Blankets of love

Blankets of love
This morning our sewing teacher Rachel delivered forty blankets for newborns that she had made with Evangeline graduate Doreen Bulelwa, to the treasurer, Dr. Sandy Haegert and the secretary Kathleen Beukes of the False Bay Hospital Association. this is the first order of what we hope will be many more to come. There are so many stories in this one. We begin last November when Penny Day from the Next Chapter Church in Kentucky came as a one week volunteer to Living Hope and asked if she could help with the sewing. Penny came with an armful of some of the most beautiful baby blankets I have ever seen and, in a few hours, taught the women how to make them. they loved it. I saw as well a business opportunity for sometime but when I spoke about the blankets in the Tuesday afternoon prayer meeting I attend, Sandy immediately said she was interested to purchase the blankets from the women rather than the stores. Sandy, not coincidentally is the woman whose wooden buttons so excited me, they are now a trademark feature of the animal print tote bags we sell. Soon after that I was walking downtown Fish Hoek when I heard my name called. It was Doreen and she wanted to be sure I knew she was interested in sewing blankets so I gave her name to Rachel. And this all brought us to today with a new enterprise started with the women from Evangeline Ministries. We at Em give a skill and a tool and then we open a door. God sends people like Penny and it all comes together for the good of the women here. These blankets are part of a free package of baby goods and foods given to mothers of newborns here who are so poor and have nothing with which to care for their babies. In that package the False Bay team also want to include baby jump suits and our teachers and graduates will also make those.Each packet costs about US25 and we at EM will see just how we can help even more. Penny told the women the blankets showed how much they are wrapped in God's love which is exactly what we want those mothers to know and what these women in EM know because of our work here.