Over 300 Heads Covered with Handmade Hats

This cute trio are just a few of the over 300 people of San Vicente who received hats during the last few weeks.

+The 150+ kindergarten students and teachers

+Over 75 kids at a local feeding program

+Over 75 sewing class participants and their children.

Thank you to all who knit and crochet all year to bless so many in Mexico during the winter season.

Learning New Ways to Reach Out by Lori

One goal that Chris and I have is to disciple Christians here in San Vicente in reaching out to their neighbors. With that goal in mind, I gathered several of my Christian sewing students during Nov. to share how the community wide sewing classes could be used as a vehicle to launch new friendships and draw people into God’s kingdom. Each of them expressed that the importance of evangelism is stressed at church, but the specifics of “HOW” has eluded them. So, we spent some time talking about “friendship evangelism” and building new relationships outside of the church setting, being sensitive to the Lord’s leading, and looking for people who God is drawing to himself. I shared how wonderful it is for us to be able to work alongside of our Heavenly Father when He is working in people’s lives.  We closed with a time of prayer for the upcoming classes and asked the Lord to bring new people.

Four ladies accepted the responsibility of assisting me during the next week’s sewing classes with each lady committing to helping for a full day of morning and afternoon classes. Each took a few invites or posters with the task of connecting with new people.  Wow! The Lord answered our prayer with 13 brand new students just on Monday. Then word spread and before week’s end, 24 new students had come to learn how to sew by creating Christmas wreaths, stockings and table runners. Most of the new students had no experience with a sewing machine so it was wonderful to have a “helper” teaching the basics and sharing stories of going from no knowledge of sewing to having their very own sewing businesses. This was an encouragement to those who were struggling at mastering just sewing a straight line. But the real win was seeing my team of shy ladies reaching past their comfort zones in order to connect with new students and begin friendships. They sacrificed working on their own projects so that they could spend time ministering to the community at large. What a blessing they were. I’m looking forward to seeing new fruit during the coming months. Join us in praying that the seeds that were planted will have fallen on fertile soil.

Nighttime sewing projects by Lori

The nights in San Vicente can become quite long especially once fall comes around. There's no T.V. at our home and entertainment in the small community is VERY limited. A couple of evenings a week, there are church services, visiting friends or other ministry opportunities. Often there's prep to do for the following day like creating patterns or sewing up samples. But, sometimes I enjoy kicking back and doing a little sewing for our grandchildren. Hope they like their new treasures.

Bookbags

Siblings, Yazmin and Yoni were all smiles when they finished their bookbags just in time for the new school year. Aug. has become my yearly sewing course focused on creating organizational tools for school including bookbags, backpacks, and pencil cases. It is also a time when I have more newbies in the 10-12 age range. Yazmin, Yoni, and a neighbor that they invited did great with their first projects, started with hair scrunchies then onto their bookbags.

Electricity Support

Machine motors were whirling during my two weeks in Mexico during July. My calendar was filled with ladies coming and going all day to both cut out and sew new projects. Two of the ladies do not have electricity in their homes. So, when I'm in town they make the most of their time and my electricity to move forward on creating products to sell. It gets a little cozy in our house with two tables set up for cutting as well as 2-3 machines for sewing.

Table of Honor

One never knows what you'll be asked to do. The plan was to sit in the crowd that had gathered to celebrate the graduation of three courses, tailoring, cake decorating, and hair styling. Five of my sewing students had completed their classes and I wanted to cheer their accomplishment. Upon arrival, the government official requested that I sit at the "Table of Honor" to accompany the instructor of the tailoring class being I have invested years of teaching the ladies to sew before they entered into the tailoring course. I thought, guess I can do that. Little did I know that the official, Ramon, would also ask each of the teachers to share in front of the group about their experience and about their students. I'm pretty comfortable speaking Spanish one-on-one or in a small group (if I have time to prep), but, just cold, not so much. Stretched again! It was wonderful to be able to hand out certificates to all the students and congratulate them on their perseverance. Glad I wore a skirt and collared top.

Graduation of Tailoring Class

How exciting to see 5 students from my sewing classes graduating from a first level tailoring class held in San Vicente. Several months ago, I became privy to a government program that taught the basic skills to sew simple clothes without the use of patterns. It has been my desire for the ladies involved in the micro enterprises to learn this but, wasn't in my knowledge base. After talking with the DIF (a program for families) official, I was able to secure spaces for the ladies in the 15 classes. Well, in June the completed their classes and received their certificates with lots of excitement. I'm so proud that they made the commitment and followed through.