Six Ways to Shame Your Mother

–– Paul Schlehlein

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

A Puritan once said that some parents, like Eli, bring up their children, to bring down their house. In other words, some parents, like Eli, just don’t know how to parent and they pay the price.

Proverbs 10:1 says: “A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.”

This got me thinking. Where are the best and worst places in the world to be a mom? Global Citizen says it’s Somalia because over 5% of the mothers die of maternal-related complications and 15% of the children don’t make it to their fifth birthday. 

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Hope for Single Moms

– Paul Schlehlein

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As the family goes, so goes society. As the father goes, so goes the family. God made fathers the leaders of the home. They lead, provide and protect.

God chose Abraham, not his wife Sarah, to command his children to obey the Bible and do right (Gn. 18:19). The Psalmist urges fathers not to hide the truth from their children (Ps. 78:3-6). Ephesians 6:4 implores fathers to teach their children early and often.

So what are mothers to do when they have children but no father at home? This is not unusual. Almost a quarter of children under the age of 18 in the US live with one parent. Nearly a third of women in Sub-Sahara Africa between the ages of 18-60 are single with children in the household. 

Maybe her husband died, or took off, or is gone all the time for work? What hope do single mothers have that their children will end up godly? Where can they go for confidence that their children can thrive in adulthood?

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TARIF: Sorry Benin, Legalizing Abortion Won’t Make Things Safer

The Africa Review in Five highlights African current affairs from a Christian perspective. Listen and subscribe through Youtube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Today is Friday, August 25th, A.D. 2023. This is The Africa Review in Five, written by Paul Schlehlein and presented by Yamikani Katunga.

Sorry Benin, Legalizing Abortion Won’t Make Things Safer

A recent article in the Guardian tells of a gynaecologist in Benin and the journey that led her to push for abortion rights in her country. As the story goes, a young pregnant lady had come to her for the abortion of her unwanted baby. At the time, most abortions were illegal in the country of Benin, so the young gynaecologist urged the girl to keep the baby. 

Some days later the doctor saw the young girl again and discovered that she had performed a secret abortion, most likely through pills or bleach or some other “unimaginable and inhumane method”. Not only was the baby dead. The mother was near death herself. 

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