However, with God’s leading, one Deaf girl in Uganda went from hidden at home to finding the joy of employment and Christian community.

Grace and her older brother were both orphaned at a young age. Grace is Deaf and her older brother kept her at home for safety while he worked to provide for them.

(Photo courtesy of Every Child Ministries)

A tailoring shop owner, Mrs. Ssemwanga, employed Grace’s brother. When the owner realized he had a sister, she decided to employ Grace as well who began to excel in craft work.

Eventually, Grace and Mrs. Ssemwanga met Resty, a staff member with Every Child Ministries who was just out doing her shopping. After learning Grace’s story, Resty was moved to connect Grace and her brother with ECM’s Family Empowerment Program. ECM supported Grace to start a shoe selling business in addition to her craft work.

ECM’s Mark Luckey says, “But it doesn’t really end there. Resty began to think about our own program and kids in our own program who also had some difficulties that they were facing. One of them she thought of was a girl named Sarah.

“Sarah is also Deaf…and she’s a teenager. She basically was running out of hope. She was trying to learn how to do some sewing but just began to run into lots of issues along the way.”

Sarah was introduced to Grace and began working alongside her at the shop learning tailoring. Sarah and Grace hit it off right away. Now, they enjoy working together and having lengthy conversations in sign language!

“That might sound like a small thing but it’s not,” says Luckey. “In countries like that especially, there are just not a lot of ways for [Deaf] to communicate with people. So to bring them together, what an encouragement for them.”

You can support ECM’s Family Empowerment Program or learn more at their ministry!

Grace (right) and Sarah (left). [Photo courtesy of Every Child Ministries]

“When we can do that through the hope of the Gospel of Jesus, then we’ve opened doors that otherwise did not look like they could be opened. People like Grace and Sarah find renewed joy and find hope in Christ.”

Header photo of Grace (left) and her brother (right) courtesy of Every Child Ministries.

Every year, Donna Glass of India Partners gives a gift in memory of her mother and grandmother to a woman in need. And because this tradition has been so meaningful to her, she’s inviting you to join her.

What’s this gift, you ask? A sewing machine.

Tailoring schools

You see, India Partners provides tailoring training to women whose families are struggling to make it financially. In these situations, it’s common for the main breadwinner to work as a day laborer. This unreliable and poor-paying employment can leave a family on shaky ground. In addition, the women in these families are usually unable to have an income– they haven’t had the opportunity to finish their education. But the classes offered at the tailoring schools give the women a viable career option to help support the income of their family.

It’s all part of India Partners’ desire to see an India rich in hope, justice, and compassion.

Glass says, “Currently we have seven schools operational in various villages in India, working with our partners there.”

Several of the women who’ve gone through this program are illiterate, so India Partners makes sure to give them some basic business training so they can effectively run their business.

(Photo courtesy of India Partners)

Each class has 12 women, meaning at any given moment there are 84 women going through the six-month tailoring training. Yesterday, 24 of these women graduated, and the next classes have already started. Glass says the rest of the five schools will be graduating next month– just in time for school to start for their children.

“They’re going to be able to help make it so that their children can go to school and have the supplies that they need for their classes.”

The gift of being able to provide for their family, feed their children and even send them to school is a huge relief to these mothers.

“Some of the women… who graduated last December, they’re looking forward to being able to earn 150 rupees a day—it’s a little less than two and a half dollars—and how that will make a difference in their family finances. And, it’s really amazing to think that less than two dollars and 50 cents can give them such hope. But it does make a difference,” Glass says.

She continues, “It’s just so great to be able to offer these classes because not only do they get this training but when they graduate, they get the gift of a treadle sewing machine.”

These sewing machines, which give the women the ability to earn money each day, cost about $100. And while that’s not much of a business investment for some people, it would be nearly impossible for them to purchase the machine out of their own wages, especially if they’re not able to start their business without it.

Mothers around the world

The theme of women helping to provide for their families in difficult circumstances hits home for Glass. She says, “My grandmother was a tailor. And she lived back in the Midwest, back in North Dakota. And she was born in 1900, so she came up through the Depression as an adult.”

Her grandparents had four children they had to support during this time. It was common for families to leave home during the Great Depression in search of a more viable life situation. However, Glass’ grandparents didn’t have to do that. And it was largely because of the sewing skills her grandmother had.

“Being able to do tailoring—to go into a shop in town and do men’s tailoring and making other women’s clothes and stuff was… one of the things that helped make sure that my grandparents and my aunts and uncles and my mom did not become homeless.”

(Photo courtesy of India Partners)

Her grandmother passed the tailoring skills on to Glass’ mother who passed it on to Glass herself.

“To be able to honor her by making it possible for a woman in India to not have to move, to … be able to help support, stand by her husband or her father, and help support the family—I think to honor my grandmother by gifting a sewing machine in her memory is—it means a lot to me.”

Over the years, Glass has gifted the sewing machine in honor of her mother, as well. But this simple gift of a sewing machine is also a symbol of honoring mothers and motherhood, everywhere.

“I think it honors them in recognizing that they are an integral part of the family, and helping to build up by going through training and then having a sewing machine and that whole sense of being able to help with the family income and not feel like… everything is dependent on their husband or their father—I think it helps to build up people’s sense of self-worth. And mothers especially, they want the best for their children and they want to be able to help to make a difference in the lives of their families. I think for any mother that that’s a really powerful thing.”

So, are you still looking for a way to honor your mother this year? Consider giving a sewing machine in her name. Learn more about that, here.

(Header photo courtesy of Rex Harsin with permission from India Partners)

(Photo courtesy of India Partners)

India (MNN) — Women in India don’t have it easy. Besides the issues of poverty, malnutrition, and overpopulation, women lowest in the caste system often receive the least desirable jobs. Most don’t continue their education past elementary school.

But one organization is giving them the chance to thrive. This month, 70 women are set to graduate from a tailoring program sponsored by India Partners. The program teaches women various skills to help them earn a sustainable income.

“We currently have six tailoring schools in Andhra Pradesh,” says Donna Glass with India Partners. “When they go through this training, they learn not only just how to sew, but they also get business skills, how to market themselves.”

The program isn’t just teaching women important skills. It’s helping them find a sense of value.

“For many of the women [with] whom we’ve talked…it gives them a great sense of worth, that they’re going to be able to contribute to their family,” Glass says. “It gives them a sense of relief in many ways, that they’re not going to need to go out into the fields to work.”

But there’s something even more important the women receive at the program. Instructors hold daily devotions to make sure that every woman hears the Gospel.

“As the women go through the tailoring school, there are daily devotions,” Glass says. “Even if they aren’t Christian when they come to the tailoring school–and it’s not a requirement; it’s open to all regardless of faith–they are exposed to the Gospel each day as part of their training.

“They just had a retreat for the women that have graduated before, and 105 women attended this retreat. They had 15 women out of the 105 give their lives to Christ that day.”

Stories like these are encouraging, but they don’t come easy. India Partners has a variety of needs that must be met in order for the schools to continue operating. The program is free for the women, and India Partners also provides each graduate with a sewing machine of their own. Click here to see how you can support the program, or click here to provide a sewing machine for $100 to help a woman in India provide for herself and those she loves.

If giving isn’t an option, you can always pray. Glass asks that you pray for the teachers and that lives would be changed.

(Photo courtesy of India Partners)

India (MNN) — This story is for any woman whose mother taught her to sew. It’s also a story for anyone who desires to make a change in our world– to shed some light in the darkness.

Imagine being a woman in India with three young children. You’ve lost your husband, you were unable to finish school, and you can’t get a job that allows you to take care of your children during the day.

This scenario characterizes many of the lives of women in India. That’s why India Partners, in conjunction with two of their ministry partners, have been working with women in India through a sewing training program since 1993.

Women in India often have trouble completing school because of the testing that takes place at the end of each grade.

Donna Glass of India Partners says, “They may not be able to get a job because of where they live, [or] the job’s not available for women. So by having a tailoring school, they learn a skill that can be directly utilized as many people always are looking for new clothes or repair of their clothing.”

These women can set up a tailoring shop in their home, allowing them to take care of their children as well.

The alternative to working in the home is not a very comforting one: “They leave their children at home. Often times, [for] many of these women who have young children, there are children six years old watching a two- or three-year-old child at home while their mom spends 12 hours working in the field,” Glass says.

If they’re going to break the cycle of poverty for their children, the women have no choice but to work.

Since the sewing training program began in 1993, India Partners and their ministry partners have helped over 800 women successfully complete the tailoring programs.

Each woman who graduates receives her own treadle operated sewing machine. Electric machines would be unhelpful because of unreliable or inaccessible electricity.

This program enables women to get on their feet and help put their children through school. And it all starts with people like you.

“The funding,” Glass says, “comes from people who have a passion for helping people break the cycle of poverty. It comes from donors, it comes from foundations–we do write grant proposals. But mostly, it’s individuals who want to make a difference, often times one-on-one because one sewing machine makes a difference.”

For those taking any sort of course in the United States, you’ll never believe how inexpensive the tuition is for the tailoring course: $180!

However, that’s not cheap for women who have no money to begin with.

You may have guessed it, but this is where you come in. It’s not as common today, but many women were taught how to sew by their mothers. In fact, mothers have taught their children countless valuable skills. And you can pass them on. This Mother’s Day, India Partners is asking you to honor your mother by providing another mother with tuition, partial tuition, or a sewing machine.

For a sewing machine, it’s $100. This sewing machine will go on to provide money to pay for their children’s lives and education.

And most importantly, it impacts lives in a spiritual way.

“Part of the training is the exposure to the Gospel every day. There is prayer time, women are given a chance to learn more about Jesus, to dedicate their lives to Him if they so choose, and then they are discipled after that.”

Women who decide to follow Jesus are connected with a church. Glass says about 50% of the women who go through the training program are not Christian when they join the schools.

Follow this link to find out how you can support this project financially.

Another way you can help is to pray.

“Pray for the women who are currently in training. There are 60 women who are going to be graduating in June from five different tailoring schools. Pray that they would successfully be able to start their businesses. Pray for the women who have gone through training, who are working, [for whom] it’s made a difference in their lives and the lives of their family.”

(Photo courtesy BGR) Group of students training

This remote area offers little opportunity for its residents to obtain the skills they need to pull themselves above the poverty many families have been trapped in for decades. Decades of conflict have resulted in poverty and loss of hope for many families.

The predominant people group in this region (unnamed for security reasons) is traditionally a semi-nomadic herding people, but as they have become more settled in towns and villages, a small percentage has obtained the skills and education that allow for economic independence. Many young men from rural communities travel to the city in search of work, but most are unskilled and find work only as day laborers.

BGR partners matched eight students with local craftsmen for long enough apprenticeships for them to be able to work independently and provide for their families. The development of skilled workers in turn builds up those rural communities, providing a much-needed service and slowing the flow of migrant workers to the cities.

Students are learning skills like tailoring, motorcycle repair, carpentry, mobile phone repair, and auto body work, and hopefully will be able to start their own small businesses after completing their apprenticeships.

Two more students are expected to join the program soon. In addition to working in their apprenticeships, these students are attending classes once a week where they are learning basic literacy, health and hygiene and money management.  The students and the project manager are also working together on a community service project that they hope to begin soon.

Ask God to give partners wisdom in choosing the right people to be students and trainers. Pray that the integrity and work ethic displayed in this project will be noticed by many, including government officials.

BGR was created to help Christians become more effective and efficient in responding to global needs created by acute and chronic situations. They coordinate global resources in response to natural disasters, catastrophic crises, and chronic humanitarian needs outside the United States and Canada. In so doing, they represent the hands and feet of Christ during crisis situations and open doors later for Gospel work.

India Partners has already founded two tailoring schools and recently received a grant for$ 8,000 to create another. Currently, these schools have helped about 50 to 60 women on their way to self-sufficiency by training them in a profitable skill. At the end of their training, each woman receives her own sewing machine so she can immediately begin to gain from what she has learned.

These schools not only give women a chance to learn and support families, but they also provide emotional and spiritual reinforcement through daily devotions and prayer.

India Partners has partnered with other groups in the area to create an environment that demonstrates Christ's love as well as teaches it. Pray that this new school will be just as effective and will provide several women with the hope of a future and a Savior.

To learn more about how you can help India Partners in their work, click here.