Income Generation

After Rabuna Fi saw that each woman’s greatest need—her need for a Savior—was met, we prayerfully began seeking a way to ease their poverty and physical suffering. As a necessity, many women would go into dangerous areas of the bush (where the threat of rebel soldiers who were known to rape, kill, and abduct was very real) in search of firewood to sell. A single bundle of firewood, which took a considerable amount of time to gather, was only enough to put one meal on the table for their children. There were not enough hours in the day to cut and sell the wood, fetch water from a well, wash, cook and clean for a large family…and also come and sit attentively at Bible study. Our hearts broke for these ladies in their overwhelming need.

The Lord, in His faithfulness, led us to form an income generation program to train these ladies to create small crafts. We provide all the materials and then paid them for their labor. Amazingly, it was just enough money to provide for their daily bread. Overnight, our Bible study groups were bursting at the seams.  Each night, materials are prepared for the next day’s Bible study group. We cut bark cloth, matched beads, selected thread color, and got all of the paperwork ready (for accounting purposes). One hour before the study began the women in the program would bring their completed crafts from the week before. We checked the quality, returned all unused materials to stock, gave approval for payment, and handed out materials for the following week. Some projects had over 150 ladies, so this was no easy task.

First, a simple beaded bookmark was made, followed by journal covers made from embroidered tree bark. These simple items sparked the emergence of a Rabuna Fi line of handcrafted gifts. The beautiful crafts were then shipped to the United States. Once they arrived at our international headquarters in the U.S., volunteers helped us prepare them to be sent out.

Currently, churches across America allow us to display the crafts.  And lastly, people like you, in return for a donation, take the crafts home and pray for us. All the proceeds go back into the project to support the women in Africa. How gracious our God is to allow us all to have a part of His Ministry!  Your gifts are changing lives, and together we are impacting Africa and the world with the love of Jesus Christ.

In addition, we discovered that women in America were looking for ways to be involved in missions, but may not be able to serve overseas. The Lord opened our eyes to this perfect opportunity for women from both sides of the globe to bless one another. These women have come along side these suffering sisters in Africa by giving a donation for their craft items and praying for the woman who made the craft.