“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10.
The Healthy Families Healthy Planet project is to promote maternal health and family planning. Currently there are 287,000 maternal deaths that occur each year worldwide. In addition, 4 million infants die within a month of being born. Worldwide, there are 225 million women who would like to avoid pregnancy but lack a family planning method. As a result, there are nearly 80 million unintended pregnancies each year. More than half of these result in abortion, many of them under illegal and unsafe conditions.
All of these numbers are more than numbers. They are actual women, children, and families that are suffering due to lack of medical access, education, and methods of family planning. The mission of the HFHP project is to educate and advocate for women in the halls of our churches and the halls of power. Trained ambassadors are equipped with the knowledge and tools to teach others about the need for better maternal health and family planning as well as ways to advocate to governments which are responsible for the bulk of the funding for these programs.
Illinois Great Rivers has been a leading force for ambassadors in the Healthy Families Healthy Planet Project. In 2014, the first regional training event was held in Peoria. At this event, nearly 30 new ambassadors were trained and given the resources to educate and advocate in their own contexts.
To learn more about his project, go to http://umchealthyfamilies.org