Friends, before you buy all those shiny Christmas presents, check out a few options that will use the money you spend to support women in poverty around the world. You get lovely things, and you join in something beautiful, all at the same time! These gifts are so meaningful for those who receive them, because they know that you really thought about it--a way to honor them by choosing a gift that impacts another's life.
(Also, you can shop from the comfort of your living room whilst the crazies fight it out on Black Friday! Just click on the links and merrily shop!)
(PS--Spoiler alert! If you're on my Christmas list, DON'T look here!)
Sari Bari
This place makes bags, scarves and other things from up-cycled saris in India. By women who used to be enslaved in the red light district and are now free. You can look up the name of the woman who made your bag (it's on the tag) and find out a little about her. I have a bag that I got last year for Christmas and I've carried it all year! The worn saris are so soft, and they make things with 4-6 layers of saris quilted together. Totally unique, and really beautiful. I met people who work with this organization at a Christian conference on prostitution several years ago, and they were awesome. The stories they had about God working in India with these women were just amazing! Go support them!! Now!!!
Freeset
I met people with this organization at that same conference. They are also selling the products made by women who have been freed from lives of indentured servitude in the sex industry to support the women now that they are free and have to make a living. Beautiful work! I have a bag from here, as well. They have several products. I love this T-shirt, which has the signatures of the women who made it as the focal point.
Amazina
This ministry is one started by Katie Davis (whose book, Kisses from Katie, is amazing, and you should read that, too! She writes beautifully and details how God led her to Uganda to start a ministry and to adopt 14 little girls and young women there. Her blog is in the list to the right. It's incredible!). She (in addition to helping kiddos go to school, hosting hundreds of kids for a Bible study and dinner each week, parenting 14 children, and opening her home to acute AIDS patients) has started a relationship with several women living in poverty in a nearby slum. These women make a living by rolling paper into beads, and they make the most beautiful necklaces! I love them. I want all of them! (I suspect you may, as well--check them out!)
Narimon
Last, but certainly not least, please check out jewelry made by women at The Well, in Thailand. I love these people. LOVE them! I was blessed to work with them several years ago in Bangkok, and I know that they are battling for women's hearts in a dark place. You can feel confident that your support will go to make a difference in the lives of precious women in Bangkok.
Happy shopping!
(Also, you can shop from the comfort of your living room whilst the crazies fight it out on Black Friday! Just click on the links and merrily shop!)
(PS--Spoiler alert! If you're on my Christmas list, DON'T look here!)
Sari Bari
This place makes bags, scarves and other things from up-cycled saris in India. By women who used to be enslaved in the red light district and are now free. You can look up the name of the woman who made your bag (it's on the tag) and find out a little about her. I have a bag that I got last year for Christmas and I've carried it all year! The worn saris are so soft, and they make things with 4-6 layers of saris quilted together. Totally unique, and really beautiful. I met people who work with this organization at a Christian conference on prostitution several years ago, and they were awesome. The stories they had about God working in India with these women were just amazing! Go support them!! Now!!!
Freeset
I met people with this organization at that same conference. They are also selling the products made by women who have been freed from lives of indentured servitude in the sex industry to support the women now that they are free and have to make a living. Beautiful work! I have a bag from here, as well. They have several products. I love this T-shirt, which has the signatures of the women who made it as the focal point.
Amazina
This ministry is one started by Katie Davis (whose book, Kisses from Katie, is amazing, and you should read that, too! She writes beautifully and details how God led her to Uganda to start a ministry and to adopt 14 little girls and young women there. Her blog is in the list to the right. It's incredible!). She (in addition to helping kiddos go to school, hosting hundreds of kids for a Bible study and dinner each week, parenting 14 children, and opening her home to acute AIDS patients) has started a relationship with several women living in poverty in a nearby slum. These women make a living by rolling paper into beads, and they make the most beautiful necklaces! I love them. I want all of them! (I suspect you may, as well--check them out!)
Narimon
Last, but certainly not least, please check out jewelry made by women at The Well, in Thailand. I love these people. LOVE them! I was blessed to work with them several years ago in Bangkok, and I know that they are battling for women's hearts in a dark place. You can feel confident that your support will go to make a difference in the lives of precious women in Bangkok.
Happy shopping!
Many of these businesses have products at my friend's shop in Mainstrasse Village in Covington KY. Her shop is "It's Only Fair" and the items are made by women and young people who have been freed from slavery all over the world. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/ItsOnlyFair and stop in to see her.
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