Project Colombia

Helping people doesn’t make me feel good about myself.  It doesn’t make me happy. It doesn’t make me feel like a better person.  It doesn’t make me feel like I’m making the world a better place.  It doesn’t do any of these things for me because at the bottom of it all I’m a pretty selfish person.  I think we all are.  I’d much prefer to live my life and not worry about anyone else’s.  I think we all would, and sometimes I think we all do.  But I can hear my heart beating.  I can hear their hearts beating.  I can hear the human noise we are making though none of us are speaking or moving. And I am compelled by the Compassion and Love that flows through my veins to ease the suffering I see all around me. This is why I help people.

I was at my lowest point 3 months ago, staring into the face of my biggest failure, lost in the depths of my hopeless, aching soul.  I stood facing the mirror, watching all my dreams crumble like a sandcastle against the waves.  But something happened. Something that I can’t explain happened: Love came down. Love pressed his wounded hands against my broken chest.

I began to feel things again.  Things I feared were lost for good.  Things like hope, and love, and faith.

It started out as thought, and then grew into an idea, which then turned into a vision.

I had found some army green canvas material and out of sheer boredom on my day off, with just a hand needle and some thread, I turned it into a trendy tote bag.  After seeing the result, I decided I liked sewing.  So I bought a sewing machine and more materials to work with and began to make more bags. I now had a hobby, but what was I going to do with all these bags?

Then I had an idea: If I were to get better at sewing, I could then teach women in poor countries how to make trendy bags that will sell not only in their own countries but in the more lucrative Western markets. I could create a website with their pictures, their stories, and the merchandise that they have made, so that the people who are buying their products can know that by purchasing a bag or ten they are supporting and lifting women out of poverty. I know the idea isn’t original and that many businesses and non-profits are doing the same thing, but poverty is far reaching and there are never enough hands to help.

So here is my plan:  I am starting a non-profit.  I’m starting this non-profit in Medellin, Colombia –a country that has a piece of my heart in more ways than one. As the organization grows I want to take it across the ocean to other places to other people, like the Syrian Refugees.

 

My Vision is for a location, a room, a space filled with sewing machines, tables and fabrics, where women can come to learn and sew.

My Heart is to provide a job for women who would otherwise be forced by poverty into desperate situations like prostitution.  It is also to help women currently working in prostitution.  (Here’s a link to some information on prostitution in Colombia: http://colombiajournal.org/combating-child-prostitution-in-colombia.htm)

My Desire is deeper than simply lifting people out of poverty; it is to show them that when it appears that the whole world has forgotten them, Jesus has not.  That there is a Love that is stronger than death and Hope that is brighter than any darkness and pain we have encountered in our lives.

My Objective is to simply have no objective when it comes to helping these women.  I’m simply here to help them and to show them Love.

Behind all this there are practical steps I am taking to get the non-profit off the ground. I’m also linking up with an old teammate from the World Race and we are collaborating on the idea.

 

All bags are available for pre-order –however certain bags may be limited because the materials were one of a kind.  The prices range from $50-65 — all profits go towards start up costs.