Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Next step of the journey for the bags!


The bags containing supplies for the women to work with have arrived safely in Joe's classroom in Atlanta, Georgia, ready to travel with the high school team next month to Toliara, Madagascar. 

The people from Indak, who transported them, made sure they were all safely in two cages in the semi, with nothing else in the cages.  Huge thanks to Laine & Martin Cobb and their drivers and staff for taking such good care of these supplies. 

Monday, May 16, 2016

U.S. Embassy visitors to the Diocese

The Diocese of Toliara / People Reaching People has applied to the U.S. and Australian embassies for grants to cover costs of equipping the Women's Center and employing the women for the first year. 

Today, two visitors came from the U.S. Embassy, Carla Classic and Mr Mamisoa.  Please pray that the Embassy will approve the grant for this project. 


Walking from The Gathering Place to view the Women's work
U.S. Embassy staff member,  Carla Classic, views one of the Days for Girls' kits

Reception  in The Gathering Place








Wednesday, May 11, 2016

The bags leave Northfield!


The 18 duffel bags (of assorted sizes) and 2 boxes of plastic containers in which to store the supplies in Madagascar have left our house - which now looks more like a home and less like a warehouse!

First stop - the garage!


This morning, Laine (NSNG member) came and collected them and loaded them into her van.





Tomorrow, Martin (Laine's husband) will take them to his business, from where they will travel on the weekly semi from Illinois to Georgia.  Next week they will make the remaining journey, in a box truck, to Joe & Corbi's home in Atlanta. 

Joe & Corbi are Bishop Todd & Rev. Patsy's son-in-law and daughter.  Joe is leading a high school team from Pace Academy to Madagascar in June, and they will be taking all these supplies on Air France with them.  We wish them and the bags safe travels!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

The bags are packed and blessed!


In the services on Mother's Day at St James the Less, Northfield, we blessed and prayed over the bags containing Days for Girls' kits, and supplies for the women to make more kits and more Fair Trade products.  What an appropriate day to bless kits for girls and women!



The five bags and a basket in the above photo represent the 18 bags and 2 boxes which will soon be on their way to Atlanta, Georgia, from where a high school team will take them to the Diocese of Toliara, Madagascar - ready for our short-term mission trip in the summer. 






I was so glad when I packed the last bag, and everything fit in!  There is a very small amount of space  left in the penultimate one, which has a dodgy zip, and would not survive being stuffed to the gills!

God is good! Exactly the right number of bags filled! I had been a little worried that we might get: "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, " (Luke 6:38) and I wouldn't know what to do with the overflow, but thankfully our God of Abundance did stop the donations at just the right time. Perfect!

Wonder Women!




Here are some of the amazing members of North Suburban NeedleArts Guild​  who donated (money, fabric, notions, thread, panties, washcloths, Ziploc bags etc) &/or washed and ironed fabric &/or stitched shields, liners, bags so that we can make life easier for the women of southern Madagascar (via People Reaching People).

Between us we made 201 Days for Girls​ regular kits and 25 post partum kits.

These will make a huge difference to the lives of girls who miss school one week a month, and women who can't go to work during that time.

We have also gathered huge amount of supplies to take out so that the women can make more kits to sell locally. This will be one of the projects which Sue and the women will work on this summer, in the (hopefully) newly completed Women's Center in the Diocese of Toliara.