The sound of women’s laughter sang in harmony with the whirl of their sewing machines. At the end of the day, they would go home with a beautiful quilt top they had created with their own hands. But as wonderful as the new creations were, something much more had taken place. You see, these women pooled their resources to build a small house for a family in Mexico. While they spent time sewing together, they were also building hope in a community far from their own.

There is just something about finding a way to bring people together for a common cause. In our case, my friend, Jan, and I took what we had—expertise and an abundance of fabric stashed away in our closets—and traded it for the money needed for building materials for the house by teaching a class on beginning quilt making. More fabric came from someone who could not join us but wanted to help. And yet another woman came bearing ingredients for a delicious lunch. It was almost like the story of Stone Soup as we brought what we had to stir up something wonderful and satisfying. When they returned home, each woman had a finished quilt top and our little house had $1600 towards making it into a reality.

The next step in the process will be a Prebuild Party where families will come together and partially construct the house. Walls, roof, and floors will be prefabricated in the church parking lot and loaded onto a trailer. All the components will then be transported to a site in Mexico near Ensenada where yet another group of people from both the US and Mexico will build it. By the end of the project, more than a hundred sets of hearts and hands will have been part of creating change.

For more information about the loft house project. Please check out Hands of Mercy’s website here. Perhaps it’s your turn to build some hope. You can also read more about my experience with the project in these posts:

For Goodness Sake
Hope Under Construction

Here’s something exciting!

Since writing this post yet another group of friends, this time from the Oklahoma City area, have decided to come together to repeat the fun of raising funds. I am so excited to be part of the world coming together for good.

Our project was a super simple quilt top method called Jelly Roll Race. I think our tops turned out great. Here are just a few.

Command [those who are rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:18-19