We have been hearing a heartbreakingly familiar refrain over the last few weeks.

BRING BACK OUR GIRLS.

We’ve hashtagged it, shared images, prayed over the names of the nearly 300 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls, called for action, wept over the feeling of helplessness.  And yet, 37 days after they were kidnapped, these precious children are still gone. Their mama’s arms are still empty.

We ache when we look at those names because of who they are, but also because we know who they represent. We know that the global suffering of our sisters, of women and girls all over the world, is staggering.

In response to the Nigerian girls’ kidnapping, our Love Partners, Church World Service, put out this statement:

“We note with gratitude the grass-roots rallies throughout the world calling for action and showing support for the girls and their grieving families. We note, too, the depth of understanding much of the world has now about the realities and challenges faced by girls and women in many parts of the world. As a humanitarian organization whose work supports the equality and advancement for girls and women, we join our voice to those saying, “Bring Back Our Girls!”

I’ve learned that there is an expression in the development community called the “invisible thread.” When a society should be collapsing, when a country’s situation is so poor and the lack of resources so vast that existence seems impossible, people still survive. Why? Because of The Invisible Thread. A woman will go without food if it means that her children will eat. She will work as many jobs as possible to bring home food or income. In short, she will do whatever it takes to keep her family alive. The love of women is the invisible thread. Women are the thread that holds society together.

Some years ago, the women in a small rural community in West Africa reached out to CWS with a need. The staple food in the region is a grain called millet, and the women were spending hours each day hand-grinding millet to make food.  Would CWS be able to purchase a $5000 millet-grinding machine so that the woman’s days would be freed up for more productive pursuits?

And yes, of course, CWS agreed to purchase the machine, because they are in the business of strengthening thread. And with that machine’s installation the millet-grinding process went from taking the women hours each day to taking only a few minutes.

Now, instead of days spent grinding millet, the women of the community are invited to take part in CWS-funded literacy programs.  Income-generating projects are paired with education, and the women are learning reading and math as they are coached about how to start their own small businesses.

Suddenly these mamas have life-giving choices to make, all due to a simple machine and some training classes. To raise animals to sell milk? Or to grow watermelons or to make soap?  Freedom and choices and life.

The women are proud of their progress and love to share excitedly about their work with community visitors.  And as they share their children gather round and listen close, taking in their mothers’ accomplishments. The invisible thread is suddenly VISIBLE.

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Tonight I am going to tell Chase and the girls about that West African community and ask them to imagine it with me.  What it would be like to spend most of our days occupied with tasks of survival?  What would they want me to do if I was one of those mamas?  And what do Tish and Amma think it would be like to grow up on a place where some people believe that they are less valuable than their brother?  I have a feeling my little firecrackers are going to have A LOT to say about that one.

And tonight I am also going to tell my kids that there are thread strengtheners all over the world, and that we can join them. That despite All Evidence to the Contrary, All Will Be Well.  And that, as Dr. King has taught us, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

That Love Will ALWAYS Win.

We will keep chanting to #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS.  We will continue to pray, and advocate, and gather our strength and our voices to speak for the millions of women and children who cannot speak for themselves.

We are not helpless. We are not hopeless. We, too, are in the business of strengthening thread.

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** As part of an awareness campaign to recognize the equal humanity of women, the CWS Office in South Asia put out a poster with these words- “Women’s Rights are Human Rights.”  As soon as the poster was released, regional CWS staff members were in danger. The South Asia Director and his family received death threats and demands to rescind such a radical statement.  But CWS staff members are thread strengtheners. They would not be moved.

Click here for more stories about CWS’s work to educate and empower women.

Author of the New York Times Bestselling Memoir CARRY ON, WARRIOR
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