Stacy* looked around the room. It was filled with women who were recovering addicts. Behind the expectant faces were stories of poor choices, wrong turns and heartaches of every kind. Stacy wasn’t sure why each of them had ended up in this room with her. But each lady had before her scraps of cloth, thread, and other materials. Today, they were gathered to learn quilting. As well, they were about to learn what God had to say about life, death, and life after death.
About four years earlier, Stacy had attended a GoodSeed TERM Seminar. There, she had been thrilled to learn a simple, clear and effective way to share the gospel. She had journeyed through By This Name and, since then, had been waiting for God to show her how she could share the good news with others.
She related to us that the Lord inspired her to do a “Good News Quilt.” The idea was simple: she would design a quilt with panels that served as visual aids highlighting the gospel story. Drawing from By This Name, she would teach through the gospel message as she taught women how to quilt. In this way, she was offering women a chance to learn a new skill and, at the same time, hear God’s plan of redemption.
Stacy took her idea and offered quilting classes to women’s rehabilitation centres, prisons and women’s shelters. A number of them responded positively and thus her ministry began.
It requires three sessions for her to teach the women how to quilt. As she integrates each piece into the full quilt, she explains a section of the gospel story. In addition, she asks the women to tell the story back to her in order to gauge their understanding.
At one quilting class, there was a lady who was going through drug rehab. She sat through each session and gospel presentation but Stacy was not sure what if anything the lady had understood. At the end of the day, this lady took her work to show her supervisor. At her own initiative, she explained the meaning of each piece of the quilt. Stacy and her team were amazed at her understanding. It was encouraging for them to see that the time and care they took in explaining the gospel following the architecture of By This Name was working.
Since then, Stacy has also taught the quilting class in churches. She had expected the church ladies to find her teaching too simple but she’s been told that even long-time Christians had never heard the gospel explained so simply or clearly. Now, other churches are requesting her to conduct more classes. Some groups have even asked if she can sell them her quilting kits!
We are excited to see her ministry developing. We’re glad she had benefitted from her time at the TERM Seminar. As Stacy seeks God’s help in officially setting up her ministry, please pray for her team and for Stacy. May her ministry be effective in sharing the gospel and providing hope to vulnerable women.
(*Name changed as per GoodSeed policy.)
Photos courtesy of Stacy.
Do you have a story to share as well? Write to us! We’d love to hear from you. Or leave us a comment below.
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