Merry Christmas!

True Vineyard Ministries has had an astonishing year as we continued answering the call of the Bible to serve widows and abandoned women in Northern Rwanda. God’s healing is evidenced in their relationships with one another, their children and with Jesus Christ.

The 44 women who currently work for True Vineyard Ministries create Handspun Hope, high-quality yarn and products crafted from the wool of our own flock of Merino sheep. The products are then marketed in the U.S. to socially-responsible business partners. The women are paid an above fair-wage salary and are provided with healthcare and school fees for the children under their care. This year, True Vineyard has assisted in the education of 96 children, by providing tuition, uniforms and materials. Additionally, the women are offered individual counseling due to each having varied degrees of loss and suffering from extreme poverty and ethnic-based violence.

In 2015 we implemented a microfinance program to encourage the women to dream big and plan for long-term financial freedom. Our hope is that the ministry can become a springboard for launching qualified women into their own businesses, while bringing other women into the fold of transformational employment. For many of our ladies who still suffer from Post Traumatic Stress due to genocide, HIV and debilitating poverty, this concept has sometimes been difficult to grasp. However, through these loans, entrepreneurial leadership is being cultivated among the first courageous borrowers.

Daphrose, a single mother employed by True Vineyard, dreamed of owning her own cow and selling milk. In March she applied for a microfinance loan to purchase her first cow and began selling milk to her neighbors. Her motivation to be successful has led her to grow her business to assist in providing milk to a local school.

Thanks to the funds Jacqueline borrowed from the microfinance program, she bought a piece of land where she is growing potatoes and beans that she can sell. With her profits she has been able to repair the roof of her house and purchase beds for her four children.

During 2015 we saw tremendous progress on our new workspace, Gihunga Center, in Rwanda. Construction has continued during the dry seasons as finances have permitted. In approximately 60 days, construction will be completed and the ladies can finally relocate to their new workspace. The beautiful new center, complete with gazebos and wool-washing stations, will provide closer proximity to most of the ladies’ homes, allowing for more quality time with their children. Ample space will also allow us to begin hiring more impoverished women in need of steady employment.

One of the greatest ways we saw God advancing our ministry in 2015 was stateside with the relocation of Vineyard Marketplace, our fair-trade African boutique. Moving into a high-traffic area allowed us to significantly increase the financial impact to our artisan partners across Africa, comprised mostly of widows and single mothers. Through Vineyard Marketplace, we are financially supporting thousands of artisans though the purchase of ethically-sourced products. Paying fair prices allow these artisans to feed their families, and in most cases, educate their children.

God has done incredible things through True Vineyard Ministries throughout 2015. I’ve witnessed lives transformed, hearts healed and promising futures created for Rwandan mothers and their children. These critical accomplishments absolutely could not be done without financially compassionate partners.

As we prepare to move into our new building and increase the number of widows and abandoned women we employ, please prayerfully consider partnering with us in 2016 through a monthly widow sponsorship or year-end gift. Hope is on the rise in Rwanda but we deeply desire to see more lives transformed. The hope you give when you partner with us will support innovation, unification, healing, education and health. Please join us by being a Hope Giver to even more women in 2016.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire True Vineyard Ministries team I wish you a very Merry Christmas. May it truly be a season of hope and peace.

Blessings,


Diana Wiley

Executive Director

Vineyard Marketplace - Now Online!

The new Vineyard Marketplace has launched online! Please consider shopping with us this Christmas and help us assist the artisans and other organizations we support in 11 African nations! Visit us at www.vineyardmarketplace.org or through the Marketplace tab at the top of our website. Give gifts that truly impact our world and give jobs to thousands across Africa! #ShopForGood #GiftForGood

Christmastime Trunkshow - November 17

Please join us as Vineyard Marketplace presents the 9th Annual Christmastime Trunkshow on Tuesday, November 17 from 5:30-9 PM. The show will support the work of True Vineyard Ministries and thousands of artisans we support through fair trade. https://www.facebook.com/events/480548818782703

Come Celebrate with True Vineyard and Vineyard Marketplace!

Please join the True Vineyard Ministries' team as we celebrate and consecrate the opening of our new Vineyard Marketplace location at 6:00 PM on Friday, September 11! On Saturday, September 12, join us anytime from 9:00 AM until 9:00 PM for our Grand Opening! We are located at
3946 S IH 35, Exit 200 - directly across from Starbuck's! #ShopForGood

Vineyard Marketplace Update

Thank you for patiently waiting as we prepare for the opening of our new Vineyard Marketplace location. We are hoping to open our doors in the very near future. Additionally, we have postponed our Grand Opening celebration and community blessing to September 11 and 12, 2015.

 In conjunction with the opening of our new location, we will be rolling out a brand new online e-commerce site to make it easier for you to Shop For Good!

 Thank you again for your patience and your tremendous support. We look forward to celebrating with you very soon!


Cultivating the Kingdom

As you may be aware, True Vineyard Ministries is in a period of great transition.  We are expectant of all God will do in the coming months to further His work stateside, in Rwanda, and across Africa.  Thank you in advance for reading what is ahead for our organization as we seek to partner with you to further His Kingdom in Africa.

In Rwanda, the rainy season has just ended. We are currently in the last phase of construction for our new facility, being built on land we purchased in June 2008. We expect construction of our new facility, called Gihunga Center, “meaning to cultivate, to be completed by the beginning of the next rainy season, which begins in September.  The new center, complete with wool washing stations and gazebos will be the new worksite for the 44 widows we serve. Our ability to help more widows overcome extreme poverty is being directly impacted by the limited workspace at our current office. Located in a government-designed neighborhood for widows and orphan-headed households, the new site is prime real estate for hiring more women who have been made vulnerable by HIV, genocide, and subsequent civil wars.

At home, our fair-trade boutique, Vineyard Marketplace, is also in transition. We began our move from its original location in May with big plans on the horizon for August.

The marketplace has become a very important branch of our ministry, easily supporting over 1,000 artisans in eleven African nations. Impacting organizations that are comprised of mostly single mothers, Vineyard Marketplace has become the source by which these artisans are paid fairly for their incredible craftsmanship. This allows for fair wages so these artisans can feed their families, and in most cases, educate their children.

Recently, we came to the realization that the demands of our orders were too much for a cooperative of women that make our silk scarves in Central Madagascar. Through our conversations with their director, we learned some of the embroidery work was being outsourced to women in a local prison. These women can now be paid and take care of their children on the “outside”. God is revealing how much He cares about all of these groups and how He is using us to further the Gospel in places we would have never dreamed.

In preparation for the opening of our new store, we are expecting our sales to increase dramatically. Therefore, we prayerfully decided to ship a container of new product from Kenya to the Port of Houston in early August. This 20-foot container will be full of fairly traded goods representing organizations in Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Madagascar.

Without our store fully functioning for the next eight weeks, it will be a challenge to raise the funds needed to complete construction and ship our container of product. Therefore, I am humbly asking for you to pray for us and consider a financial contribution to True Vineyard Ministries, which will help us through this exciting transitional time. A gift of any amount is greatly appreciated and can be given online at truevineyard.org or mailed to our new mailing address, below.

True Vineyard Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 1962
San Marcos, TX 78667

On Friday, August 21 at 6:00 PM, please join me at our brand new store behind Centerpoint Station and across IH 35 from the outlet malls, in San Marcos. God’s fingerprints have been all over our journey to this new location and I look forward to sharing the story at this private time of blessing before our Grand Opening at 9:00 AM on August 22.


Blessings,

Diana Wiley

Executive Director



Have You Heard? Vineyard Marketplace is Moving!

Have you heard? Vineyard Marketplace is moving! We are so excited to announce the location of our new store at IH-35, Exit 200 behind Centerpoint Station and across from Starbucks Coffee in San Marcos, Texas.
For the past six years we have been operating Vineyard Marketplace on San Antonio Street in San Marcos. We will be closing our doors for business at the San Antonio Street location on Friday, May 29th. We are thrilled that God is expanding our marketplace operations and increasing the reach of our ministry by planting us in a new location.
The ministry and mission of True Vineyard are based on providing holistic support to Africa’s most vulnerable. Our objective is to empower Africa’s poorest through job creation, community building, and spiritual counsel. Through our “Shop for Good” concept, Vineyard Marketplace achieves the mission of True Vineyard Ministries by directly supporting the work of artisan cooperatives in eleven different African nations. Our buying practices follow fair trade principles and support more than 500 African artisans. “Shop for Good” means that through every purchase made at Vineyard Marketplace a consumer is sowing into the life of an artisan working in Africa. Many of our artisan partners are single mothers struggling to provide for the basic needs of their children. Some are young women working to put themselves through a trade school, while others are outcasts overcoming stigmas and adversities because they are living with HIV/AIDS. Through working relationships with these artisans, we are able to share the powerful message of Jesus Christ and experience His kingdom transformation in the lives of many. We envision Africa’s most vulnerable people transformed into healthy, prosperous, and collaborative communities of social change through Jesus Christ.
Come visit us at our new location (IH 35, Exit 200) opening mid June. Stay tuned for details regarding our grand opening events, giveaways, and in-store promotions!

Lastly, enjoy buy one product; get two free at our San Antonio Street location until May 29th! Come by and pay us one last before we move to our exciting new place.