Exciting News!

It is so great to be able to write you today with some very exciting news! I hope you will be as thrilled as I am for the women of True Vineyard Ministries and for the progress that is being made in Rwanda!

For over a year, I have been working closely with the Corporate Social Responsibility division of Kate Spade & Company in New York. Our management team has worked very meticulously to improve the quality of our yarn and bring it to the standard of excellence for which Kate Spade & Company is known.

Several months ago Kate Spade & Company started their own cooperative in Rwanda, employing 150 artisans in Masoro, Rwanda. At the beginning of May, their organization launched their On Purpose brand, promoting products made by the artisans of Masoro. The goal of this new initiative is to develop a viable resource for their organization while promoting artisans in Rwanda. Women employed through this program will be knitting hats and scarves out of our high-quality Merino yarn beginning later this month. The first of these products will hit the shelves of Jack Spade, their men's line and brand store, for Holiday 2014!

This is especially exciting for both organizations, as this partnership will allow Kate Spade & Company to produce their first products completely sourced in Rwanda! They have done similar projects in Bosnia and Afghanistan, but all raw materials were imported from China, as are all the other materials for products currently being assembled in Rwanda for On Purpose. It is a huge step for Kate Spade & Company and a very exciting time for us. We are confident that this will be an ongoing and growing relationship as we begin to create yarn for their other brands. Additionally, this project is already driving other organizations to seek True Vineyard as a raw materials source in Rwanda! We have seen and felt the hand of God's guidance all the way through this process.

It is very exciting to announce that this order created a need for us to employ 7 more widows - a new total of 44 women and their children being served by True Vineyard Ministries. As you can imagine, employing a total of 44 women in the space where we originally employed 10 is challenging. We cannot wait to move into our new workspace, Gihunga Center, in Susa Village!

In a few weeks, a team of 19 people (our largest team ever) will be traveling to Rwanda where, God willing, we will see the completion of construction for Gihunga Center. We are looking forward to a day in the near future when we can finally move operations to our very own property. The team will be working with local workers on the construction of a large gazebo and beatification of the grounds at the new center. The women love to work outside, and we want their new center to be a beautiful and aesthetically peaceful place to come to work. I know the team would covet your prayers as they are preparing for their journey.

I am also seeking prayers over a growing issue we are seeing with some of our women.

When we first began our work in Rwanda, we built 10 houses for 10 widows. As God opened up the opportunity to hire more women, we made the decision that it was more important to employ as many as we could rather than employ a few and build them houses. While we have no regrets about this decision, we are seeing a developing issue-unsafe living conditions for many of our ladies.

Our focus has always been about empowering the women we employ to take care of themselves and their families. However, due to some challenges and government building restrictions for new homes in Rwanda, this has become an extremely difficult task. Would you pray with us as we seek wisdom over this issue?

Lastly, I would like to tell you about a very exciting guest we have visiting us this fall. Immaculée Ilibagiza, New York Times best-selling author of Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Genocide will be in Austin and San Antonio, respectively on September 6 and 7 for two very special speaking engagements for True Vineyard Ministries. Immaculée hid and survived for 91 days inside a tiny bathroom with 7 other women during the horrific 1994 Rwandan Genocide. I encourage you to read her book and join us in September. Tickets will go on saleJuly 1 through our website at truevineyard.org.
 
Thank you very much for your continued prayers. We are grateful.

Diana Wiley
Executive Director

Exciting News!

It is so great to be able to write you today with some very exciting news! I hope you will be as thrilled as I am for the women of True Vineyard Ministries and for the progress that is being made in Rwanda!

For over a year, I have been working closely with the Corporate Social Responsibility division of Kate Spade & Company in New York. Our management team has worked very meticulously to improve the quality of our yarn and bring it to the standard of excellence for which Kate Spade & Company is known.

Several months ago Kate Spade & Company started their own cooperative in Rwanda, employing 150 artisans in Masoro, Rwanda. At the beginning of May, their organization launched their On Purpose brand, promoting products made by the artisans of Masoro. The goal of this new initiative is to develop a viable resource for their organization while promoting artisans in Rwanda. Women employed through this program will be knitting hats and scarves out of our high-quality Merino yarn beginning later this month. The first of these products will hit the shelves of Jack Spade, their men's line and brand store, for Holiday 2014!

This is especially exciting for both organizations, as this partnership will allow Kate Spade & Company to produce their first products completely sourced in Rwanda! They have done similar projects in Bosnia and Afghanistan, but all raw materials were imported from China, as are all the other materials for products currently being assembled in Rwanda for On Purpose. It is a huge step for Kate Spade & Company and a very exciting time for us. We are confident that this will be an ongoing and growing relationship as we begin to create yarn for their other brands. Additionally, this project is already driving other organizations to seek True Vineyard as a raw materials source in Rwanda! We have seen and felt the hand of God's guidance all the way through this process.

It is very exciting to announce that this order created a need for us to employ 7 more widows - a new total of 44 women and their children being served by True Vineyard Ministries. As you can imagine, employing a total of 44 women in the space where we originally employed 10 is challenging. We cannot wait to move into our new workspace, Gihunga Center, in Susa Village!

In a few weeks, a team of 19 people (our largest team ever) will be traveling to Rwanda where, God willing, we will see the completion of construction for Gihunga Center. We are looking forward to a day in the near future when we can finally move operations to our very own property. The team will be working with local workers on the construction of a large gazebo and beatification of the grounds at the new center. The women love to work outside, and we want their new center to be a beautiful and aesthetically peaceful place to come to work. I know the team would covet your prayers as they are preparing for their journey.

I am also seeking prayers over a growing issue we are seeing with some of our women.

When we first began our work in Rwanda, we built 10 houses for 10 widows. As God opened up the opportunity to hire more women, we made the decision that it was more important to employ as many as we could rather than employ a few and build them houses. While we have no regrets about this decision, we are seeing a developing issue-unsafe living conditions for many of our ladies.

Our focus has always been about empowering the women we employ to take care of themselves and their families. However, due to some challenges and government building restrictions for new homes in Rwanda, this has become an extremely difficult task. Would you pray with us as we seek wisdom over this issue?

Lastly, I would like to tell you about a very exciting guest we have visiting us this fall. Immaculée Ilibagiza, New York Times best-selling author of Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Genocide will be in Austin and San Antonio, respectively on September 6 and 7 for two very special speaking engagements for True Vineyard Ministries. Immaculée hid and survived for 91 days inside a tiny bathroom with 7 other women during the horrific 1994 Rwandan Genocide. I encourage you to read her book and join us in September. Tickets will go on saleJuly 1 through our website at truevineyard.org.
 
Thank you very much for your continued prayers. We are grateful.

Diana Wiley
Executive Director