On the final leg of my trip home, I had a layover in Charlotte. Realizing I was in need of a very strong lip balm I stopped in the Body Shop. I had my handbag and one of the women asked me about it. She new it was an African print and shared her family was from the Congo and she so wanted to buy some bags. I shared the history behind the bags and that I would be exchanging bags for donations to a scholarship fund for the school. She took down my email and she has been patiently waiting for me to get this post up so she can place an order.
Shipping the bags wasn’t in my initial plan but I LOVE the thought of the story being told in locations outside of Florida. The encounter was truly of God and I took it as a sign that God was in this project.
About the Bags
Women at the Anglican Vocational School sewed the bags. The women in the class for the most part are widows and have to support a family. The goal of the school is to help the women learn a skill that will allow them to provide for their family.
Ensuring women are trained in a skill and able to provide for their family is a key defense against human trafficking. When a family is able to meet their own needs, they are not at risk to fall prey to someone who offers to “help”.
For a minimum of $20 you will receive a bag of your choice. For each donation, $10 will go into the Vocational School Scholarship Fund to be established at the Church of the Blessed Mango Tree.
The bags have a zipper closure and there are two pockets sewn inside (big enough to hold cell phones).
Bags will have a hangtag sharing the history of the bag to create more awareness.
How to Order
If you are in West Palm Beach, you can come on by and shop directly or I am willing to complete the exchange at CF City Place after the 9 am service and before the 10:30 am service.
For those out of town, I am willing to ship for an additional fee of $6 for orders of 3 or more handbags.
There are 10 designs and each one has a number. Please send your order to jmlangwpb@gmail.com. If you want to drop by this weekend I will be home for those local.
Isaiah 61
Isaiah 61 is the name I am putting on the hangtag. That passage of Scripture went through my head while I was in Rwanda and believe it is a story of hope amidst trials and hardship.
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a] 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. 5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. 6 And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. 7 Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. 8 “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.” 10 I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
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