More of Handspun Hope

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