Goals are being achieved!

It’s exciting to know Creative Women of the World is going in the right direction as we watch our mission being accomplished.  Our primary goal is to offer access and choice to women who are working their OWN way out of extreme poverty, human trafficking and disaster through creative business development.  One of our great examples of achievement is in Kenya, thanks to Jen Foster and Grace Mwangi.

Jen was CWOW’s first long term International Advocate and w  She introduced us to a Kenyan friend of hers with whom she had worked on a previous volunteer trip.   Grace had been married to a wonderful man named James who headed an organization that matched volunteers from overseas with local needs.  Sadly, early in their happy marriage he was ruthlessly murdered.   She was left with a young child and no income.  She is an amazing woman though and could not be defeated.  She begged God to help her find a way to use her creative skills to build a business that could support her daughter and her.  She was excited to become connected to CWOW and quickly saw potential for herself and other women in her country!

as assigned to Kenya in 2012.

Jen spent her first term developing relationships with the group of women Grace had gathered to be trained for business.   Jen and her first term co-advocate, Tina Moseley and I did the initial training and then Jen carried on from there.  Our goal was to prepare the women to develop their own businesses that could support them enough to send their children (and in some cases grandchildren)  to school, to pay for medicine and to provide sufficient food and housing for their families.  They named their business “Mwangatu”, which means “Light of Hope”.  Jen mentored them through normal business obstacles.  She encouraged them to keep accurate records so they could keep their businesses going.  She gave them spiritual tools to keep them encouraged.  And all the while, she gave more and more of the leadership to Grace.  When I went to Kenya this past February and in the two trips Nicole Moore took, we observed a beautiful level of confidence and eagerness in Grace to move forward.  She spoke eloquently at an Africa Discipleship Conference in Nairobi then traveled to Uganda with me and proved herself a true leader!  Surely, THIS is what we at CWOW hoped for!

While Jen was mentoring women for CWOW, she also had a major responsibility in overseeing the Kenya Simba Scholarship program.  She visits children who have received sponsorships in four schools spread out over the country.  By turning over the leadership of mentoring women to Grace, she now plans to devote full time toward building more sponsors so these precious children can be educated. My husband, Ron, and I sponsor Sarah at Rimbe school near Mombassa and it is with great joy and purpose we send in our regular support checks.  I hope you too will consider sponsoring a child! Follow the link above to find out how.

Jen will be returning to the States the first part of May.  I hope you will express to her how much you appreciate the work she has done for CWOW to empower women by reminding them of their value and encouraging them to honor the gifts within them that have prepared them to run sustainable businesses.  Good work, Jen!  Thank you!