Kickin' up our heels!

Today we had The Refugee Sewing Society Christmas party at our house -- complete with singing, dancing, eating, and getting paid lots of money!

Sharon (the cloth diaper lady) borrowed a 15-passenger van, and Sherrill (super volunteer for the beginner sewing class) drove her car filled with women. If you're going to kick up your heels, you should first kick off your shoes. After all the women had arrived, we ushered them through the buffet line.
No meat, no eggs -- the theme song of the day. The volunteers had all worked hard to make sure that none of the foods contained either ingredient that is taboo for our Muslims and vegetarian Hindus.All the women were beautifully dressed! Look at Netra in her turquoise sari.Kuresho wore a long beaded band from Somalia. Her hijab had sparkles on it.
Hinde brought Yusuf, who was an absolute angel the whole time.
Buddha wore this gorgeous salwa from Nepal.
Rabha looked as beautiful as ever.The women took their places at our very long table. We had placed nativity scenes of all types as centerpieces.After we ate, the singing and dancing began. What fun!Some of the older women did a dance I had seen at their Teej celebration.
All the volunteers decided to join in! Sharon was groovin' to the beat.
Or maybe not!
Sherrill did some fancy moves.Though the singers were Bhutanese, it was fun to see others dancing, too. Rabha from Sudan enjoyed dancing with Jasoda.
Even the ol' teacher burned up the dance floor!I also had the joy of telling the women about the birth of Jesus and His amazing love -- and sacrifice -- for all of us. After that, we gave each woman a small gift bag filled with soaps, toothbrushes, gloves, and other pretty things.

Thanks to Carol's careful calculations, we paid the women for several weeks' work at the end of the party. It's always fun to hear their squeals of joy and get such big thank-you hugs. We also had the huge joy of providing 7 women in the advanced class with brand new sewing machines. We were able to buy them for $50 right after Thanksgiving. We offered the women the opportunity to purchase them from us for $25.

Thank you for your many donations of fabric, yarn, beads, and so many other wonderful items. We also appreciate those of you who have given money. Because of you, we were able to put a sewing machine into each of these homes. Two of the advanced class women already owned machines, so now all nine are equipped.

Your prayers, volunteer hours, and other gifts of time, treasure, and talent mean so much to us. May God bless us every one!

Happy endings

You've probably heard I write Christian fiction, mostly romance, so I love happy endings. This week we've been saying farewell to our students -- just until January. The beginner sewing group has been so much fun. I love watching women who've never sewn suddenly grasp this wonderful new skill and get so excited. Many of our woman have never had any physical proof of their worth. When we hand out certificates, we see the broadest grins you can imagine. They are proud of themselves -- and rightly so!
Sherrill joined us on Tuesdays this past session -- and wow, what a great help! She has really made a difference with the beginners. They love her, as you can see!
Amy is still working with her bead group. They're such sweet women, and they are very loyal to Amy. She's been going to many different places to sell the women's jewelry, and the response has been fabulous!
Despite Indira's saucy smile, it's not all fun around the Refugee Sewing Society. Well . . . okay . . . it is all fun. But we work hard, too.
Sharon has been teaching the women to create sets of cloth diapers.She is getting some awesome sewing out of our ladies. They're making diapers, inserts, and liners. Today, Rabha made her first diaper. She was so proud of her accomplishment.
Jasoda shows another of our lovely creations. We're making uniform skirts for Muslim girls! Our Somali and Sudanese women told us about their inability to find long skirts for their daughters. Ta-dah! We made nine skirts in girls' size 14 today, and that's just for starters.
We're also having fun making fabric jewelry bags. We have two customers who are ordering from us, and we look forward to all that sewing. The women love to make jewelry bags. They tell me the bags are relaxing to sew. Great!
We've also been sewing sheets for daycare mats. That's going to be a wonderful new outreach for us. In case you're wondering why we all love working with these women, I'm adding a little photo grouping I shot this afternoon. Hinde is so expressive, and she always has BIG stories to tell. She keeps us laughing every day.Wow, I'm going to miss my friends! We'll have registration on January 18, and it seems like years away. Please keep all of us in your prayers, and check in with the blog now and then. Just because we're out of class doesn't mean it's all over. Nope, we've got a trunk show on Saturday, a wedding on Sunday, a tea party on Tuesday . . .

The Refugee Spirit

Today something rather amazing happened.

For several weeks, I had been working with a young woman from Bhutan who is in our yarn group. A gentleman wanted a 6 foot long red scarf with black lettering that read Steve the Chimneysweep. He had asked for a black border around the edge of the scarf.

This order had been placed many months ago, but I had not found anyone capable of creating -- or even willing to attempt -- such a masterpiece. Then Pabitra stepped forward and said she would like to crochet the scarf. She is a lovely, intelligent young lady, and she speaks almost perfect English.

Sharon Koerber and I enjoyed working with Pabitra as she planned out the lettering and calculated how much yarn was needed for the project. Sharon bought the yarn, and I wrote out the instructions on the back of the customer's business card.

Today Pabitra arrived with the completed scarf. As she unrolled her creation, my eyes went wide and my heart nearly stopped beating. Pabitra had painstakingly crocheted the entire set of instructions from the back of the business card. The scarf read Red cotton scarf black letters black edge Steve the Chimneysweep. What to do? What to say?

Pabitra was rightly proud of her work, and I was amazed at the careful effort she had put into the scarf. But this was definitely not what our customer had ordered. Not only that, but the cost of the yarn had already eaten a large chunk of the money Steve the Chimneysweep had offered to pay for the scarf.

I couldn't make words come out of my mouth. I had no idea what to say. So I just started praying, "Lord please tell me what to say to Pabitra!"

The words began to come. I told Pabitra the scarf was beautiful. I said there was a problem, and I explained it carefully. She said, "But I did exactly what you told me to do." I said, "Yes, you did. You crocheted exactly what I wrote. And you did a wonderful job."

After the momentary shock (hers and mine), we came up with a solution. Pabitra will keep the part of the scarf that reads Steve the Chimneysweep and add a long section of red crochet with black edging -- and NO letters.

I will keep the rest of the scarf. Red cotton scarf black letters black edge is a concrete visual aid illustrating the incredible difficulty of communication between people who speak different languages -- no matter how fluent. But it's more than that. You see, as we were discussing what to do, Pabitra said, "I will do this, because I want to please the man who ordered this scarf. That is my main interest. I want that man to be happy with his scarf."

I have no idea how many hours Pabitra spent crocheting all those instructions on that scarf. But she was not defeated by news that might have left others weeping and wailing. I have decided that we will pay her the full price of the scarf, not deducting anything for the yarn.

Pabitra is a perfect ambassador for the refugee women we serve here in Georgia. She is indomitable. She is determined. She has the spirit of a survivor. Whether it's ethnic cleansing or a set of confusing instructions, she will not be defeated. Ever.

I am honored and humbled to be surrounded by such women.

Home work ... and rest!

Rest time is a precious commodity in the Palmer home these days. Tim and Andrei are working full time -- plus drivng a forty-five minute commute each way. I'm racing from RSS classes to markets and back home to write a book that's due in January. We're dog-tired!After the bullet went through Andrei's apartment window, we moved him to our house. Our friend, Bob Cornett, and his wonderful crew have been converting our garage into a small apartment for Andrei. Chris has done a lot of the work, and we've enjoyed feeding him at our table now and then.TIME FOR THE REVEAL! "Driver, move that bus!" Well, we didn't have a bus, but Andrei enjoyed the big moment anyway. Ta-da!Awesome!
Andrei is particularly proud of the pedestal sink he chose.
Yep, definitely a cool bathroom!
The refrigerator came in . . .and then the stove . . . and Andrei is at last living in his little home sweet home! When he's not at work, he is usually making cars. Here's an MG, his latest creation.Take a look at that interior. Fur-lined floor and doors. Amazing dashboard. And a totally groovy steering wheel. Though pets require attention and care, our two dogs have been major stress-relievers. Sukari -- our little "brown sugar" -- arrived shivering and terrified after many days of roaming the streets dragging her leash. We put up posters, sent out emails and tried hard to find her owners. When nothing panned out, well . . . even Tessie voted to keep her new little friend.After a flea bath tonight, Tessie needed an extra dose of love.Suki was in the doldrums, too.
Misery loves company. Suki found the warmest place in the house and curled up next to Tessie, her best friend, protector, and playmate.
The coming month is completely full with events piled one upon another. We appreciate your prayers for strength, patience, kindness, and an overflowing measure of grace.

Busy, busy, busy!

Brrr! It's cold outside. But inside Clarkston Community Center, things are hot! Our women come bundled up from their long walks in the frigid air. They don't stay bundled for long.The Refugee Sewing Society's members have been blessed with a lot of contract work lately. We are using donated knit fabric to make nightgowns for dolls. These clothes are marketed through PureFUN, our business partner's daycare supply company. We're also sewing playclothes for two sizes of dolls. The women are learning a lot as they sew these detailed, tiny clothes. It's great preparation for their upcoming projects with full-sized clothing. In addition to that, we've been sewing mat sheets for daycares and drawstring-tied jewelry bags.The women love to sew market bags and refugee bags. We're making them by the bushel and hoping they'll sell well at all the markets we have in December.

A recent market was held at Emory University. We were invited to participate in a large event at which Valentino Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, was the guest speaker. Representatives from refugee agencies filled the large room, and The Refugee Sewing Society was honored to present our products for sale.Thanksgiving week brought a break in our usual class schedule. But there was no rest for the volunteers of the RSS! On Tuesday, we had an organizing, sorting, and shelving day. Tiffany Woodcock from PureFUN helped so much. Lest anyone think that volunteering for the RSS is a piece of cake, I present this photo of Carol Harrison hefting one of our incredibly heavy metal sewing machines. Several people have donated these old gems, and we're eager to put them to use.
But for the time being, we needed to get them off the floor. It took two women just to hoist each machine from the floor to the top of a cabinet. Our room is ready now for the final run to Christmas. We'll be operating on a reduced schedule so I can finish a book that's due on January 15. In the new year -- look out, world! The Refugee Sewing Society is gearing up for a lot of excitement. Please keep us all in your prayers, and may God bless you for your love and support of our precious women.

Alterations

No, not those kinds of alterations! We're not hemming skirts or letting out pants' seams. But we are experiencing lots of changes, and they're wonderful!First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, included us in their recent missions outreach. David Jackson constructed beautiful new shelves for The Refugee Sewing Society.
We are thrilled with the help this has brought to our room. We're now able to get organized and better manage donations, storage, and many other needs.
Aren't these awesome? David and others from the church took measurements and built the shelves to my exact specifications.
We now have shelves designated for fabric, supplies, and machines.My father, Harold Cummins, and my stepmother, Phyllis arrived for a short visit just after the shelves were completed. They joined in the fun of organizing and folding many boxes full of fabric.The new shelves led one of our students to sing out, "Happy sewing, teacher! Happy sewing!" Thanks FBC Woodstock and David!
The changing leaves on the tree in our yard reminds me that the Palmer family has another change afoot.
After the random gunshot incident, we moved Andrei home with us. We all agreed he would be happier with a place of his own. A great construction crew led by Amazin' Amy's husband, Bob, is transforming our garage into a one-bedroom abode. Andrei will soon have his own home sweet home right next to ours.

This has been a time of high tension for the Palmers, so we appreciate your prayers and support. I'm so happy that God has allowed me to work with women who quickly take all my stress away.

Yesterday as they were cleaning our sewing room, I realized I was watching refugee resourcefulness at work. Tulasa was down on her knees under the table using a wadded plastic bag to sweep up lint and fabric scraps. When I started taking photos, the women all got so tickled they were just about crying. These happy faces always bring a smile to my own.
Change can bring hardships and joy. Around here, it's all good!

You are so beautiful . . .