From Invisible to Invincible

“I use to be invisible to my husband and his family. I was uneducated and treated as if I had no value or worth. I was not seen or heard. Since graduating from www.shiningalight.org ‘s program I am now respected. They ask me advice and include me in family decisions. They want my opinion. I use to be invisible but now I am invincible”. These words came from Christina one of our graduates who is now our Training Center Manager.

Christina, like all our other graduates is creating a “Ripple Effect” in her village by sharing her knowledge of Money Management with more then 100 people. She has taught 24 people to bead so they may earn an income. She shares her faith and The Gospel with hundreds of people and her knowledge of Clean Water has spread to over 100 people as well. That means that the $2500 it cost to Empower Christina has now been broken down to around $8 per person or family. If one person receives the knowledge then an entire family will benefit.

Gorgeous Products by Our Students

There are a few ways to support our students and raise the $2500 that is empowering so many. I have been doing “Sandal Parties” for the last 6 years that raise most of the funds to support the Tanzanian Side of www.shiningalight.org This makes Tanzania and our Training Center over their sustainable. You can Host a party by calling up friends and family and gathering them at your house. I will come with all of our products (not just sandals) and the women get to try on cute sandals, skirts, belts and jewelry. All of the proceeds from these purchases go back to Christina and women like her,  plus all the families they are passing on their education to.

Hosting a Party Can Change So Many Lives

It’s an easy and fun way to help! You can email me Jennifer@shiningalight.org and set up a party today. Just an open home can help so many lives. Your willingness to do this makes a huge difference!

Checkout our products at www.shiningalight.org

Shining a Light gets a little brighter

I want to tell you about Shining a Light. I want to tell everyone about Shining a Light. The reason? It’s pretty amazing! Amazing, because of the results. There are countless success stories of our students and the empowerment that is being passed on through them, transforming lives that didn’t even go through our program. A huge ripple effect of transformation and empowerment has been created that was completely unexpected. It’s also amazing because the person God used to get this all started was also unexpected. He didn’t use a missionary, or a pastor or someone with a degree in community development.

No, God chose a drug addict to do this. Pulling me out of overwhelming darkness in to His marvelous light. Proving that He is faithful and nothing is impossible with Him.

Since 2011 Shining a Light has trained and educated 24 women through a two-year program. A program that is unique because of the complete and holistic education being taught. It's not just about training them in skills to support their families, or education about clean water, or how to manage money, or teaching them English, sharing the Gospel or how to start a business. The empowerment isn’t just one of those areas. It’s ALL of them! That’s what makes this program so powerful.

What started with a desire to see the women in Tanzania earn money to support their families has developed in to an extensive, overall transformation. We have accomplished results that are overcoming cultural barriers and economic hurdles. Hurdles these women or those of us who chased after this vision never believed possible. 

As the Founder I believe Shining a Light’s vision is extraordinary. So, I’ve dedicated the last six years to sharing it with everyone I could. Passing along updates on graduates, building and improving the curriculum and constantly seeking better ways to prove to these women they are capable of greatness. That dedication is now moving us forward, thinking bigger and preparing us to match their greatness by expanding and transforming many more lives. 

Greatness like seeing our students upgrade their children’s education from government schools to private schools. Greatness like 242 people being trained in a job skill by our graduates, making them employable and capable of sustaining their families. Greatness like discovering that our graduates are giving seminars on clean water and money management at their churches. Greatness like being so bold to share their faith with over 800 people. 

They have us feeling inspired and overwhelmingly obligated to grow, open more Training Centers and continue to provide the resources and opportunities for our students to empower and transform the people of Tanzania. We can’t stop now, friends. This is just the beginning of something so unique and surprisingly special - Tanzanians Empowering Tanzanians. Africa making huge changes not by westerners or a celebrity but by their very own neighbor, a local, someone just like them. 

In October we decided as a Board that we would do everything in our power to move forward, which meant transitioning from one woman’s vision to a team of dedicated hearts fighting to see Africa step up to the challenge of sustaining themselves. We added board members to fill emtpy roles, but with the key role of growing from one Training Center to many. We hired a marketing firm that would help get these incredible numbers and amazing stories out to as many people as possible. And most exciting, a very talented, high profile video producer has volunteered his time to travel to Tanzania to catch all this awesomeness on film. The goal is to share these stories with so many people that Tanzania turns into a country that supports itself and teaches others to do the same. 

This blog is going to share not only our journey as an organization, but more importantly, we want you to meet these amazing women. We want you to hear their stories of transformation and feel connected. This amazing work is only possible because of supporters like you, and we want to share with you all the wonderful work that God is accomplishing. Let's empower some... wait... no, TONS of women, children, families and communities in Tanzania. And it is our prayer that all of us, even you reading this blog, get inspired to continue the ripple effect of empowerment and transformation in our own lives.