We Need Your Hearts & Thumbs For 24 Hours

Thank you for opening your heart to learn about the women of Arusha, Tanzania and about Shining a Light. We are in desperate need to raise money to continue to grow our program. We need your help and the help of everyone you know.

 24 Hour Twitter & Facebook-a-Thon Fundraiser

   March 4th & March 5th starts at 7am 

                       

Every donation, every tweet, every pair of sandals sold and every like of our Facebook page; 
increases the awareness of Shining a Light and helps the women and their families that are members 
of our “Women to Work” program.

Arusha, Tanzania is stricken with poverty, single parenting is the norm due to HIV/Aids and rape. Hundreds 
of children live on the streets. Problems are everywhere, it is heartbreaking, we can choose to look the other way or we can break the cycle of poverty by offering a hand up.

Here’s How You Can Help 

Like & Share Shining a Light Facebook Page

Ask your facebook friends to help promote 
our 24 Hr Twitter & Facebook –A-Thon

Copy & Paste these tweets March 4th & March 5th

Follow us @ShiningaLightTZ 

            

24 Hr Tweetathon $10 Changes The Lives Of Women & Children Donate at Shining a Light Please RT #ShiningaLight

           

24 Hr Tweetathon Buy A Pair Sandals With A Soul A Hand UP Not A Hand Out #ShiningaLight Please RT 

24 Hr Tweetathon Every Dollar Helps Donate Now Help Empower Women Please RT #ShiningaLight

24 Hr Tweetathon Sharing Is Caring Donate Today Every Dollar Helps #ShiningaLight Please RT

Learn about Shining a Light

Buy a pair of Sandals With A Soul hand beaded by the women in Shining a Light organization

Visit  Shining a Light to learn all about the women in our program and to make a donation

From the bottom of our hearts thank you for your help! Want to talk with Jennifer (517) 974-3006

Since November, Shining a Light has been traveling the midwest and a few other places sharing the amazing stories of transformation in the lives of our women in Tanzania. Stories of hope and faith, ups and downs but most of all stories of Empowerment.

Our training center in Arusha, Tanzania is based around women who have had missed opportunities and a lack of resources to do the most basic of things, provide for their families. But now thanks to many generous supporters, lots of prayers and dedication of a few visionaries we are seeing change not only in these women but in their husbands, children and their communities.

Our founder, Jennifer VanderGalien is in the states until May. There are many more opportunities to catch her story and the story of Shining a Light but to also book your own speaking engagement. Just send us an email jennifer@shiningalight.org or find us on our website www.shiningalight.org or many of our social media sites Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN.

Bibles

  There is an awesome excitement in our workshop these days. Our Bible studies have taken on a new feeling as our Muslim students and those who have never had faith request Bibles and ask many questions. They have begun morning Bible studies together and have even been leading their own studies at home with their families.

Little Esther

Do you remember little Esther? Last year we had surgery on her legs after they were broke by an abusive step father. Then we had her fitted for a brace that she wore for a year to heal one of her legs properly but today we removed the brace and now she is jumping, dancing and twirling like any other 6 year old little girl.

Baby's Birthday

The work that Shining a Light does is empowering women. We work to train women in areas that will allow them to provide for themselves and their children. Along with this awesome work of transformation that God has allowed me to share in, I get to love on and minister to the children in my village here in Tanzania.

 

The other day we found out that it was Baby's, our little neighbor girl, 6th birthday. Knowing that birthdays are not special around here and that most kids living in extreme poverty as Baby is, rarely know their age let alone their birthday, we decided to go all out and throw her a party.

I dug out any and every toy, craft, balloon etc that I had remaining from friends visits, baked a cake and ordered sodas from the local shop and opened the gates to as many kids as I had sodas.

Donned in her homemade princess crown and handmade dress that came from one of our Shining a Light ladies, Baby, jumped, laughed, played and ate junk food until her hearts content.

My life is full of challenges living and working in a country where

 justice and equality is nonexistent but last Tuesday 

I had a day that makes it all worth it.

Sharing the Gospel

This past week we had a break down of the Gospel. I have been teaching on Business as a Mission for the past month and was getting a lot of questions that made me think that maybe their idea of the Gospel isn't quite clear and that maybe even some of them didn't know it at all. So, Screech!!!! I put on the breaks and took a few steps back. I began to think about how to share it without making it long complicated and more confusing. It's not that i think the Gospel is confusing but translating it into a different language in a different culture isn't always easy. I have had many, MANY misunderstandings the past 4 years i have been here.

First of all we bought Bibles. My friend Kendall and I ( we went through Teen Challenge together) got all excited about sharing this important story with our women. We bought Bibles, found a new believers Bible Study and Prayed for about a week that God would open their hearts.

We met last week and just shared our heart. I told them what Jesus did for me and what he is still doing everyday. I gave Bibles to Muslims who were excited to hear more and we had ladies sharing what God means to them. Afterwards we prayed. I asked if any had prayer requests and they laughed as they all put their hands up as if saying "who doesn't?"

This is what it's all about. I work so hard to make a quality sandal, manage our employees, work on contracts and job descriptions but this is the real work, the work that will really transform these women and their families.

Dog Goes to Church!

Last Sunday I woke up with an overwhelming feeling that I just wanted to stay home, skip church and relax. I have a friend visiting from the US and we had been running around all week. I had my personal devotions which talked about how important fellowship with the saints is and that going to church puts us in community with other believers and it's important for our "walk" with Him. Ok! So I started feeling a bit convicted. I said my apologies and prayed for forgiveness and asked if He could help me to become more disciplined. Then Kendall, my friend from home and I took my new puppy on a walk. As we were walking through the village a woman flagged us down and in her best English invited us to come into her church. We tried to argue that we had our dog and we were on our way for a walk but her smile was so sweet and the invitation was so heart warming that we couldn't say no. We walked in to find this broken down one room shack made into a tiny church full of children. Now, children in Tanzania are terrified of dogs so the fact that we walked in with one was more then some of them could take. We sat down in the back and expected to hear complete Swahili coming from everyone and not  understand most of what was going on but to my surprise the pastor spoke wonderful English. He explained to us that this was the children's service and that we were most welcome, so we stayed. There we sat, two church skippers, with a dog, in a service we should not have been able to understand hearing and receiving the Word of God. I walked out of there feeling so loved by my Savior. He heard my cry earlier about missing church, He excepted by apology and then found a way to show me He was thinking of me and was providing me with all I need. Thank you Jesus for making me feel so very special.