Dear friend!
Please allow me to wish you all a great, blessed and fruitful 2025. I hope you have started the year on a good note and that this year will be filled with amazing things that God has in store for you and your loved ones. Reflecting on 2024 at Creative Hands in Greece, I would like to share some exciting things that God did and I know that everything which we experienced was because of your prayers and your generosity.
Joy
In February of 2024 Joy joined Creative Hands with her son. When she came she had no idea how to sew or weave and we took time to train her and now almost a year later she can weave and sew. Her son had just turned 3 years old when they came and was not in school and there were a lot of things we had to help Joy with as far as her son was concerned and now almost a year later, he is in school, a flourishing young boy who is soon to be 4 years old. Joy did her training until April 2024 when we employed her on a part time basis working 4 hours a day and then in September we increased her hours to 6 hours a day and her son was enrolled in kindergarten and we have seen this single headed household thrive and grow in the local community. We are grateful that you allowed the Lord to use you through prayer and your financial partnership in changing Joy and her son’s narratives. I know that the future is better because you have cared and continue to do so. We pray that the Lord will richly bless you together with your loved ones.
Noor
Noor is from Syria and she came to learn weaving and sewing at the same time as Joy and two other women from Egypt. Having lived and worked in North Africa and the Middle East among Islamic contexts, I know that community is very important for them. After about 3 months of training Noor and two other Arab women stopped coming but Joy continued and we hired her. My heart was sad that Noor had stopped, I really wanted her to continue with us, but she had to make the decision for herself. In July I needed someone to help with sewing, so I approached Noor on her own within the context of her family and invited her to come and work part time at Creative Hands and thankfully she agreed and joined the team as our seamstress. She does amazing work when it comes to sewing. Once again thank you for your support through donations and purchasing of products which allow us to pay salaries for women like Noor. She is married and has three children and we would treasure your prayers for the whole family.
Tigist
Tigist is originally from Ethiopia and the way I met her was truly a God ordained meeting. She is a single mother raising her 5 year old sweet and beautiful girl. It was in August 2024 that I went to visit another Ethiopian family in town, a family that we helped resettle in 2022-2023 after being deported from Sweden. Tigist’s story was a bit similar to the other family’s story and she was also sent back by the Swedish government because they would not renew her documents. She was desperate and did not know what to do. Because of our partnership with other organizations in the greater Athens area working with displaced people we were able to get the renewal of her papers started and also enroll her daughter in a nearby school. She did her training and on the 1st of November we hired her as one of the weavers at Creative Hands. She is so grateful and we are thankful that together we are being used by God to re-write her story and I believe that as we continue serving God together this woman’s story will never be the same. My desire for this young woman is that she will be grounded in God and trust Him with all her heart. Thank you for praying for her.
Rose
Rose is from South Sudan and she is very new to Creative Hands but the way she came to us was truly orchestrated by God. One thing I can say for sure is that she loves Jesus, has a personal relationship with Him, loves the word of God and hears from God. I received a message from Rose at the end of November and her message basically asked if I could help her because she had heard that I help women. She was given my name by another refugee woman in the camp where she was staying in Corinth about 3 hours away from us. After our initial exchange of messages I invited her to come and visit and she did. She stayed for a week, liked what she saw and learned, went back to the camp, packed her bags and has been with us since then. She is a single mother of two daughters Paulina and Marcy who are staying with her brother and his family in Uganda. We would like to employ her starting February 2025. Your prayers and financial giving towards Rose will be greatly appreciated. Like I mentioned earlier she loves Jesus and I know that God sent her to encourage me and be a prayer partner with me and I see that as God’s grace and goodness.
2025
We want our work to grow and expand not just in terms of helping more women, but we want to impact the community that we live in. We are going to start meeting weekly for prayer and Bible study in the Catholic Church in our city and we have already met and spoken with the priest and we have his permission to do that. Prayers for this initiative will be greatly appreciated.
Pray with us for more places to sell our products and that people will be willing to pay the price that they are worth.
Thank you for continued prayers and financial support.
We love and appreciate you and your loved ones.
Blessings,
Cecilia
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