the hope we have in Him we were able to share courage inviting the Lakota women to become “Deborah’s.” (Our WiW inductive Bible study for the week covered her life and leadership). Courage to become leaders for Christ in a culture where they will most certainly be rejected for choosing to follow Him!  Courage to face the many struggles by standing in Jesus and using their giftings!  (We taught them on spiritual gifts and had a wonderful time with skits, stories and creative expression of their gifts). Courage to take the lead by coming together to pray.  And God gave us a deeper love for the Lakota, their culture and their struggles by hearing their stories, seeing more in our travels to the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, Pine Ridge Reservation and experiencing an authentic Native American Pow Wow. We were also strengthened as our team drew together with a sweet sense of unity in spite of very real challenges. We left more committed to Christ and one another than when we arrived.

We taught the women principles of leadership and provided a “space” for them to develop their own vision for women’s ministry on the reservation. They came together to launch their ministry with an event that provided an outreach into their community, an evening meal of delicious homemade pizza, and then a time of fervent effectual prayer, asking for our protection and God’s favor over us all. Some of the women who led this prayer time had never prayed out loud before. They are now growing in confidence, yes, even in courage! Why? Because they now have hope that they can make a difference!

Thank you for your prayers! Please visit our Facebook page to see more photos and leave a comment letting us know how we can pray for you! Yes, together, we will have courage because we have hope!

What does it really mean to know the LORD? Here’s what the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, has to say, “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was well. Is not that what it means to know me?” Jeremiah 22:16.

Jeremiah was not afraid to speak the Truth and Truth was sorely needed. The people of God, especially the leaders, had strayed far from the Truth and from God Himself. God sent this young man and poured courage into his soul, so that he could stand and deliver—deliver the Truth. And just what was that Truth? It was a message of hope; hope entwined with courage, “plead the cause of the afflicted and needy”; then, it was well! We are to speak and live the message of the Gospel with words and actions.

Women in the Window International is doing just that. This very day our WiW team is departing for South Dakota where we will once again serve the Lakota Sioux Native American women, equipping and empowering them to set the captives free within their own tribe and people group and on their own reservation. Please pray for our team (Katheryn, Sherry, Jenny, and Kim) and the Lakota Sioux women.

Please pray with us for the following requests:

• Effective, gracious and enthusiastic communication that honors Christ and one another.
• Deep sense of unity and camaraderie with our WiW team and the Lakota Sioux women.
• Leadership to emerge from among the Lakota Sioux women during this trip and training so that they establish their own women’s ministry on the Cheyenne River Reservation.
• Visit to Pine Ridge Reservation will yield potential ministry opportunities for the future.
• Safety as we travel to and from the reservation (August 1^st through August 8^th)— this trip requires several flights and many miles in a vehicle to both reservations.
• God’s protection from spiritual warfare for trainers, participants and our families.
• That all participants will find courage, hope, and for some, new Life in Christ!

We also need your prayers, as we prepare for fall trainings in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia where we will train women in health, leadership, and advocacy in some of the most dire circumstances across the globe. Later this year, we will host a training conference for key women leaders from the Middle East and North Africa all together in one neutral and secure location, so that they can determine next steps of ministry outreach in the Arab world. And if that isn’t exciting enough, a group of men will gather together with us to determine how the role of Christian Arab men leaders can help the women and girls of this region, just like Jesus did, with truth and love, in words and actions.

Yes, this is what it means to know Him, to both serve Him and love others in Truth. We at Women in the Window earnestly desire to do that with all that we have and all that we are! How about you?

First and foremost, we so desire to communicate with our prayer team the joy of all that was accomplished on this trip and trainings!

 
Revival is taking place in India and this training is right on time to help them go further and deeper in making disciples and strengthening His Church! The focus of our training was to pilot our new WiW Microenterprise curriculum. We are ecstatic by the progress we made and excited about the future potential. Our WiW Ministry Partners received great encouragement as they saw the women equipped to minister even more effectively to the women in their own communities! Here are some direct quotes and accounts from the women of India:

• Several of the women leaders have no formal education and while they are very intelligent, they cannot read and write. One of them shared that her husband derided her, calling her a buffalo with no value as a worthy human being. After completing the first day, she came back and realized that she does have gifts and abilities that God can use. She even brought her teenage daughter to attend the rest of the remaining so that her daughter can establish a strong foundation also. Along with other women in their community, they plan to start a small business to help poor women afford school supplies for their families- business as mission!

• Many of the women said the Women in the Widow Bible study method enabled them to understand the Word of God more fully. One woman told us that she had read the account of Priscilla and Aquila many times but never fully understood the truths imbedded in their story. The women experienced transformation as a result! They left full of hope for the future of their ministries as women and with their husbands.

Just one comment we will always remember: “We now understand that we can earn for our earthly needs AND for eternal gain.” We are praying that the women in India will continue to carry the vision and dream of all they received and act upon it to bless their lives, homes, and ministries!

We love you all and praise God for your prayers and support! Please continue to pray as we reenter life in the USA with very busy schedules ahead.

With hearts full of hope,
Jackie, Kathy and Kim

We are truly amazed and so grateful for the way God is answering your prayers on behalf of our trainings here in India!

Our first training is complete and the second one is underway. The enthusiasm is palpable. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to provide new understanding of how to study the lives of women in the Bible through the Women in the Window Inductive Bible Study method. We are focusing the Inductive Bible Study on the life of Priscilla and Aquila. AND we are also providing micro-business training too.

It is heartwarming to see these women filled with hope for overcoming poverty and injustice as they learn how to start their own businesses!

One woman brought eight others from her neighboring state. They all left excited about how God has and is using women in business to advance His kingdom.

Another woman shared how her husband wanted her to start a small business to help support their ministry but she refused. Now she has fresh perspective on this entire matter and, needless to say, her husband is thrilled! He even came by the training to say so.

There is so much more to share, but it will have to wait. For now, please continue to pray for our physical stamina, spiritual insight and hearts that radiate His love and truth!

With hearts full of hope,
Kim, Jackie, and Kathy

“I will call those who were not my people, my people; and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved’ and in the very place where it was said to them, ‘you are not my people,’ there they will be called sons and daughters of the living God.”

Romans 9:25-26

Women in the Window International has been invited to serve the women of India once again. As I reflect on my first trip to India, I am amazed by how God orchestrated the events leading up to and during this life-changing encounter, and how He continues to work in amazing and Life-giving ways. Those who were not His people, have become His people, as the burgeoning church of India boasts millions of men, women and children, yet this is only 8% of the total population, with millions who are still unreached and unengaged. In the northern states, where we are heading, less than 2% of the population is considered “reached” or has a Gospel witness among the people of their cities and villages.

In the year 2000 I was invited to visit India for the first time as my church prepared to serve as part of a national team of doctors, construction workers, and evangelists. I labored in prayer and waited to hear God’s answer, “Should I join this team, Lord?” He made it very clear that He wanted to send me there and yet the Scripture passage that accentuated His call had a different tone than I had ever heard before. “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.” Isaiah 66:18

Little did I know that this concept —gathering them “from all nations” to serve the peoples of their own nation and declare His glory—would soon become a normal and prominent part of Christian service in the world of global ministry as well as my own personal life and work.

Beautiful memories from the teeming population of cities and tent villages, banana leaf meals, hard beds, and loving welcomes warm my soul as they remind me of myriad opportunities to advance the Kingdom in the second most populous nation of the world, India! Since that time, I have had the personal privilege of ministry in these major cities and numerous villages of India as well: Delhi, Guntur, Chennai, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Bangalore, and Kolkota (formerly Calcutta). Our Women in the Window teams have also served in the northeastern states of: Assam and Jharkhand.

I am thrilled to be returning to the exact location of my first trip to India 17 years ago, and will have an opportunity to visit with a young woman whom I met on that very first trip. Her warm welcome to her home and invitation for tea became a transformational moment for us both. We will be serving approximately 100 women leaders of India as we provide micro-enterprise training to help them launch their own small businesses and to train potentially hundreds and hundreds more. . .

Please join us in prayer for this trip from June 7 to 19 and the two trainings conducted by our team, Jackie Hilliard, Kathy Caprio, and myself, along with our ministry partner. Here are some specific requests for our trip and trainings:

• With a literacy rate of only 60% among the women of India, pray that as we pilot our new WiW curriculum, it will provide both oral and practical application to the lives of women through the stories of multiple women in the Bible who were successful with their own businesses. 
• India has the most people living in conditions of slavery, an estimated 18 million, and has the largest number of child laborers under 14 in the world, with an estimated 12.6 million children engaged in hazardous occupations. Pray that our WiW micro-enterprise skills training will directly impact the condition of human slavery, especially among women and children in India!
• As we reunite with friends of many years and make new friends, too, pray for God’s Holy Spirit to knit our hearts together in love within our own team, with our ministry partners, and among the women of India!   “…that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3