Give Hope

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  Matthew 1:18-19 NIV

This Christmas season I am selling handcrafted leather items at local weekend and Christmas markets.

David at Wildside Christmas Fair

OK, to be honest I am sitting at a table trying to sell handcrafted leather items.

Flashback  to summer 2019.  Sharon and I had moved from a house to a small two room apartment.  Leaving behind my wood working hobby I looked  for an activity I could do in a confined space. Through my involvement with a Scout Camporee I took up the hobby of leather crafting.  At the time it seemed like a small enough hobby to fit into a corner of our apartment.  NOT! But that’s another story for another time.

In late 2019 I was selling a few pieces at a time.  Purses, back packs, a hat or two.  In early 2020, I began to look at ways I could use my skills to help those facing adversity.  I researched how I could teach leather skills to others and how to provide a fair living wage.  My plan was to provide training, materials, tools, and marketing support. We then contract projects out to individuals in our craftsmanship community. The individual keeps 50% of gross sales price.

I began to explore sales, and was in discussion with a boutique shop in the US interested in selling some of our leather products. Then COVID shut everything down and our plans were put on hold.

Life is returning to a semblance of pre COVID normalcy and we are revisiting this idea.   On December 10th I had a booth at the Christmas Fair at Chiang Mai International School where I met a lady who was interested in some of my leather purses. During the course of the conversation I shared with her my initial vision pre COVID. She asked how many workers I have.  None, since we don’t have enough orders or sales.  However as we start getting orders and sales my plan is to train others to stitch.  She then explained her question.  She is associated with local pregnancy crisis center and is looking for skills that could be taught to young women in center as they wait for their child to be born.

Cell phone holster, Purses with Hmong and Lahu accents, backpack and Fedora

So here’s the deal: 

We have the product.

We have contacts with young women who need our help

WE NEED A MARKET!

You can help us build a market for our product that would provide an income for these young women.

1.  Does your church, school, college has a book store or gift shop?  would you be willing to find out if we can sell or market our product?
2.  Is there a  local Christian bookstores in your community?  Would you be willing to approach them on our behalf and get a contact?
3. Do you have contacts with any boutique gift shops in your community?  Would you be willing to approach them and get a contact?
4. Help promote us on Facebook, visit our website at www.brookfallsleather.com Tell your friends about our vision.

It’s Christmas season.  We remember the birth of the Christ.  We read the stories of Mary, a young teenager who experienced her own “crisis pregnancy”.

Let’s not forget these young women who are going through a time of difficulty. Let’s not forget the widows and orphans (James 1:27) .   Let’s work together to give them hope for a better future.