Since the very first trip I took
to Rwanda in June 2007, God’s vision for True Vineyard Ministries (TVM) has
been about providing sustainability to marginalized widows through
transformation found only in Jesus Christ. Our mission has never changed
although the vehicles of how God expanded the vision has.
I smile at how God used sheep
from the very first time I set my feet in Musanze, Rwanda. Thomas, who is now the Rwanda Country
Director for TVM, was one of my translators on the visionary trip arranged
through World Relief Organization (WRO) by my good friends, Phil and Becca
Smith. On this first trip, Thomas
introduced me to many widows who had no hope. He also introduced me to a flock of sheep
through a livestock-sharing project that WRO had developed through a tiny
Baptist church.
Somewhere in my collection of
dusty Super-8 videotapes is a recording of my very first encounter with Rwandan
sheep. It goes something like this:
Diana: Thomas, what do they
do with these sheep?
Thomas: They eat them!
Diana: Really? You know you can make stuff out of their fur?
Thomas: Oh Diana, you must
find out and tell me how this is done!
Yep, that’s the innocent
conversation that steered our hearts for God to become all about widows, sheep
and yarn! Since then, I’ve leaned on many yarn and wool experts, from natural
dyers to sheep specialists at major universities and even a sheep-shearing champion. God has set many divine appointments along
the way, including a relationship with our partners at KidKnits, who have been
our exclusive customers for marketing the yarn in craft kits for the past 2
years.
Spinning wool into yarn is
the vehicle God has consistently asked us to use to bring about real
transformation and healing to the 35 widows employed full-time by TVM in northern Rwanda. It has equipped them with a rare skill that has allowed them a
way to provide for themselves and their families and take a turn away from
poverty. However, the success of our program is owed to God only. It is for his glorification that we exist,
and I believe this is why he continues to enlarge our territory.
Now, God is asking TVM to
trust him again as we begin to create a broader market for this incredible
yarn. We believe the yarn will be
another way of reaching others with stories of the amazing life transformations
God is doing in Rwanda. This fall, we are thrilled to announce that our
Handspun Hope project will expand, and TVM will directly market a variety of
different gauged yarns more suitable for crocheting and knitting! These yarns
will be available online and through our fair trade store, The Vineyard
Marketplace in San Marcos, TX.
We ask for your continued
prayers for our organization and for God to richly impact those that True Vineyard
Ministries is serving.
Be blessed!
Diana Wiley
Executive Director
