With nearly 70 persons in attendance, a Michiana MEDA dinner
meeting was held at Greencroft's Senior Center on February 15. A panel
of Mennonite Church USA's Healthcare Access Commission (HAC) members
led a dialogue on health care access. The discussion focused on the
potential for the church and her business persons to make a positive
influence on the dysfunction in our nation's present health care
system, especially the problems of access and cost.
Following the dinner, Willard Roth, Michiana MEDA's Ambassador,
shared his devotional perception that ``integrity is foundational to
living a life of significance.''
Karl Sommers, chair of the HAC led the panel. Other HAC panel
members included Mary Graber, Dan Nafziger, Daniel Grimes, and Clare
Schumm. They outlined many aspects of today's health care dilemma, some
of which include: 45 million in our nation do not have health insurance
(or 1 in 5), health care costs are going up three times the rate of
inflation, families that can afford health insurance pay about $10,000
annually, efforts at cost containment have been ineffective, and half
of personal bankruptcies in our country are related to crushing medical
expenses.
The panel stressed there are no easy solutions. However, the HAC is
built on the premise that the MC USA can make a contribution ``to more
equitable access to appropriate health care for all Mennonite Church
USA members and our neighbors.'' During and following World War II, CPS
(Civilian Public Service) recruits, many of whom were Mennonite, made a
significant contribution to improving the US mental health system.
Could the church again help repair a ``broken'' health care system?
After pointing in the direction of some possible improvements in
our health care system, panel members wanted to listen to the
attendees, so joined round-table discussions which concluded the
evening. One table group reported their opinion that it is baffling
that we want better access to a broken system!
Monday, November 10, 2008
We had a presentation
at Eighth Street Mennonite Church by Catherine Sobrevega and Mahbooba
Waizi. Catherine is MEDA's country manager in Afghanistan and is
responsible for the project, "Through the Garden Gate: Strategies for
Integrating Women into Sustainable Markets." This project helps women
improve the quality and yield of their home based gardens and build
links to sustainable markets in order to increase family incomes.
Currently, more than 1,500 women participate in the project. Earlier
this year, the project was a finalist at the 16th Annual Canadian
Awards for International Cooperation in the Centre for Intercultural
Learning Award for Gender Equity Achievement. Mahbooba Waizi is the CEO
of the Afghan Women's Business Federation and is joining Catherine to
speak about emerging women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan.
November 6-9
“Business as a Calling 2008: Dividends of Hope”
The 2008 bi-national convention took place at The Columbus, A Renaissance Hotel, in Columbus, Ohio.
Program Year Celebrated
The final
meeting of Michiana MEDA’s program year was held at BelmontMennoniteChurch on May 10.
Following a Tanzanian meal President Rob Steiner led the annual meeting.
Recognition
was given to four persons terminating their work on the Board. Susan Gingerich,
John Nussbaum, and Rob Steiner have been Board members. Willard Roth served as
ambassador. New Board members are Jessica Berkey, Conrad Brenneman, Renee
Hostetler, and Lowell Nafziger.
Melissa
Kinsey explained the partnership between ASSETS and GoshenCollege.
Nineteen persons recently graduated from the program. A new mentoring program
will begin this fall. A Michiana MEDA Investment Club report was read. Pastors are
encouraged to apply for a grant to attend the MEDA Convention.
Wally Kroeker, the director
of publications for MEDA and the editor of The Marketplace magazine, was the guest speaker. He showed a
video of the Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) project in Tanzania and also
spoke about Frozen Assets. He encouraged church leaders and pastors to focus their
ministries toward reaching out to our places of work in order to tap into
resources that are often “frozen.”
Michiana MEDA
PO Box 871
Goshen, IN 46527
Phone: 87-RSVP-MEDA or 877-787-6332
E-mail:
