Fr Tom Lawn is the assistant priest in the Catholic parish of New Plymouth, the main city in the Province of Taranaki - an area in which dairy farming has been long established.

When approached by the Wellington Archdiocese's newspaper WelCom about the impact of the Mycoplasma Bovis, he asked three people in the farming community to provide a reflection.

Mental anguish will hurt the most

Paul Bourke is a farmer in Opunake.

He has done a lot to help set up support groups for farmers dealing with mental illness.

Bourke says support for those operating infected farms is critical.

It is the mental anguish that would hurt the most he said.

"For many, it seems a lifetime's work sent to the slaughter, which must be debilitating and really stressful."

Focus on what you can control; accept the things you can't

Peter Moffit and his wife own two Taranaki dairy farms in an equity partnership.

"At its most basic level, we believe farming to be the use of God-given natural resources to make food that feeds God's people" said Peter.

"At our core as Catholics are our faith and trust in God.

"We can only really focus on what we can control and understand and accept the things we can't."

Empathy and Understanding

Sharemilkers Ruth and Michael Prankerd farm in Southland. They think that it is important to combat fragmentation in the community.

"We must support one another, show empathy and seek to understand others' points-of-view, and treat others as we would want to be treated."

Read all three reflections and Fr Tom's introduction in Welcom

Source

• wn.catholic.org.nz
• Image: tvnz.co.nz

She has encouraged these organisations to educate their various groups and family members to eliminate social ills and discrimination against women.

Vuniwaqa said she is looking to work closely with faith-based organisations in the coming financial year to help in the economic empowerment of women, elimination of violence against women, child abuse and neglect and poverty alleviation.

She was speaking as a guest speaker announced at the three-day Women in the Frontlines conference that took place at the Apostles Church in Lautoka last week.

About 200 women from around Fiji participated at the conference.

The conference in Fiji was one of five held in July and August. The other four are in the United States.

Women on the Frontlines website says it is committed to empower, equip and mobilise Christian women through conferences, training events, outreaches, missions projects and our Women in Ministry Network.

Although it is sometimes described non-denominational, it appears to be part of the fundamentalist evangelical Christian tradition.

It was begun by husband and wife James and Michal Ann Goll in 1997. After the death of Michal Ann, James passed the ministry on to Patricia King of Patricia King Ministries.

Patricia King is the President XP Ministries/Christian Services Association. She is described as "an accomplished itinerant speaker, author, television host, media producer, and ministry network overseer who has given her life fully to Jesus Christ and to His Kingdom's advancement in the earth."

Christian Services Association (CSA), a non-profit society, was founded in Canada in 1973 and in the USA in 1984.

It is the parent ministry of XP Ministries founded in 2004 in Arizona. CSA/XP Ministries is located in Maricopa, AZ and Kelowna, B.C.

Source

• Fijivillage
• Fiji Times
• Women on the Frontlines
• Image FaceBook

My husband, Bill, was upstairs giving 4-year-old Liam a bath, and I was holding wriggling 16-month-old Teenasia, trying to wash her hair in the kitchen sink.

I found I couldn't hold her with one arm and wash her hair with the other.

"Hey, Jacob," I said. "Do you want to sit there and learn about your faith, or do you want to live it?"

Jacob looked up, intrigued, and put his pencil down.

"I'll live it," he said, smiling and walking over.

As I held Teenasia tightly so she wouldn't bump her head on the faucet, Jacob took the spray and wet his new little sister's hair, then added shampoo.

As he worked the suds around Teenasia's head, he looked into her eyes and narrated the process.

"You need to have clean hair. The water won't hurt you. We'll put a cloth over your eyes when we rinse. If you'd stop trying to get away, this would be easier," he said.

Soon Teenasia, distracted by Jacob's voice and interested in what he was doing, slowed her movements, smiled at Jacob, and relaxed in my arms.

Teenasia has been washing her own hair for many years, and I'm not sure Jacob, now 19, even remembers that night.

For for me, the evening has come to encapsulate what I believe to be true about the connection between faith and service: We need to know when it's time to put down the religion book and get to work.

Going to church, joining a prayer group, or reading books on spirituality cannot be ends in themselves.

Faith and prayer must lead to action.

Yet propelling a family from a weekly hour at church to a life focused on service can feel complicated.

Here's how some families work it

Start when the kids are young: Families who begin service early are trying to build both a sense of compassion for others and a sense of responsibility to reach out. These families are laying the groundwork for what they hope will become a lifetime commitment to service. Continue reading