December 2015 Update

Things that are happening.....................it's been a while since we provided an update.

Our LosTambos school sewing group: Currently they are meeting once a month. Some of the ladies are sewing while others crochet and do needle point. This has developed into a great fellowship group. They always have a devotion when they meet and continue to reach out to one another when there is a need. Sewing brought the ladies together God has formed the bond.

 

 

Our LosTambos/ Miranda family sewing group: The last count we have 8 that sew together several times a week. If you remember Mrs. Miranda is the lady that was so enthusiastic about learning to sew. She is also the person who received the first sewing machine as an experiment. It looks like the experiment was a success! All of the girls are getting experience with the machines and cutting fabric. They are working hard to be able to sell the clothes they make. Last visit we worked with Ada, Maria's daughter, to keep the machines clean and do minor maintenance.

Our Buena Vista sewing group: We have 5 ladies in this group. This group just started last year. They meet but not on a regular basis. They have a beautiful building with electric but no hook up. We have resolved the problem. We will be able to run power from the school to the building. Right now they have no machines but we are working on that. They are excited to get started and so are we. There is a lot of enthusiasm in this group. One lady does ALL her sewing by hand and is teaching the others. That is a good start.

Our plans are to return to Belize in September of 2016, instead of January. Things are in motion to rearrange our living and work schedule that would allow us to spend 3 months instead of 3 weeks in Belize.
We feel God's call on our lives is to spend more time working with the sewing ministry. It is the perfect way to share Jesus and teach them something useful at the same time. We look forward to your prayerful support as we work toward these changes.

If you have any questions regarding Threads of Hope please contact us at 865-382-7582 or
 865-591-5032. Linda and Joe

On to the Miranda's ............................

Ottillia and her son showing off the quilt that she banded.

Ottillia is Felix Miranda's wife. They live next door to Maria & Manfredo Miranda.

Ottillia has helped me out many times as an interpreter and has a great deal of sewing talent.

She is very excited to have a machine, battery and inverter at the house. In the past she has used Maria's machine.

This entire family starting with Maria is so enthusiastic about sewing. When we stopped on Tuesday there were 5 women sewing and 3 different projects going. It is so good to see that happening.

They love it! AND they are helping each other by sharing what they know and the use of the machines that we have provided.

Maria Miranda was the first lady that we taught how to hand sew and that year we made a quilt.

The next year we came back to her house and she had sewn skirts and several other

projects.......all by hand. We purchased a battery and inverter acquired a sewing machine from InHisWill and set it up at her house. The next year as we pulled up in the yard she was sitting on the porch at the sewing machine.  That was two years ago..................now there are 5 ladies that are involved in sharing her machine and talent ...............AND so this continues to grow

 

 

 

This is the view from the window at Ottillia's house. Beautiful view, wonderful breeze......I would like a sewing room like that.

Ottillia's sewing machine set up and read to go. 

At the end of the day on Tuesday February 10th.  We had dinner with Carmen and Faye before heading back to the mission house to pack. 

 

 

It was an awesome trip! God moved in many ways! We are so blessed to be able to be

a small part of lives of our friends in Belize.

 

 

 

I just realized in all the blogs I never mentioned the roads......................there is nothing good to say about them they are worse then we have ever seen.  Some of the holes are about a foot deep.

I really wouldn't call it a road any more..............it's more like just a bunch of holes side by side that are strung out in a line.

 

All in all - another very successful trip.  We would like to thank everyone who helped make this Threads of Hope Mission possible. All the materials, monetary contributions and prayerful support is certainly appreciated

On to Fatima's house

Fatima is interested in making quilts. Her

grandmother taught her how to quilt when she was very young. Fatima has many good memories of her grandmother and her aunts working together on quilts.

She is looking forward to getting the sewing group together to quilt. Joe is putting up the quilt rack that he built earlier in the week.

 

 

We delivered a sewing machine, battery and inverter.

So she will be able to make lots of quilts.

Fatima also helps her husband farm. The day we delivered the sewing machine and quilt rack she and her sons were helping pick 6 acres of red beans. This is not an easy process.

 

Monday February 9th a visit to Rosanna's house

 

We stopped at Rosanna's house to take her sewing machine, battery and inverter.

Hanging on the wall in the kitchen was one of the back packs that Pat and her Grandma's PJs

group made for the small children in Los Tambos.

 

 

 

 

Rosanna and Daisy with their sewing machine. Rosanna has made a lot of clothes by hand for her

three daughters and she is really looking forward to having a sewing machine in the house so she can work on many sewing projects.

 

Outside Rosanna's house. This beautiful flower is taller than me.

 

 

Mr. Joe and Daisy. Daisy was in the front yard showing Mr. Joe how to feed the calves.

We are back!!!  Home without any incidents!!  Ready to start making plans for next year.
Tomorrow we will post pictures from Tuesday in LosTambos. We need to find the camera.

Our furry little friend....................NOT

Friday after working in Buena Vista we returned home parked the car in the grass. It seems

we had a tarantula kicking tires or chewing them.............whatever he is a VERY big spider.

Mark took the pictures.................thank you Mark.

 

 

Saturday evening meal with Ms Juane and the kids. BBQ chicken, rice and beans and slaw.

Mark made pineapple cobbler.....................very good!!!

The rest of the evening was spent doing needle work. It seems that JR is really getting in to this.

JR had a little mishap with his wrist but that

didn't stop him. Sunday he was at the house again needing more embroidery floss. We will show the finished product soon.

 

 

TODAY IS MONDAY ....................................................................IT SEEMS LIKE WE JUST ARRIVED.

An exciting day for Berta she now has a sewing machine with battery and inverter in her home.

Over the past year and a half she has been making clothes all by hand. She is a very talented lady.

 Berta is also one of the women who has sent some beautiful needle work back to the US

 

 

 

 

TODAY IS CLEAN UP DAY.

Clean up day for the machines....................lessons on how to care for the machines on a monthly and weekly basis. Very important for machines that are in such a humid climate.

 

One very tired little Daisy. She has been going all day, it's nap time now.

 

 

 

Here is the preview of the quilt rack Joe built. Tomorrow it will be delivered and hopefully in the next year it will get a lot of use.

 

Tomorrow will be finish up all open projects, make a few more deliveries and back to the house to pack. Out to dinner with Carmen and Faye and then ice cream with the kids.

Back in the USA soon. 

 

We started the class at Buena Vista yesterday on faith alone.

I had no interpreter. We quickly found that sewing is a universal language in itself.

My limited Spanish and their limited English we made it happen! We had a great time!

 We had 5 students, Norma, Enna, Livette, Esperanza and Mommee.

All had sewing machine experience and was quick to catch on the machines we were using.

REALLY nice to have electric power available.

We worked in the principals office and made ourselves at home.

 

 Above is Enna and Livette discussing the beautiful job they did.

 This is Mommee who makes all her clothes by hand. VERY talented seamstress. The little guy beside her is being punished. He was sent to the principal's office and found that their were 6 ladies there that made SURE he sat in his chair.

The ladies are..............left to right Ms Norma, Ms Enna and Ms Livette.

They send a very special thank you to Dorothy for their quilts. They were so excited!