Once a Sewing Group, Always a Sewing Group

Or better said, Once a Sewing Group and STILL a Sewing Group. God's hand at work again. I went to a meeting with the sewing group in Zacango last night that lasted 4 hours. I went ready to hear them say that they all want out of the group. That's it's been too much work with little results - no take home income yet. I've been praying about them a lot. And I've been praying for me too - asking for wisdom as I discern what my role is with this group. Reminding myself that in the end, I will go home, this is their group, and how can we work together to make this sustainable for them.

I went to the meeting knowing that I couldn't/shouldn't/ wouldn't take on the "cheer leader" role this time. I've done that before, for better or for worse. God sent a different cheer leader. Bernadina's husband came and participated in the meeting, and he was awesome! He is officially a member of the group, but he doesn't sew. He does other things to help the group like set up shelves, help with the electrical installation, and like last night - show up just when he is needed. Last night he was very encouraging and offered to help buy material (a huge offer and very much needed as this requires a 5 to 8 hour bus trip to a bigger city and NO one else wants to go), work on a "what we need" list, and visit local government organizations to share the needs list with them.

We went around the room and each person was (FINALLY!) able to say whether their preference was an "informal" group where they sew whatever whenever, or a "formal" group where they have set hours and everyone works together. EVERYONE said they want a formal group. They liked the group how it was a year ago when everyone would work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (You can imagine what's going on inside of me, listening to them say exactly the opposite of what I was prepared to hear....of course I would love to see them stay together - but I know it will only work if THEY want to stay together. They have to do it for themselves, not for me, I keep reminding myself.)

Almost 4 hours later we decided to say goodnight and agreed to meet again the very next day to continue working on the organizational aspect of the group. More to come, thanks be to God.