Alex is an American missionary from Wisconsin who came with his wife to the Philippines to be dorm parents at Faith Academy, a boarding school for missionary kids. Alex and his family vacation in the same spot on the island of Mindoro that we are now serving at and over the years have made friends with many of the local vendors.
Alex and his family were brokenhearted to learn of her desperate need for money, so he gave her friend 5000 pesos ($100 US dollars) and told her to make as many bracelets as she could with that money. The next time Alex came out to the island, she had made 1000 bracelets, using the money for materials and to feed her family for the month.
He wasn’t really sure what he would do with that many, so when he went back to the States, he gave the bracelets to his supporters, told them the story of these women, and came back to the Philippines with $1000 from selling the bracelets.
He went back to the woman and took her the $1000 and said to make him as many bracelets it would make, and he needed them at the end of the month. So she had a few of her friends help her, and they made the deadline with 10,000 bracelets.
And so the story continues, and after seven years, 400-500 women make bracelets for Threads of Hope, giving them a guaranteed income for their families, and keeping them out of prostitution. Alex buys 100,000 a month that he distributes to people selling them all around the world, that is 1.2 million bracelets a year!
We have made friends with several of these women and they have so much joy in their hearts as they work. They greet us with beaming smiles and are more than willing to let us sit down beside them and teach us how to make bracelets.
Our goal this month is to build relationships and continue to teach these women about Christ. God has big plans this month, so continue to pray for the women here and that God would bring more women into His joy and peace.
