Gather with a Purpose

by Emily Betzler August 31, 2018 1 Comment

 

“THERE SHOULD BE NO DIVISION IN THE BODY, BUT EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE EQUAL CONCERN FOR EACH OTHER. IF ONE PART SUFFERS, EVERY PART SUFFERS WITH IT. IF ONE PART IS HONORED, EVERYONE IS HONORED. YOU ARE THE UNIFIED BODY OF CHRIST, AND EACH HAS A PART IN IT.”   1 CORINTHIANS 12:25-27

 

There is something magical about fall...the cool mornings, dew-laced grass, and the depth of days changing with the light.  We welcome the changing seasons and are grateful for the new routines and new thought patterns they bring.

 

Seasons often make for the best reminders in our journey of life - a time to re-calibrate and remember, and to be more purposeful with the time at hand.

  

With this new season, we want to invite you to experience a new tradition with us :

We've had it on our hearts for awhile to be more intentional in sharing more about our inspiring artisan partners.  We want you - our friends, supporters, and dedicated customers to learn more about the people we partner with and the countries/communities they call home. 

Why?

We are deeply familiar with and passionate about with the causes they champion...and we want you to be too.  The idea is to make it easier for others to understand and be truly engaged in the bigger picture of what goes on in the daily existence of the partners we work with and the countries where they work. There is so much more behind the beautiful handmade goods we bring to a wider market..it's real transformation with real people impacted.  Like any place in the world, every country and community has its own economic challenges, health crises, poverty dynamics, social justice issues, and daily struggles...all the more reason to not only support our partners but to also pray for them too.

The first step towards praying effectively and coming alongside our global sisters & brothers is seeking to understand what their everyday lives look like.

Earlier this summer, the BB team experimented with this idea by joining our partner, Preemptive Love, in making and sharing a traditional Syrian meal with friends.  We used the opportunity to learn about and pray for Syria in the midst of the ongoing heartache and despair there (see more here).

It was a beautiful and powerful experience; taking an intentional pause in the middle of our work week to purposefully think of, pray for, and support Syrians and their homeland.  So much so that we want to continue this same idea for other partners and make this a regular practice in our lives...and we want to invite you along too!

Our hope going forward is to share an ethnic meal, conversation about the country/community, and then pray for specific requests from the country/community/partner.  We plan to do so on a monthly basis and we would love to have you and your friends to join us!

We will provide some basic informational resources, current partner prayer requests, activities for kids to engage & ethnic recipes to attempt :) And no worries if your timing is different then ours...you can use the information we provide to host your own purposeful gathering any time!

We'd love for you to learn and grow with us and are grateful for the opportunity to learn and LOVE each partner, their countries and communities, even from afar.

This month we'll be focusing on our partners in HAITI ♥.

If you would like to join us, it's as easy as 1, 2, 3.  Below is an outline of how we will run our Haiti Night, click here for an easy printable to copy what we are doing!

 

Step 1: Invite your friends

Tell your friends you are gathering for a Haitian dinner next week and you would love them to join. 

Step 2: Pick your menu

There are so many great Haitian recipes out there, check out our pinterest board for inspiration, and if you know any Haitians ask them for ideas! Here is what we will be making:

Our Menu

SOUP JOUMOU – HAITIAN NEW YEAR’S SOUP

We are making this soup mainly for the story behind it!

HAITIAN MACARONI AU GRATIN

Got to keep the little ones happy! We tested this and it was a total crowd pleaser and the video is really fun to watch - it would be great to prepare with older kids.

Haitian Pikliz (Spicy Pickled Slaw - sounds gross but actually a-mazing) 

We ate this all the time while we were there! A definite must!

Haitian Rice and Beans 

Because you've got to have rice and beans

Step 3: Study up

Decide on what content you want to share with your friends. There are a million different routes you could go on this, again our pinterest board is full of ideas.  We are giving basic facts on Haiti, then sharing praise and prayer reports from our partners there, and have identified some resources to engage our kids in the conversation.

COUNTRY FACTS:

 

PRAYERS & PRAISES: 

For the Kids

Our kids will be joining us in learning a few facts about Haiti and reading these books we found at our local library:

 

 

 

 *Note - these books definitely deal with hard themes: poverty, homelessness, orphans, etc. we recommend pre-reading them to make sure they are suitable for your kiddos. 

    

More Resources for your Haiti night:

• PINTEREST BOARD - Recipes, Facts, Haitian 
• PRODUCTS to SUPPORT Haitian Attisans
• Haiti Night PRINTABLE

 

 

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