Dave and I just arrived back to the West after a three and a half week vision trip around Thailand and Cambodia. We 
frequented the red light districts on outreach, toured several ministries that work with exploited women and children and met many new friends with a passion to help the lost. Many times we are asked “So what do you do?” and when we share with them our dream about helping free women through business, many ears perk up and people want to help make this dream become a reality. You may be thinking yourself, what dream world are the Hoogs living in with their world travels, their time at G42 and this recent vision trip to Thailand. Allow me to share our vision.
frequented the red light districts on outreach, toured several ministries that work with exploited women and children and met many new friends with a passion to help the lost. Many times we are asked “So what do you do?” and when we share with them our dream about helping free women through business, many ears perk up and people want to help make this dream become a reality. You may be thinking yourself, what dream world are the Hoogs living in with their world travels, their time at G42 and this recent vision trip to Thailand. Allow me to share our vision.
We have a vision to help support organizations who work to employ exploited women and children through selling their fair trade, stylish products. We spent over three weeks visiting a dozen of non-profit and fair trade organizations who employ at risk women, minority people from remote villages and those with various handicaps and we proposed to them our help with new designs. Our goal is to redesign these “ethnic” products to make them appealing to a stylish, fashionable Western consumer (aka. YOU!). Take this baby bag on the left. This is the only one out of ten bags, that in my opinion, were even remotely appealing. Still, it did not have a changing pad or other necessary items that make a baby bag both practical and appealing. They were open to our ideas for redesign. We want these women to feel pride in their work and know it is going to a real business, not just charity because people in the West feel sympathy towards their former plight. We want to set at-risk women free through design. We want to bring professional designers, clothes makers and jewelry artists to Thailand and Cambodia to train them in western fashion and most importantly, we want to boost their income through sales of the new “Freed by Design” products. We see freedom made possible through fashion and choice for these women to choose another way.
I find myself living my dream, a dream that s
tarted during my time in China to help women through business. I am not your typical business woman. I don’t enjoy selling products for the sake of making money—but I DO LOVE my products and the heart behind every piece that will be represented on our website. I can’t stand cheap products so I will pursue high quality authentic pieces that emphasize the fashion aspect first…and then the great story behind it last! I never thought of myself as a “designer” per say but I recently designed a whole line of jewelry including this necklace made of white coral pictured above and I know God is giving me every gift and person I need to do the work He has started in my mind and heart to do. I don’t agree with feeling sorry for people and giving financial handouts to complete strangers but I 
DO believe in great pay for hard work and basic provision for all of God’s children (including the right to food, clothes and proper education). Take this street kid for instance, he deserves good food, an education and a chance to be a kid–not sell flowers late into the night at bars in the red light district! This is what we identify as an “at risk” child. I don’t believe that life is fair but I DO believe in fair trade and giving people MORE than they ever expected out of life because that is what the Father has done for us!! He gave us His everything so we may know the love and freedom of being Children of the living God. My desire is for the people I work with and eventually employ to know this great grace-filled and extravagant love.
tarted during my time in China to help women through business. I am not your typical business woman. I don’t enjoy selling products for the sake of making money—but I DO LOVE my products and the heart behind every piece that will be represented on our website. I can’t stand cheap products so I will pursue high quality authentic pieces that emphasize the fashion aspect first…and then the great story behind it last! I never thought of myself as a “designer” per say but I recently designed a whole line of jewelry including this necklace made of white coral pictured above and I know God is giving me every gift and person I need to do the work He has started in my mind and heart to do. I don’t agree with feeling sorry for people and giving financial handouts to complete strangers but I DO believe in great pay for hard work and basic provision for all of God’s children (including the right to food, clothes and proper education). Take this street kid for instance, he deserves good food, an education and a chance to be a kid–not sell flowers late into the night at bars in the red light district! This is what we identify as an “at risk” child. I don’t believe that life is fair but I DO believe in fair trade and giving people MORE than they ever expected out of life because that is what the Father has done for us!! He gave us His everything so we may know the love and freedom of being Children of the living God. My desire is for the people I work with and eventually employ to know this great grace-filled and extravagant love.
In closing, you may wonder where this dream world takes us now. We are officially moving back to California after almost two years around the world living out of a backpack and exploring the realities of making this dream of helping to empower women come true. Dave will be looking for a job to support us while I take on the full responsibility of sharing our new fair trade business “Freed by Design” with everyone who wants to hear back at home! I plan to share the stories of the amazing women I met and the products we are helping them 
design. I hope to use every avenue of connection I have (as I am by no means a “sales” person but a passionate pursuer of making dreams become realities and connecting women around the world). I plan to start up an active website
(Our Logo!…website under construction)I look forward to sharing the vision with you all, one on one over coffee, wine parties with groups of your friends who want to see the new lines, holiday boutiques, trendy LA stores and make a difference in buying fair trade made by women who NEED our help and support, and Lord willing, larger chains like Whole Foods. My desire is to see trendy fair trade hit the market for the sake of the many exploited women and children around the world.
If you have connections with stores, magazines, or any person who has influence, I can use your help!
This vision may have started with us but now needs you! We now have an amazing line of products but we need the next 6 months to get Freed By Design up and running from the dreaming stage into reality. We have about $2,000 left to raise to cover the cost of our recent vision trip in which we:
*Taught women how to make a new line of necklaces & baked goods
*Stayed at ministry ran guesthouses and ate at many NGO restaurants such as Friends (in Phnom Penh) who employs street kids
*Toured a dozen ministries and discussed ideas for re-design (they were all open to suggestions)
*Established contacts for future voluntourism trips with Freed by Design
*Obtained sample products, wholesale prices and
we already designed a new line of chic, fair-trade journals!
I want to take a moment to thank all of our faithful supporters who have made this dream possible. There is now an easier monthly giving option through G42 to receive tax deductible donations as we will continue receiving donations through G42 for another full year! Click Here to Donate
We will be back in California in August and will be looking for a place to call home. Please feel free to e-mail us with any housing opportunities, jobs and/or dates so we can meet up and share with you the many products/stories of Freed by Design in person. You’ll see the impact that one couple can make on a nation of hurting women. Imagine what an impact we can have together!!
Our goal is to continue to give alternative employment to exploited wome
n, specifically ones found in the red light districts of Chiang Mai as the business grows. We are also working on a preventative scholarship program for orphan girls in Ukraine to attend university and connect them with supporters like yourself to encourage them to begin dreaming and give them hope for their future. The more you know of Freed by Design and can help spread the word this fall, the more we can help lives be transformed through love put in action. We also look forward to offering opportunities for YOU to join us on future trips to Thailand/Cambodia to see Freed by Design in action with the actual ministries and women involved.
n, specifically ones found in the red light districts of Chiang Mai as the business grows. We are also working on a preventative scholarship program for orphan girls in Ukraine to attend university and connect them with supporters like yourself to encourage them to begin dreaming and give them hope for their future. The more you know of Freed by Design and can help spread the word this fall, the more we can help lives be transformed through love put in action. We also look forward to offering opportunities for YOU to join us on future trips to Thailand/Cambodia to see Freed by Design in action with the actual ministries and women involved.
Thank you for ALL of your prayers, support and encouraging words! We can truly do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us!! Imagine what we can do TOGETHER!!
With many thanks and much excitement!
Lindsay & Dave Hoogendam
