When Charlie’s wife and two other ladies came to our introductory meeting on the simple clay and brick veranda of his home, they could not understand that they would not have to pay for the learning or the supplies. They kept doubting until we told them that we believe Jesus loves them and that there are lots of people in America who believe the same thing. Because we believe in Jesus, we want to help them shine like the people God made them to be.
We gave the ladies a week to chew on the idea of skills training and to decide exactly what they thought their community could most benefit from. We also prayed over the 100 Christmas Dollies event for full funding of the project. While we’re 73% funded at present, we’re believing in faith that we will not only be fully funded but that we’ll have more than 100 dollies sponsored as a means to help Charlie expand his business as well.
A touch-base meeting with Charlie revealed that tailoring was the first choice for skills development. We made a plan to return to the community for a bigger group meeting and I gave Charlie an assignment.
Charlie cannot be the leader of this project lest he neglect his current income generating responsibilities so he needs to talk with the three ladies about their leadership role in this project. Then the ladies need to identify the teacher and discuss the terms of the teaching agreement. They need to identify the materials needed to begin, the guidelines for group management, and some goals. So much goes into beginning a community-wide project and these ladies will need to be the leaders of that initiative.
Our next meeting is scheduled for a date that allows the ladies to do the prework needed to answer all the questions. When we meet, I’ll have a time with the leadership group first and then we’ll gather the community participants for a project launch meeting. I’m excited about what God will do in this community not only in terms of growing relationships with him, but also in terms of skills development, leadership, critical thinking, creativity, and resourcefulness.
If you’d like to help 73 other people reach the 100 Christmas Dollies goal, click here and make your tax deductible donation now.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Ecc 9:10).