Evangeline Ministries
In January 2006, Evangeline Ministries was founded by missionary Wendy Ryan in Virginia, USA with a focus on helping women and men who live with HIV and AIDS develop skills to help them earn a living for themselves and their children; and to give them hope as they live with this disease — all in the name of Jesus Christ.
Evangeline Ministries works in partnership with the Living Hope Community Center Trust to offer skills training in the form of sewing classes, computer classes and business classes. Additionally, their program generates income for the women and their families as they sew and sell attractive African inspired handbags. Khumi Morare was a student and successfully ran the sewing business. Read her story here.
The spiritual life of their students is central to all that they do. The ministry is in the name of Jesus Christ and Evangeline Ministries is committed to bring the hope that Jesus Christ offers to everyone in our classes.
One of the ways they do this is through Scripture and prayer. At the end of every class, Wendy shares a Scripture God has placed on her heart and explains what it means in students' lives. She especially uses Scriptures that teach of God’s unconditional love and how much He wants to give them abundant and overflowing life, even though they live with HIV and AIDS and often are so ashamed of it. A key verse is the one in John10:10 where Jesus says, "I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly."
There are also many opportunities to counsel and pray with the women. Prayer sessions arise for life challenges and hardships such as homes burning down, a fairly common occurrence — and even, in one instance, for a woman whose son was stabbed to death. One of their recent graduates told Wendy that, more than the tea, cookies and fruit they serve after class, it was the Scripture and teaching she appreciated the most!
Evangeline Ministries played a critical role in the conceptualisation of Living Way. Being able to observe the integration of health care, skills training and business formation, it became evident that sustainable job creation needed to be part of the Living Hope model. This created the impetus for Living Way to be formed. We celebrate with Wendy and Evangeline Ministries in their mission to serve God in this way. To find out more about this great ministry, access their website www.evangelineministriesonline.org.