FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

Melany Ethridge, (972) 267-1111, [email protected]

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, Aug. 25, 2014 – Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., founder of Hope Through Healing Hands, and Brentwood Baptist Church Senior Pastor Mike Glenn will host a free, public conference on “The Mother & Child Project: Simple Steps to Saving Lives in the Developing World,” at Brentwood Baptist Church on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

Running 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the event is free and open to the public. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. This faith-based conference will host a diverse panel of experts who will discuss how healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies can dramatically improve the health of women and children in the developing world.

Representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other local and national speakers will come together to share their perspectives on global efforts to increase access to health services that save lives. They will lead a robust Q&A session encouraging further discussion, closing with practical ways attendees can get involved to save lives and see families thrive in the developing world.

In addition to Sen. Frist and Pastor Mike Glenn, conference speakers include:

  • Dr. Gary Darmstadt and Tom Walsh, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • James Nardella, Lwala Community Alliance
  • Dr. David Vanderpool, LiveBeyond
  • Lisa Bos, World Vision
  • Rick Carter and Terry Laura, Compassion International
  • Lucas Koach, Food for the Hungry
  • Jenny Eaton Dyer, PhD, Hope Through Healing Hands
  • John Thomas, Living Hope

While the event is free and open to the public, registration is requested by Sept. 18, and more information is available at www.hopethroughhealinghands.org/registration-bbc or by emailing [email protected].

This event follows a recent conversation with community leaders at Belmont University, during which Sen. Frist and Melinda Gates shared their efforts on this issue. Melinda Gates has championed a global movement to provide 120 million women with the tools and services necessary to time and space their pregnancies by 2020, in an effort to improve the health of women and children.

Hope Through Healing Hands’ Faith-based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide seeks to galvanize faith leaders across the U.S. on the issues of maternal, newborn and child health in developing countries. Particular emphases include the benefits of healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, including the voluntary use of methods for preventing pregnancy not including abortion, that are harmonious with members’ unifying values and religious beliefs.

Several faith leaders already involved in this issue have lent their voices to the coalition, and will continue to do so at the upcoming conference. As Pastor Mike Glenn stated, “The Evangelical church is often accused of loving the child and not the mother; but in doing so, we lose God’s mosaic. We believe in ‘Imago Dei,’ the dignity of every human being.”

Information about members of who have joined the coalition to-date, as well as how others can help, is available at http://www.hopethroughhealinghands.org/faith-based-coalition. Endorsements for the coalition are available at http://www.hopethroughhealinghands.org/endorsements.

Hope Through Healing Hands is a Nashville-based 501(C) 3 nonprofit with a mission to promote improved quality of life for citizens and communities around the world using health as a currency for peace. Senator Bill Frist, M.D., is the founder and chair of the organization, and Jenny Eaton Dyer, Ph.D., is the CEO/Executive Director.

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