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
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