i picture Jesus with Threads of Hope bracelets up his arm and on his ankles …i think he really loves these things..well you know what I mean. he probably doesn't actually love them but he sure is blessing the families and missionaries that are making/selling them. when i first heard about them i was so excited but completely under estimated the Lord with this ministry. when our support coach said to start with 1,000 i thought that was insane and that it would take me up until July to sell that many. soooo i went ahead and only ordered a few hundred (some of each: gospel, flat, round, and necklaces). when i recieved them in the mail i was like a kid at christmas…freaking out!! i love them.
i decided to bring my first order to one of our early morning meetings at work and got slammed. one of my coworkers said, "i cant believe you would sell those, the poor children are being forced to make bracelets." my heart sank. i explained the ministry and told her that this was an opportunity for them actually. that they were being ministered to, cared for , and taken out of some pretty nasty situations. that this was helping me go over seas as well to tell others about Jesus. she left that day and bought none. i prayed for her. a few days later she asked about them and seemed very interested … ( i should mention she is not a believer).. she bought a bunch!! then wanted more a few weeks later. i showed her the Gospel ones and she said,"those ones aren't for me." she began asking more questions and the Lord opened the door for me. she told me all kinds of crazy stories why she didn't believe in God. i listened. then at the end she said, "But I would like to know about your God." i about fell over. we didn't have much time since we were in the middle of working and it was busy… but i just let the Holy Spirit speak and I continue to pray for her. Lord if its your will open her eyes to you!! thank you for these bracelets!
my mom is just as crazy as me about them and brings em to the hospital where she works. she went nuts when $30 sold the first day. the first order was gone in about 1 week so i ordered more.
i had people calling me now to bring them to their houses lol! i brought them to one family dear to me who has been through a lot of hard times. we got to talking about the Gospel ones and they ended up printing the Gospel story as it goes along with the colors (off the Threads of Hope website)… so they could share the Good News too. then they gave me a some extra money for part of my plane ticket to training camp. the Lord is so wild . PRAISE his name.
on to order number 3 !!! so i figured this would be the last order…. wrong again. these bracelets just keep selling. its obviously the Lord. I had to order more again!! Alex the founder probably thinks I'm out of my mind, although he said he under estimated the Lord big time and now goes through over 100,00 a month !
so onto order number 4. this is were it gets really weird. all the people that have been buying don't stop! they just keep asking for them! the other night my mom brought them to work and sold over $150 in a few hours. I brought them to this friend working at a video store/gas station that had already bought and wanted to support me and the families more. she bought $40 again…then her boss came in and freaked out ..bought $50….then all the other workers were surrounding the bracelets. even this guy in line was grabbing at them and handing me money?!!! to top it off the owner asked if i wanted to set up a booth so sell them on the weekend in her store! i didnt even ask! just in that one day the Lord provided $300 and im going to set up a booth in the middle of a video store this weekend hahahahaaa.
i am learning to stop under estimating the Lord even in the smallest things. in a few short months he has provided around $2,300… half of which is going to the Philippines and we are not done yet…i will be selling them until i take off in July. the Philippines is one of the countries we are traveling to. i have been praying that maybe we will get to go to this ministry site that has touched my heart so much and share the stories with the families (and maybe they can teach me how the heck they make these) <3 Let me know if you would like any!
