Graduation and other blessings

God is good! We were so happy to travel to Missouri this past weekend to celebrate our son's graduation from college. We loved visiting our family and sharing many precious moments with them.Missouri State University is the home of the Bears.It's a huge university. They held three separate graduations ceremonies just to accommodate the crowds.What a fun day! We enjoyed it all from start to finish. Geoffrey earned a degree in digital film with a minor in screenwriting. Way to go, big guy!
After the ceremony, we went to Steak 'n' Shake. Geoffrey wore his robe and cap right into the restaurant.We were thrilled to spend time with friends and family members. The night before graduation, we had dinner with Geoffrey's two housemates, Cameron and Marshall. His girlfriend Kristy was home with strep. We missed seeing her!My dear friend of many years, Lucia, drove down from Jefferson City to have lunch with us. She always fires my creativity and gets me thinking in new directions. I'm praying she'll come to visit us in Atlanta very soon!We had a total blast with the McClure family at their Lake of the Ozarks condo. Not only did they put on a grand dinner and breakfast for us, but Sharon got us all laughing right away. When she sat down in the "spare" chair -- a camp stool -- and sank nearly to her chin, we all collapsed in gales of guffaws! Oh, how I love my friend Sharon!
On Sunday morning, we had the joy of worshiping at our home church, First Baptist Church, Camdenton. Our pastor invited us to share an update on our ministry. We heard a great sermon that relit our fires! And we rejoiced to spend time with many precious friends. Virgil and Norma -- encouragers, friends, supporters, family in Christ -- took us to lunch. What fun!The best part of our trip was visiting family. We got to stay at the home of my father, Harold Cummins, and his sweet wife, Phyllis. They are happy together, and I loved seeing my dad looking so healthy and young. We all miss my mother a lot, but we're very glad God put Phyllis into our family. I was so excited to carve out a few hours with my beautiful sister, Libby. She flew in from a conference on Sunday evening and met us for breakfast on Monday morning. I gave her a necklace made by one of the women in our program. When we're apart, I really miss my sister. We are very different, but we share a past that no one can ever understand -- except the two of us.And speaking of family, Duce the cat has been living with Geoffrey since we moved to Georgia. We're glad he has a good home. He was feeling very fat and sassy. It was fun to snuggle him again.
I took some photos of old pictures I found at my father's house. This one is my parents on their wedding day. Here's my mother not long after we arrived in Kenya. How about those cat's-eyes glasses? Maridadi sana! Very beautiful!Who is this little girl in her pretty sari? Oh, it's me! When I look at this photo, I understand why God gave me such an unusual life. From age 3 when I lived in Bangladesh, through many years in Kenya, the Lord was preparing me for ministry in Clarkston, Georgia.

Tim and I are so grateful for our son and his accomplishments . . . for our beloved family . . . for our loving friends . . . and most of all, for our God.

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "Plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Oh, what a beautiful morning . . . Oh, what a beautiful day!

I picked up my precious Somali friend, Hinde (above), this morning at 8:30 for our market event at Intown Community Church. She and our volunteer, Brittany, helped set up the tables and arrange our wares. We are excited about our $10 market bags . . .
and our scarves, aprons, jewelry, and dishcloths.
The women of OASIS Bible Study welcomed us to their end-of-season brunch. I enjoyed worshiping with them and hearing their testimonies. They supported us by donating fabric and yarn and by purchasing well over $200 worth of Refugee Sewing Society products. Thanks, OASIS!
I rushed back to the community center where women were already assembling for "Advanced Sewing" class and "Yarn Group." My heart soars when I see these women helping each other measure, pin, and cut.
Today, Dhaka taught a lesson in making market bags. She is the Queen of Market Bags! Today she sold $40 worth of bags. Yay, Dhaka! She hopes to purchase a sewing machine of her own, and I'm so proud of her.

Indira demonstrated typical Bhutanese style work stance: "the squat." How these ladies fold themselves down and then get back up again so gracefully I will never know!After the women measured and cut the fabric, they set to work sewing. Please pray that we will find a way to pay for repairs to our sewing machines. One is already broken, and others are acting cranky. We try to keep them oiled, but they get a LOT of use!
Over in the yarn room, another of our wonderful volunteers, Shirley Thomas, was working with 13 students. That's a bunch -- especially when they speak at least 6 different languages. But they listen well when Shirley speaks! Our two Iraqi students helped each other with knitting basics.Hanaa (below) can knit and crochet very well!
Other women put their skills to work making baby blankets and dishcloths.I really LOVE those 100% cotton dishcloths. You can wash them, bleach them, put them in the dryer, or launder them on the top level of your dishwasher. No more icky, nasty, bacteria-laden sponges! We sold a bunch of dishcloths at our morning market.

Saraswati was in our bead class during our last session. She has chosen to join the yarn group for this 8-weeks. I love to see the women migrate from one group to another!As the day wound to an end, three lovely young women from Temple University popped in for a visit. To our delight, they went shopping!Each woman purchased a necklace -- and it so happened that the makers of the necklaces were in the sewing room! Radhika (on the right) helped arrange hair and necklaces for her customers.But she wasn't too happy to find her necklace UNDER the woman's collar. Immediately she decided to set things straight. That necklace had to go on the OUTSIDE where it would show!That's better! A satisfied necklace-wearer and a happy beadmaker!
Jasoda is one of our most delightful students. She always has a smile, and she was thrilled to sell her necklace to one of our visitors! The Refugee Sewing Society always has satisfied shoppers. Thank you, ladies, for your kindness and generosity.I have to end with this photo. I always tease Nar because every time I get out my camera, she is ironing. And her hair is always draped over her face. Finally today I got a shot of this beautiful young woman. Hi, Nar!
Many thanks to everyone who purchased items from The Refugee Sewing Society today. We are honored to support these women who have suffered so much in their lives. And thanks also to our blog readers. We take a lot of encouragement from your comments and emails. Bless you!

The world at our door . . .

What a fun day we had! Today, God brought the world to the doorstep of The Refugee Sewing Society. We held registration for our May-June class session, and we were so excited to see familiar faces and meet new friends. In our sewing, yarn, and beading classes, we will serve 39 women during these next two months. Take a look a some of our blessings!

We have students from Iraq . . .Somalia . . .Bhutan . . .Morocco . . .Burundi . . .Ethiopia . . .And Sudan . . .Have you ever seen such beautiful faces? I love these women already!

Please pray for our teachers -- Kelly, Shirley, Brittany, and me. Please pray for God to send us more volunteers. And most of all, please pray for the ladies we will serve.

As we say in Swahili, "Bwana asifiwe!" "Praise the Lord!"