Month: September 2014

Rosemina Needs A Sponsor

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Rosemina

Rosemina lives in the rural community of Guedon. Her father and mother are unemployed. Jobs are not always available. Rosemina has 2 sisters and 2 brothers.

For fun, Rosemina enjoys playing dolls with her friends. She is in Preschool 2 where her favorite subject is drawing.

Your prayers and support will help her reach her potential.

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The above photo is of children walking to or from school in the rural community of Joineau, one of the communities in which Mission to Haiti has a sponsor school.

People in rural Haitian communities live a couple centuries behind us in regard to technology and developments. Though cell phones, TV and Internet are available in the cities, many in the rural areas have never seen a television, been on the Internet or used a cell phone. It is common to have to walk a mile for clean water, and if a child has the opportunity to attend school, he or she may have to walk a couple miles to get there.

If you are interested in sponsoring Rosemina, head on over to missiontohaiti.org.

Our Necklace Winner

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Camille from Colorado is the winner of the necklace. Thanks so much for signing up and for supporting what we are doing!

Of the handful of people who commented on facebook and here on the blog, we had a  few locals, and the states of Alabama, Colorado, Oregon and British Columbia, Canada represented. Awesome 🙂

For those who are wondering about the Haiti shipment our current count is

68 Sundresses

49 Pairs of shorts

5 Flower girl dresses

4 Mother of the Bride dresses

3 Wedding Gowns

18 Formal Gowns

Remember the deadline is October 1 for this shipment.

 

Wiskenly Needs a Sponsor

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Wiskenly

Wiskenly is another Haitian boy awaiting a sponsorship through Mission to Haiti. My kids complain about school. Wiskenly just wants the security of knowing he has the opportunity go to school every day; not just on the weeks that his parents find enough work to pay for it.

Wiskenly lives in the rural community of Guedon. His father is a farmer and his mother is a vendor. Jobs are not always available. Wiskenly has 3 sisters and 4 brothers.

For fun, Wiskenly enjoys playing with toys with his friends. He is in Preschool 2 where his favorite subject is drawing.

Your prayers and support will help him reach his potential.

Beaded Necklace Giveaway: Handmade in Uganda

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In July we had the opportunity to send a suitcase filled with dresses, shorts and sewing supplies to Iganga, Uganda through Amy from Grimes United Methodist Church. She met Florence (0ur contact and internet friend from Faith Power Assembly Church in Iganga) and hand-delivered the suitcase.

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Florence and the women in her community were so grateful for the gifts that they sent some beautiful handmade necklaces back to the US for us.

We would like to give one of these necklaces to one of you. It’s hard to believe the baby blue and white beaded necklace pictured above is made out of paper. (That cutie-pie holding the it is my seven-year-old 🙂 ) The necklace is gorgeous, and it will be given to someone who comments here or on our facebook page. All you have to do is leave a quick comment letting me know where you are from, and I’ll randomly select a winner.

Thanks to the reach of a devotion I wrote for The Upper Room a couple months ago, I have received donations and emails from a lot of new people, and now I’m curious where you all are from. (Local people feel free to leave a comment and get in on the drawing too.)

*Thanks for being a part of 500 Dresses, and don’t forget the deadline for the fall Haiti shipment is October 1.

Easy Sundress Patterns For the Sewing Novice

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One of our frequently asked questions is, what pattern do you use for dresses?

The simple answer is we use a lot of different patterns. My mom, who is a seamstress extraordinaire makes some super pretty dresses using patterns that I won’t touch.

I am mediocre on the sewing machine and prefer as few pattern pieces as possible. Plus I don’t do zippers and I try to stay away from buttons 🙂

Below are a couple easy patterns that I regularly use

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Simplicity Halter #5531

I this #5531 may be discontinued because I can only find it for sale on etsy, but I did find a similar one that you could try.

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Simplicity Halter #6478

Let me know if you give #6478 a try. I haven’t used it, but it looks very close to the one I do use.

For larger sizes I usually use the Butterick pattern below.

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 Butterick #3860

Depending on the fabric, sometimes I add a little trim to this pattern because it can look very plain.

We also accept dresses made from the pillowcase dress pattern. The following is a good tutorial.

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Pillowcase Dress Tutorial

We use the above patterns regularly, but will accept any sundress pattern you choose to use. It’s fun to have a variety of sizes and styles to ship.

Happy Sewing 🙂

Eugene Needs a Sponsor

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Eugene

This is Eugene, and she needs a sponsor. Maybe you? The following is a brief bio that I took from the Mission to Haiti website.

Eugene lives in the rural community of Guedon. Her father is a block layer and her mother is unemployed. Jobs are not always available. Eugene has 2 sisters and 2 brothers.

For fun, Eugene enjoys playing dolls with her friends. She is in 2nd grade where her favorite subject is drawing.

Your prayers and support will help her reach her potential.

 

 

Haiti Shipment Update

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Here’s a sampling of the formal dresses that will be headed to Haiti in October.

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And an update on where we stand.

Mother-of-the-Bride dresses – 4

Wedding gowns – 3

Formal Gowns – 18

Flowergirl – 4

Sundresses – 63

Shorts – 9

Sewing Machines – 6 (We actually have a few more, but will be sending 6 this time around.)

DEADLINE For this shipment – October 1.

 

 Matthew 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right,‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 

 

Gregyson Needs a Sponsor

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Gregyson Derosier

Birthdate 12/10/2004

This super-handsome 9-year-old needs a sponsor. The following is his bio from the Mission to Haiti website.

Gregyson lives in the rural community of Guedon. His father drives a motorcycle (taxi) and his mother is a vendor. Gregyson lives in an orphanage. He has 2 sisters and 3 brothers.

For fun, Gregyson enjoys playing soccer with his friends. He is in 1st grade where his favorite subject is math.

Your prayers and support will help him reach his potential.

If you are interested in sponsoring Gregyson or another child head on over to Mission to Haiti’s sponsorship page where you will find pictures of  a lot of kids who would love the security of knowing their schooling is paid for and that they will be fed.

 

Our Mission to Haiti Sponsor Kids

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Corey and I are hanging out with Lucson and Pierre in this photo. They are roughly the same ages as Carter and Owen and we have been sponsoring them through Mission to Haiti for a number of years.

On our trip to Haiti in the spring of 2012, we had the opportunity to meet these guys and give them a few gifts.

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I thought it was important to introduce them to the best college in our nation. Go Cyclones!  We also gave them soccer balls with air pumps, school supplies, some toiletry items and beans and rice.

They were very appreciative, (a good soccer ball is like gold to a Haitian kid), but I think they would have preferred going home with my camera and my cell phone. They may be poor, but they are not naive about cool electronic gadgets!

The language barrier made conversation a bit tricky, but Corey kicked the ball around with them and when it was time to go, they wanted to know when we would be back.

“When will you come see me again?” “Don’t forget me.”

I have no idea when I will see them again, but I most definitely will not forget them. Mission to Haiti is excellent with communication, and they make it easy to send food and gifts to sponsored children. We get to watch them grow up through their photos and letters. And our children get a tiny glimpse of the life of a child who was not born into a country of wealth and opportunity like they were. It is a small way of helping them see a bigger picture of the world.

I mentioned last week that I would be focusing on child-sponsorship for a while. I plan to post a child’s photo each Tuesday this month. I have no desire to guilt anyone into taking on a child sponsorship, but maybe someone out there will see a child who tugs at their heart like Love Mara tugged at Jessica’s.