As many of you know, when I first started making dresses for Dress A Girl Around the World, I felt a strong pull to become INVOLVED! I became the Connecticut State Representative just about a year ago. I had prayed that He let this unfold, develop and blossom into something wonderful for me at a pace I could handle without getting too overwhelmed.
Last February I was invited to speak at the New England Prayer Center's Christian Conference entitled "Let there be...Inspiration!" It was oriented towards finding or re-finding inspiration for your craft/creativeness through God. The conference alone was awesome. I got up for about 10 minutes after lunch and spoke about Dress a Girl, how I had become involved and how others could too. A gentleman whom I had met when he was a guest speaker at our church was the emcee. David Wagner, of Father's Heart Ministries in Pensacola Florida, took the microphone from me as I exited the stage-relieved that I was done & hadn't forgotten anything-then
asked me for 10,000 dresses for upcoming trips to Africa and South America! I said "Sure!" before I really thought about it. We talked afterwards about logistics and then I got right on the phone with Rachel (head of DAGATW) and put her in contact with him. She agreed we could do this with the help of lots of people sewing and her inventory in Arizona. I was so excited (and a little nervous)! My first speaking engagement and look what had happened!
Well, since February, we have been sewing like crazy and I have put the word out that we need lots of help and dresses mailed to David in Florida. He had received about 2000 until Friday when Rachel mailed him 5000 dresses! Through the generosity of many companies, she was able to secure free transport of the dresses to him! He in turn knew someone who was traveling from the airport 8 hours away from him that agreed to drive them the rest of the way to his ministry. Isn't it great how people come together to help in a situation like this???
I have a few hundred dresses just about ready to be shipped to David also. I am hoping to get them out in the next week. I still need people to send dresses to him so if you are reading this and have finished pillowcase dresses that you could send, I would really appreciate it. We are slowly approaching the goal for all these dresses!!!
So, the story continues...This Saturday I participated in our town's Fall Festival put on by the Cheshire Chamber of Commerce. It is a heavily attended event in which local businesses, non-profits and charities come together by setting up a booth and talking about their business etc. My husband and I worked the booth for Cornerstone Church all day. It was fun, hot and exhausting. I handed out a flyer that I made up for Dress a Girl. It asked for donations to be dropped off at the church and for helpers to become involved. We talked about our wonderful church and all it has to offer. I had dresses hanging from the corners of the booth to advertise Dress a Girl. It was great!
When the day was over around 5pm, our Youth Minister, Don, asked Kevin and I if we'd like to go to dinner with David Wagner that evening. David was speaking at our Sunday service the next day. As wiped out as we were, I couldn't miss the opportunity to get to know David a little better and hear some of his amazing stories. We ran home, showered quickly and drove up to the hotel to pick David up. Don and his wife Jauneen, Kevin and I and David all went out for a yummy meal. On the drive to the restaurant, David told us a story about how the dresses have helped him share Christ on a few occasions that he might not have been able to otherwise. I was so overwhelmed that the dresses could be so helpful (more than just raise the self esteem of a little girl?). Because I couldn't remember all the details, I emailed him last night and asked him to recount it in his own words. Below is his story...
"I was in a village in Uganda that had never heard the gospel. It was controlled by Muslims, witch doctors, and the like. They did not want us in the village. They threatened us and the authorities made us go to another area on a hill to do our outreach. Two days in to the outreach the team took me into the town where they had kicked us out of. I was the first white person many of them saw and was quite the novelty item... Kids gathered around me like a mob. It was really fun. The headmaster of the Muslim school tried to run the kids off but they did not listen so he tried to run me off but I found favor with him in a matter of minutes. I offered to speak to his school about purity and abstinence to get in the door with the gospel. He accepted my offer. When I arrived the next day he was a little apprehensive and it seemed as if he would turn me a way.... until I brought out boxes of dresses from Dress A Girl.... He began to cry when he saw the dresses and we gave the first one to his daughter. He let me speak and even ended translating for me. 500+ students and teachers received Jesus in front of a mosque that day including the headmaster.... I honestly believe that he would have turned me away if It had not been for the dresses you and Dress a Girl have provided."
Isn't that just awesome??? He had other stories as well. In church on Sunday he told our church body how the dresses had been such a blessing to him and how what I was doing was affecting hundreds. But it isn't just me. I only oversee all the women and young ladies helping to sew. So, if you are one of those women who is making many or even just a few dresses, know that your efforts are so much more wide reaching than you know! God bless you for helping us Dress a Girl Around the World!
If you are not yet involved and would like to become involved, please contact me. I would love to share ways that you too can help bless little girls and so much more! God Bless!
