Global Ministries

Background: Faith-based recovery models are available for individuals seeking help with substance use. Combining a Christian recovery program with financial goal setting is a novel approach to enhancing recovery support. This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of a combined faith-based recovery plus financial literacy program. Methods: Participants (n=33) were recruited from residential recovery homes in Phoenix, Arizona, to participate in one of two groups: a Resilient Recovery alone group or a Resilient Recovery plus Faith & Finances group. Recovery, spiritual well-being, forgiveness, perceptions of God, religious coping, and financial behaviors were measured at three points to assess change over time. Results: Resilient Recovery + Faith & Finances program participants showed some decrease in problems associated with their substance use. Individuals receiving Resilient Recovery alone had positive feelings of spiritual well-being. The correlations were weak to moderate among both groups. Discussion and Conclusion: A combined recovery with financial literacy was feasible, but the short duration of the intervention was a limitation. The results did not determine effectiveness in the recovery, spiritual, and financial outcomes measured. Still, the study provides lessons for future research and implementation of an integrated approach, including the use of a single facilitator, consistent meeting schedule, and conducting both programs concurrently rather than consecutively. More extensive and longer studies are needed to account for additional confounding and socio-demographic factors related to recovery and spiritual outcomes. Alignment between Christian health and development programs and research measures related to the content is needed to better understand effectiveness and causal mechanisms.

ABSTRACT At the ten-year anniversary of the Flint water crisis, Flint residents continue to work to improve the well-being of their community and advance community leadership in science. While the water crisis is remembered by most as just an egregious example of government mismanagement, a lesser told story is that of the ongoing leadership and mobilization of Flint residents. Our paper reflects on a collaborative project as part of a larger, sustained partnership in co-producing knowledge about Flint residents’ experiences with the water crisis, their expertise in responding to public health crises, and concerns and curiosities that may be explored as scientific research questions. We detail our investigative effort over five years focusing on understanding Flint residents’ expertise in responding to the water crisis and our processes of working with residents to connect personal experiences to explorable questions. We align the activities of our engagement (focus groups, workshops, a technology co-development pilot study, and interviews) with an iterative process of listening, dialogue, and action consistent with Paulo Freire’s processes for advancing collective consciousness. We position our work as an implementation of liberation sociology by working to explore scientific questions that are meaningful and impactful to disenfranchised populations.

Introduction: Malaria continues to be a major public health problem in Zambia with more than 16 million people at risk and 2015 estimates show that there were over 5 million malaria cases. Children under five years and pregnant women are at the greatest risk. Despite Zambia’s interventions including universal insecticide-treated bed-net (ITN) coverage and indoor residual spraying (IRS) in targeted areas strides in the fight against malaria, the situation in Luapula Province is totally different with the highest incidence in pregnancy, 131/1000 in 2013, 207/1000 in 2014, and 177/1000 in 2015. This research therefore assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of malaria prevention and treatment in Mansa, Luapula province of Zambia. Material and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design adopting both qualitative and quantitative study approaches was used on 270 study participants who included community members, pregnant women and health personnel in Mansa ward of Mansa district. The participants were sampled using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview guides, and focus group discussions. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS statistical software, while the qualitative was thematically analyzed. Results: Out of the 270 participants, knowledge of malaria transmission being due to mosquito vector was very high and seen in 270 (100%), however, other perceptions of transmission were; drinking contaminated water 3(1.1%), eating a lot of mangoes 7(2.6%) and coming in contact with a sick patient 207(76.7%). Participants negative attitudes stood at 196 (72.6%) and bad practices was 153(56.7%). Education level was strongly associated with knowledge (p=0.000), attitudes (p=0.001) and practices (p=0.004). Conclusion: Even though knowledge levels on malaria were high and comparable to other studies, however, some attitudes and practices were negative among the participants. On the contrary, healthcare providers had the right attitude towards malaria prevention and control. Community Health Workers are very important in the fight against malaria. The study recommends that creating health promotion messages taking into account the illiterates, involvement of traditional leaders, and giving incentives to community health workers can help in the fight against malaria in Luapula Province.

Wesley House sponsored a significant webinar symposium on 15-16 October 2021 as part of its centenary on the theme 'Leading Like a Methodist -Intercultural Perspectives'.This event brought together Methodist and Wesleyan leaders and scholars from around the world to engage critical questions and work together constructively on what, in the tradition of the Wesleys, it means to lead in our multiple contexts today.The Centre for Global Wesleyan Theology hosted a segment of this event related to 'Leading the Church'.Participants not only celebrated and promoted the work of Wesley House as a global resource for leadership and scholarship for the church, but engaged in holy conferencing about issues of critical interest in Methodism's world parish that directly affect the lives of Methodist people and those outside the church.This segment included a panel discussion of experts on the theme from around the world.Participants addressed specific questions in small group interaction, and insights with plans for action were fed back to the leadership of the symposium and the plenary community.

The article responds to a keynote address by David Brown from the 2021 Congress of Societas Liturgica hosted online from Notre Dame in July 2021. Brown's address explores liturgical constraints and freedom with regard to liturgical poesis, tradition, and art, with special attention to stained glass. The response argues for a more nuanced and panoramic view of liturgical meaning and history, especially given the twists and turns that established liturgical practices took as they came to be, such as Thomas Cranmer's Prayer of Humble Access and the Agnus Dei as mentioned by Brown. It also argues for more attention to be given to the contemporary trend of decline plaguing many congregations around the world for the sake of liturgical openness, hospitality, and suppleness. The response looks to the invention of the Common Era Time according to the liturgical calendar, the Christianization of leitourgia, and the long history of Crusade violence in order to support its recommendations for foregrounding in liturgical practice and expectations and a healthy sense of liturgical mystery and charity. The response also references the artwork of Arthur Jafa and Titus Kaphar as models for liturgists to consider in order to imagine new kinds of liturgical engagement with art that not only work within sacred genres such as stained glass, but also dare to consider the theological profundity of pieces not readily identifiable as conveying knowledge of God. The response aims to widen liturgical welcome and concludes by raising the question of English as a centralizing language for an international liturgical congress.

BackgroundNinety-four percent of all maternal deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and the majority are preventable. Access to quality Obstetric ultrasound can identify some complications leading to maternal and neonatal/perinatal mortality or morbidity and may allow timely referral to higher-resource centers. However, there are significant global inequalities in access to imaging and many challenges to deploying ultrasound to rural areas. In this study, we tested a novel, innovative Obstetric telediagnostic ultrasound system in which the imaging acquisitions are obtained by an operator without prior ultrasound experience using simple scan protocols based only on external body landmarks and uploaded using low-bandwidth internet for asynchronous remote interpretation by an off-site specialist.MethodsThis is a single-center pilot study. A nurse and care technician underwent 8 h of training on the telediagnostic system. Subsequently, 126 patients (68 second trimester and 58 third trimester) were recruited at a health center in Lima, Peru and scanned by these ultrasound-naïve operators. The imaging acquisitions were uploaded by the telemedicine platform and interpreted remotely in the United States. Comparison of telediagnostic imaging was made to a concurrently performed standard of care ultrasound obtained and interpreted by an experienced attending radiologist. Cohen’s Kappa was used to test agreement between categorical variables. Intraclass correlation and Bland-Altman plots were used to test agreement between continuous variables.ResultsObstetric ultrasound telediagnosis showed excellent agreement with standard of care ultrasound allowing the identification of number of fetuses (100% agreement), fetal presentation (95.8% agreement, κ =0.78 (p < 0.0001)), placental location (85.6% agreement, κ =0.74 (p < 0.0001)), and assessment of normal/abnormal amniotic fluid volume (99.2% agreement) with sensitivity and specificity > 95% for all variables. Intraclass correlation was good or excellent for all fetal biometric measurements (0.81–0.95). The majority (88.5%) of second trimester ultrasound exam biometry measurements produced dating within 14 days of standard of care ultrasound.ConclusionThis Obstetric ultrasound telediagnostic system is a promising means to increase access to diagnostic Obstetric ultrasound in low-resource settings. The telediagnostic system demonstrated excellent agreement with standard of care ultrasound. Fetal biometric measurements were acceptable for use in the detection of gross discrepancies in fetal size requiring further follow up.

Reducing human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) racial/ethnic disparities in the Deep South has been a critical objective of the U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy. This finding, originally published in 2010 by the Office of National AIDS Policy, serves as a complement to the Health and Human Resources and Services Administration’s Ending the HIV Epidemic (EtHE): A Plan for America. The EtHE plan, released in 2019, emphasizes community stakeholder involvement to achieve the planning goals of decreasing new HIV infections in key U.S. geographic areas. According to the plan, an important stakeholder is faith leaders, especially around stigma reduction. This paper focuses on a community–academic research partnership’s exploration of southern Black faith leaders’ teaching perspectives regarding HIV prevention, sexuality, and sexual health in predominantly Black congregations in Memphis, Tennessee. The partnership conducted four focus groups using a semi-structured discussion interview. Any adult faith leader involved in ministry work in a predominantly Black church was eligible to participate in the discussion. A total of 26 faith leaders with a mean age of 54, representing four Christian denominations, consented to participate in the study. Emerging themes included: (1) restriction of scripture to teach prevention and address sexuality, (2) role of secrecy and silence in living with HIV, and (3) impact of the stigma of HIV and sexuality. Findings may inform nationwide jurisdictional implementation plans, particularly for faith-based interventions in southern churches working toward ending the HIV epidemic.