“The province is very diverse; we are about 100,000. We are about five percent Anglican….As a person with a legal background, I work a lot with the church, giving advice and counseling. The women are quite advanced, but they have this taboo of silence. They occupy quite a lot of major posts, but they still fail to talk, fail to come out with the true feeling of what is happening in the country itself. That is why my faith helps me; they need a listening ear and I have become more tolerant as I have gone deeper into the Bible.

“We have some challenges in our health conditions, especially AIDS. We haven’t done very much. We really need more training for people in the church, for our clergy, [in order] to be able to talk to the people. I intend to ask for some help to bring such seminars to the church itself.

“When I came to the UN, I felt very privileged as an Anglican woman to come to such a status. It was beyond my expectation…We find that we are not unique with our little problems as we shared with all the different provinces. We find if we keep the faith of Christ and also if we learn to forgive -- I think this is the basis of all this breakdown. The ground of this is forgiveness. If we learn to forgive, I think we can heal.”

“We as the Anglican women will be able to bring the Anglican Communion together despite all the diverse issues [we have]. This world is difficult; there is very violent environment out there and the devil is always working, but we should try and beat the devil. And bring the union, so that we might go forward in the name of Christ.”

Esperanza Beleo
Diocese of Central Philippines
The Philippine Episcopal Church

“The population is 99 percent below the poverty line.  When we talk of poverty, women are the backbone of this, meaning they are left to tend to everything while husbands, fathers … try to do what they can. So what do they do? They go out, leaving the woman to be the head of the family at home.

“I am talking also about prostitution, worker migration – from education to health issues, it all connects, all involving women and children.

“Yes, we have women legislators, we have women politicians, but if you look at demographics from where these women came, they came from political families, from the rich or landed families. But otherwise women are second class citizens. You have to come from a good school to be able to know your rights. Without that kind of education and training, we are just a silent majority.

“The church has done a lot. There are a lot of self-help programs, livelihood programs, without partnering with the government or other non-government organizations. It has done a good job. But because of the scope of that [need], it’s not enough.

“We have a tendency to be keeping to ourselves. Sometimes when they look at the Episcopal church, they say ‘Oh, that’s the church for the mountain people, or that’s the church for the Chinese. How come they can’t say ‘That’s the church for everybody?’”

The Rev. Bellina Mangena
Diocese of Natal
Church of the Province of Southern Africa

The Rev. Bellina Mangena, a single mother, says a part of her ministry is being a source of hope for her parishioners. She believes that women's issues must take into account the preservation and sustenance of life and that God has a purpose for everybody.

“With the shortage clergy you will find one clergyperson with up to 18 congregations to look after, some of them might worship in church buildings, others in schools and some in peoples’ homes. I have three congregations…

“Women in South Africa are very much in the transitional state, coming out of apartheid and all the repression that there was.  Suddenly there was this new constitution that declares them equal. I think it is as equally difficult for them as it is for the males to accept it.

“Because of the sudden openings of opportunities for women they have accomplished all the self improvement and development as they can and at a much higher pace than men. People say that is why we have some much domestic violence – the men are trying to reassert their manhood, if there is such a thing, by being violent to women.

“The last days have been awesome to say the least. We live with the issues, like AIDS, but we never look at them and talk about them. They are just a way of life. They are part of your life; you never really think of them. You sort of live in your little corner of the world and you think ‘this is it.’

“Being here and meeting people from places like India -- who I did not think were Christian -- it has been quite educational. It says we are many, but we are still one in many ways. Just bringing us here and exposing us, I think, is a big step. “Now it is up to us to go back and to try to fit what we have learned into our various contexts.”