Hope Awakens

God continues to blow me away how He has taken my purchase of 100 bags to start a scholarship fund to now, four months later having faces of the precious women selected for the scholarship funds on the pages of this blog!

Faithful Friend


I am forever grateful to Cyrus Mad-Bondo the Director of Africa for World Help for many reasons.
1. He was willing to haul 100 bags through Rwanda and Uganda and clear customs with them and send them to me in Florida.
2. He met with the 9 women we have scholarship money for to record their stories and pictures so we could put names and faces to our prayers.
3. He knew my heart was to help these women earn a living so he has been diligent in finding alternatives for the women who due to lack of education did not qualify to go to vocational school. He is resilient!


Hope Awakens
God has created us to have hope. For those who know Christ we have an eternal hope which is a promise. While on earth, those of us in the United States for the most part have grown up with hopes and dreams of having a good life. We envision living in a house, driving a nice car, having a family, and taking vacations.

For the women of the Blessed Mango Tree Church, outside of their hope in Christ, their one hope is to provide for their family each day. As I read the stories Cyrus recorded from the 9 women, I am humbled. The women asked Cyrus why there was interest in them? They shared others had come before and promised to help, took down their stories but never heard from them again.

Cyrus shared there were people in the United States that cared for them and wanted to help them have a better life; people committed to helping them. I was saddened to learn many of the women that had been approved by Pastor Nathan and his assistant were not eligible for the school because they could not read. Before I could respond to that, Cyrus shared he was working on options to use the scholarship money earmarked for them ($700 a woman) to help them provide for their family - for most it looks like live stock.

I was thrilled that Cyrus had already moved to the solution phase for the women unable to go to school. Vocational school is a great opportunity but the purpose of the scholarship was to give the women a skill so they could earn an income to provide for their family. I am excited we can still help these women have a way to support their family and it is my hope we will continue to raise money to allow these women the opportunity if they desire, to get an education so they can read.

Some of the women who qualified for school asked if it would be okay if they wanted to study something other than sewing. I was thrilled to know that hope was coming alive – they were able to see the dreams that they had stuffed deep down inside could come out and be a reality!

Helping
How you can help these women and the other women who have been approved for scholarships? You can provide a donation in exchange for a bag that was made by the women at the Anglican Vocational School. 100% of what you donate goes to the scholarship fund. A minimum of $20 donation is requested per bag.

If you would just like to make a donation, you can send it directly to World Help at the following address:
World Help
Attn Cyrus Mad-Bondo
PO Box 501
Forest Hill, VA 24551
Note on your check – Blessed Mango Tree Scholarship Fund


How to get your bag (s)
If you are local, I will bring them to wherever you are as well as I well have a basket of them at church. If you would like me to mail them to you, please send me an email. Each bag has a hangtag explaining the hope each donation brings to the Women of the Blessed Mango Tree Church.

Bag Patterns
There are 5 patterns and all have the zipper closure and two side pockets. They patterns are pictured below.



Do What You Can Do
I reflect back on what the Bishop of Rwanda said, “Do what you can do”. I had no idea when I felt God saying buy 100 bags that today there would be 9 women who would have hope awaken and see what was once a dream become a reality. They know they are not forgotten, that God is watching over them and is using the love of people on the other side of the world to encourage them.

There are still 4 more women we desire to get started, we have the funds for two and need the funds for two more. It is also my desire to give the Vocational School Seed money so they can have bags made up in advance. That means we have at least $2500 to raise as well . We will need additional funds if we hope to help those who did not have appropriate education have the opportunity to go back to school as time allows.

James 1:27 – True religion that God our Father says is pure and faultless is this – take care of the widows and orphans in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
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