Small Beginnings
a guest post by Suzanne Campbell, project manager for One Thread Project
“Do not despise these small beginnings,
for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...”
I have been reflecting all week about our small beginnings. It was a year ago. One year. One Thread was a dream in our hearts that began to flesh itself out in reality. And it was a small beginning. We dreamed at a kitchen table with kids running all around. We set up a website on a free website program. We didn't really know how to adjust pixels of pictures properly. We didn't really know what we were doing at all. It was a very small and clunky small beginning. I am not sure we ever dreamed that we would be where we are now, especially in a year's time.
Our very first campaign was for Mother's Day and we got such a beautiful response. So many of you ready to join us. To attach your thread to women across the world. And as the months passed, more and more joined! And then, the opportunity we couldn't have written ourselves. A call from Reeds of Hope, "Join us!" Humbling. Over this last year here is what has been done:
- Grand opening of the One Thread training facility
- $150 raised for Bibles written in French and Lingala to have at the Sewing Center
- Over $500 worth of donated supplies delivered to the training center
- Fifteen students fully sponsored: Christenvie, Deborah, Christelle, Ruth, Esther, Naomie, Dorcas, Ruth, Clarisse, Arif, Dorcas B, Nadine, Sarah, Ida, and Melida
- Social worker hired to help support the students and Micheline
- Training with a professional social worker from Kigali, Rwanda
So yes, do not despise a small beginning. I have found that the small beginning is really an entrance into the greater work already happening. God was already at work because the truth is, He is always at work. His story is so much greater and so much grander, and yet...it is so personal. There isn't a work that He has done that didn't first involve Him reaching out to an individual saying, "come. join me. follow me." He wants us in the story He is telling. And because I know how God writes stories, I know that this one has just begun. He has continued to place dreams on our hearts for more. What about transportation for the men and women who have to walk miles to get to school? What about providing lunch? What about providing childcare for those Mommas with young ones? What about providing housing for those who may not have a place to rest their heads? What about a sewing boutique next door for them to sell their work, start employment, earn money, build confidence in order to go and do it themselves?
Maybe you find yourself at a small beginning. Know now, it isn't small at all. Your part is necessary for the bigger story.
Maybe you feel so far away from even having a small beginning. I have been there. Maybe your small beginning is simply letting the Lord know that you are ready for one. Your heart is open and your ear is turned to Him.
Maybe you are hearing Him asking you to join what He is doing here at Reeds of Hope. We would love to have you!
I don't know where you fall in all of this, but I can tell you one thing for sure about your small beginning; it will be gritty, it will be grand, it will be redemptive.