Peru

The Full Circle of God's Mission

By Hunter Farrell

In 2001, the Presbyterian Hunger Program gathered four Peruvian churches and several faith-based non-profit organizations into the Joining Hands Against Hunger Network to strengthen the groups' capacity to help people living in extreme poverty to improve their quality of life.

Mission partners in Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery, under Presbytery Executive Paul Reiter's leadership, joined in, developing a "fair trade bridge" between the presbytery and 150 Peruvian poor artisans (mostly weavers), whom the Joining Hands Network had organized. Together, the presbytery and the Joining Hands Network train artisans in product design and business skills and market their goods in churches and fair trade stores across the Uunited States. The artisans' products are now listed in the SERV catalogue (an international fair trade organization), and their organization has recently been certified by the International Fair Trade Association.

A grant from the Presbyterian Women's Birthday Offering enabled the Joining Hands Network to increase the project scope to include 250 women, and the Fair Trade Bridge sold more than $100,000 worth of quality Peruvian handicrafts in 2007. Artisans' income has increased up to 400 percent, providing badly needed cash for food, medicine, and school fees and uniforms. Giddings-Lovejoy has "spun-off" the ministry into a presbytery-related 501.c.3 organization that continues to engage American Presbyterians and Peruvian Christians in mission.

Last year, when the women were asked how they wanted to invest their profit ("sewing machines or training?"), they asked if they could send a gift to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to support the families affected by Hurricane Katrina. After they sent in their gift, one of the artisans remarked that she was thankful to God for the chance to help.

In mission, love comes around full circle drawing all of us into the circle of God's family.