Prayer Shawl Ministry Update

Dear Ladies,

I am not believing how close we are getting to Christmas!  Who wound the clock up so tight that it is going around too fast?  I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend and are getting ready to celebrate the birth of our savior.  Today I heard a startling fact in youth services.  Did you know that Americans spent $450 billion dollars on holiday season gifts last year and this amount is about the same for the past few years.  Did you also know that the water crisis in Africa is the number one killer of people?  There is such a shortage of clean drinking water that the rate of cancer and noncancerous tumors is way higher than elsewhere.  The World Health Organization estimates that it would take $10 billion dollars to construct enough wells for the people there.  Let’s do the math….450 billion on gifts…and 10 billion to do God’s work helping one another.  It made me want to cry!  I hope that you will keep this statistic in mind as you go shopping this year.  Consider sending someone you know a donation to a charity in lieu of another Christmas sweater, or another DVD or computer game.  You can help save the world and encourage exercise at the same time.  WIN!!!

Last weekend was communion Sunday and we received about 20 skeins of yarn.  Today we received about 8 skeins.  It is a start for our next supply of shawls.  I am going to encourage you to start using bigger needles/hooks and use some more open patterns.  We need some shawls that are not as thick or as heavy for some folks who need shawls but not necessarily warmth.  If you are about to start a project, please try to make us some lighter ones to stock up on. 

I have been approached by the Costa Rica mission group about helping provide 150 prayer shawls/blankets for their trip in July.  Now, most folks would say this is impossible, however, I just witnessed God provide more than that in blankets for soldiers in the last month.  I have talked with Lisa H. about doing some blankets and mixing them with some shawls.  These shawls can be open patterns, and not as wide as a lap blanket size.  I am asking you to be in prayer for this project.  We have not made a commitment yet, but if God wills it to be, He will find a way to provide for it with materials and workers. 

I hope to see you on Wednesday.  We will meet this one and next, but then break until January 5^th.  Need pattern ideas?  Just let me know and I can send some your way.  I am researching some new ones from Library books and will share the scanned copies once done.

Lots of love to all of you,

Dana