Mid-year Update

Hello everyone! I pray that all of you are doing well. There are many things that need to be updated from the beginning this year.

First and foremost, I need to bring up sad news. One of our most dedicated members, Mrs. Lynn Schwindt, died March 24, 2010 in the early morning. We are really going to miss her spunky, bright, and intelligent personality. Vibrant and sassy, Ms. Lynn was always on top of every project, always there at every meeting, always there to give a word of advice. Rest in peace, Ms. Lynn, we'll see you again when the Lord comes.

On a happier note, the scarves and blankets that were to be passed out to the homeless in DC were finally delivered January 16th. Along with a group of people from the Southeast Asian SDA Church, we were invited by the Arthurs to pass out our goods as the others gave those who came by warm meals. The Arthurs have a group of people who go every other week to feed the people who come by. We joined them this time with our scarves, hats, and gloves. We tried to pair things that looked like they'd match and had a copy of Ellen White's Steps to Christ with each package.

One this that really surprised me was that there were a lot more Asian people and a lot less Hispanic people then I expected. Sadly, we only had copies of Steps to Christ in English and Spanish, but none in French or Chinese. We'll keep this in mind for next year.

A group of my friends who are not regular members of Keep n' Stitches came along to help pass out the articles of clothing. They all loved the experience and loved having the chance to help others this way. I'm sure that we will be back again this winter.

The last order of business to be updated is about the fleece blankets going to Zambia. We're almost done! Of the 115 blankets we're attempting to send, 100 are done and ready to go. We've been buying, cutting, fringing, and tying blanket after blanket... We plan to give them to Mr. S to bring to the General Conference Session happening in Atlanta in June and July where they will be picked up by the representatives of Women's/Children's Ministry of Zambia. Please pray that they will all make it to the children safely. Thank you everyone who worked so hard on making this project possible. We are doing the Lord's work.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all! Keep in Stitches has been working on many exciting projects in the past year and has more of them coming. God is blessing us and our work more than ever. There were 6 projects we were working on this past year.

A project that returned from last year (2008) is that of baby blankets for the Maluti hospital in Lesotho, Africa. We made and sent 40 blankets, but sadly only 20 were received by the hospital. The other 20 were somehow lost during the journey over. Hopeful they will someday show up. If not, we hope that they will fall into the hands of those who need them.

We started several new projects as well. One was a project for making quilts in India. We were originally going to send the quilts we made to JJ Home, an orphanage. However, plans changed and the quilts were sent instead to an Adventist Boarding School at Kollegal in Karnataka, India. There are 76 children in the school; 25 girls, 51 boys. Only 15 of the 21 quilts sent were passed out to the children as the rest were for babies and were given to mothers in need. Later on we sent 18 crocheted blankets, but that is still not enough for everyone. We will be continuing this project until everyone receives a blanket.
58 scarves/mittens set were sent to North Dakota to be delivered to needy Native American children.

140 scarves and hats were made to be distributed in December to the homeless of DC. However, due to a rather large and unexpected snow storm, we were not able to pass them out when planned. Hopefully we will get to pass them out sometime this month.

A project we have taken on, though not our own, is that of making special scarves to be distributed to spectators of the Winter Olympics that are being held in Canada this year. These scarves are to help witness to people about the love of Christ. This project was conceived by the British Columbia Conference. We are only one of many churches from the North American Division participating and are glad to do our part.

We have been working on a very special project since the spring of 2009 and is continuing into the new year. 112 fleece blankets are needed to be sent to an orphanage in Zambia. The weather is colder than many would expect in certain regions, therefore the blankets would be much appreciated. We are making "friendship knot" style blankets. Its easy and fun, but expensive.

Please pray that these projects will continue to bless those in need and that we can continue to spread God's love throughout the world. Who would have known 4 years ago that this ministry would have grown from our community, to our country, to our world. God is good.