Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Hope House... Starting, Growing, Launching

A few of the ladies...

Jeniffer, who is going to do whole sale supplying

Harriet, who is going to work in a salon

Gertrude, who is opening a boutique

Rose who is going to do tailoring

Kate, who is opening a restaurant


Beatrice, who is opening a small shop


Some of the ladies at my house

Making jewelry at the programs


When we first started the women's programs, to say that it was overwhelming would be well... a lie I suppose. It was scary and frustrating and completely different from any other ministry I had ever done before. I knew it was what God wanted me to do, I loved the women very much, but it was hard. The women were so wounded and disempowered, for them there was no light at the end of the tunnel, so it seemed pointless to try and move forward. 

Over the last two years, I have seen the women go from dying little flowers to blossoming  oak trees. Standing tall, strong, and beautiful.

The women have been saving a lot for the last year and are currently going through saving, business and financial classes 2-3 times a week. This and next week they are learning how to make lotion, notebooks, charcoal from waste materials and soap. Yesterday the women made lotion, they asked a million questions (which the teacher loved) laughed a lot and had a great time. When they were finished, they decided that instead of each of them taking home some free lotion, that they would keep it, create labels for it, and sell it in the village they were going in a group to that weekend. They had already created a business group amongst themselves, had been collecting fees, and had enough to be able to pay the price of creating and printing the labels. Today they brought in their own pictures as well as pictures of their babies to put on the label, they are going to let the graphic designer decide which picture is best. By tomorrow they have a marketable product, they have already sold some of them, and it hasn't yet been 24 hours! 

The women are continuing to sell jewelry (I will be selling it for the next jazillion years so if you want any you can let me know!) and saving for their businesses. In one and a half weeks they are going to officially decide which business that they want to go into (so the above stated businesses may change!). Then each week, they are going to do "assignments" to help them prepare for starting their business so that by the time they graduate in July, they will be ready to rock and roll! 

I am so very proud of our ladies, so proud of them. 

Pslam 103: 1-6
 Praise the Lord, my soul; 
   all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 
Praise the Lord, my soul, 
   and forget not all his benefits— 
 who forgives all your sins 
   and heals all your diseases, 
 who redeems your life from the pit 
   and crowns you with love and compassion, 
 who satisfies your desires with good things 
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness 
   and justice for all the oppressed.


The women are launching from the programs on July 21st. We are going to have a BIG graduation ceremony with guests and certificates, speeches and cake.


Thank you to everyone who has believed in these ladies, prayed for them, purchased or sold their jewelry, we could not do it without you!


Love!

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