Photo: Marcia Soto and Alejandra Molina (foreground) and Estela Armoa and Aurora Rinaldi give and receive prayers and blessings at a Sister Care gathering in Bolivia. Photo provided. 

Watch for the August issue of The Mennonite magazine for a cover story on the impact of Sister Care and Sister Care’s first session in Africa. 

Mennonite Mission Network desires to empower women and men to use their gifts in ministry. Historically, men have had many more opportunities than women to develop their capacities in church leadership. As we help prepare women, Mission Network seeks to overcome the imbalance, and hopes to make more leaders available to the rapidly growing global church.

Sister Care prepares women to listen to and support each other. Having women leaders available to other women in crisis situations can also help prevent abuse that sometimes occurs in vulnerable counseling sessions between a male pastor and a woman.

Seeing what the Latin American women have done with Sister Care since the first seminar in 2013 continues to inspire me and speak of its value. In September 2015, we compiled statistics and realized that after receiving the training, 80-some leaders across Latin America have facilitated nearly 100 workshops with more than 2,800 participants in the region. It has been very encouraging to experience the enthusiasm of the women, and also the follow-up they have given to the workshops.