A round-up of some of the exciting things to cross my desk in the last week:
1. Thriving Business: Brown Ngoma, his wife, Beatrice, and his daughter, Glydess, reported that their “Christ Shop Groceries” is thriving due to high demand for soap, sugar, and Coca-Cola. The 3-month report showed that since they started the business they’ve earned $182 in profit; enough to buy a bicycle!
Brown Ngoma helps customers at his market grocery shop.
After visiting Malawi last year, I know that having a bicycle will make it much easier for them to travel the long distances between home, the market, and the city. Congratulations on the successful business Ngomas!
2. Seed story: Vegetable and flower seeds donated from Thomsen’s Garden Center in Alameda made it to our volunteer coordinator Godfrey Matovu in Uganda last week!
It’s always a joy to know that the package made it across the world and safely arrived in the hands of our partners. Many thanks to Aileen Gillem, our “volunteer angel,” who sends the seeds from the mailing station in her garage.
3. Giving: “I give so that you may [can] give.” This teaching from the Hindu Vedas is a beautiful counterpart to the Bible verse Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you.” And both explain the underlying justification for our Sharing the Gift program, encouraging people to pay-it-forward to another person in their community.
4. Speaking of Sharing the Gift: This photo shows happy children in Uganda who received a piglet as a gift from one of the local mat-making businesses. The business was started in 2010 with a Spirit in Action Small Business Fund grant and continues to prosper today.
5. Building a better world: This beautiful Mary Oliver poem, “Song of the Builders”, honors the various pathways to a purpose-driven life.
Have a good week! Be well. Spread good today.
