Kalispera and Good Evening, my lovely supporters!
First, I want to open by thanking you all from the bottom of my heart. So many of you are reading my updates and praying for me and simply not forgetting about me! I feel the love and support and prayers all the way in Greece!
Here’s the latest:
Last week had a slower start, but it ended well and was promising of exciting things for the coming weeks! Threads of Hope really needed help preparing fabric so we could speed up the turn-over rate. That’s where I came in handy. I remade old, tattered patterns (hehe, tattered patterns), cut out multiples of each piece using my handy dandy fabric pizza cutter thingy majig, and I cuddled babies so they wouldn’t distract their working mommas. I was happy to help with tedious cutting chore for the sake of speeding up the efficiency of production– plus I secretly love busy work like that. And of course, the babies are too cute for words and have skin softer than butter, they’re no work at all! I wish you all could see the faces I get to look at and kiss — there’s nothing cuter. Unfortunately, you cannot see pictures of them because we have to protect their privacy as well as the privacy of the mother. Instead, you will just have to use your imagination to picture these adorable, chubby-cheeked African babies.
Every morning of last week, I tried a new coffee shop. Man, I thought San Diego had a lot of coffee shops– there are four on every corner! I could be here for a year and still not try them all! I am, however, finding the sweetest of baristas who speak to me in English and even teach me a little Greek! The one I go to almost every weekday by Threads has about 4 baristas that know me now and give me sweet, warm welcomes when I visit.
After work on Friday, a few of us went to one of the beaches outside of the city and swam in the “sea”, not the ocean. It was nice to spend time with two other volunteers outside of the office. I have never had trouble being myself with people, but I usually take a little bit to warm up and really relax and be myself. Coming out here all on my own, I found that I jumped right in when it came to meeting people. I don’t feel shy with the women at Threads, nor with the volunteers who run the show. I know, I know, some of you reading this are thinking “You? SHY??” Believe it or not, I can be more subdued when I first step into a new environment. My subdued may look more outgoing than your subdued, but it’s still subdued for me… subdued, subdued, subdued, haha. Either way, it’s been interesting to see how comfortable I feel with the Threads of Hope staff (volunteers) and women transitioning out of prostitution (workers).
That brings me to today: One of the women INSISTED she buy me coffee. This woman in particular is such a sweet joy! She makes me laugh so hard and she is so loving and warm. I don’t think she knows how amazing she is. In fact, I would venture to guess none of these women know how wonderful they are. How could they? They’ve been bought, used and discarded!
Another one of the women was asking me why I am here helping them. She told me she liked having me here and she wants me to come back again. My heart was filled with joy. Thank you God, for giving her the words and boldness to share that with me. It was really, really nice to hear I was a valued person, even just to one woman.
Shortly after that lovely conversation, I was asked to lead the Bible study for a small group of the women/workers. I was asked to do this last week and there was a miscommunication and I thought I was doing it tomorrow, but they meant today! Hahaha, here goes nothing!! Nah, I was mostly prepared. I just hadn’t overthought it yet, so maybe it’s best I didn’t get “fully” prepared. We talked about the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12 and it was such a sweet Bible time. I love hearing the Bible read in a strong African accent. 🙂 These women are so interested in Jesus and are hungry for Him– it’s really beautiful to see. From what I could tell, they understood the passage today and I am set to lead a bigger Bible study on Friday!! What a morning!
The rest of my day was spent with 2 one-year olds and a six-year old. The little one year old boy is African and, according to his mother, he only lets “white people” pick him up. I did think it was a pleasant surprise that minutes after I met him, he was already looking up at me with his arms up, wanting to be held. I expected him to need to warm up to me a little more. I wasn’t complaining, I held that baby all day long. I wore his drool and his snot with pride. –That’s not all I had on my hands; the little girl that was jealous I was holding other kids besides her from the other day, was there today too. A few times, I had her on one arm and him on the other. Today was pure fun and cuteness. BUT, I did learn that if the Lord wills it, I do not want twins or babies too close together in age. Having two one-year-olds was exhausting and messy! –And I only had them for a few hours! Awh, best Monday ever.
Lastly, I wasn’t specific in my last post, but the project I am working on for Threads of Hope is revamping their website and social media sites. Please visit https://threadsofhope.gr and @threadsofhopehellas on Instagram and Facebook. This organization is a non-profit and it is run by volunteers. All of the products are made by the women who have escaped or are in the process of escaping prostitution. Each of them have worked very hard to learn a skill that no one can take away from them. Almost all of the fabric is locally sourced Greek fabric and 100% of the money raised contributes to the women as they rebuild their lives.
Thank you for making it this far. Please continue praying for me and the people with whom I am coming in contact.
Love you all!
Xoxo,
Hannah
Hannah in the Homeland 