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• March 31, 2009
• April 30, 2009
• August 21, 2009
• March 22, 2010
• May 5, 2010

DBI - Sewing Centres

Training / Education,
Micro-enterprise / Loan Schemes,
Evangelism / Church Planting

Partnership Overview

There are many families living in rural villages in North India who are there for the purpose of establishing churches in their communities. They are driven to do this by a desire to see people given the opportunity to hear the message of faith in Jesus Christ and to help people become economically self sufficient.

 

Women, economic powerhouses

History Of Partnership

For a number of years Bright Hope World has been involved with helping various aspects of the work of Delhi Bible Institute (read more in partnership number IND07). As the number of people involved in church planting has increased, it has become very obvious that there are huge needs in the communities in which they live.

Since a visit in 2007, the team at DBI has been researching methods of empowering rural people to build their capacity to support themselves and their families as part of developing holistic programmes in the community. It has become apparent that one of the best means is to empower women and to achieve this is to train women to sew.

In 2008 it was decided to establish two pilot programmes to become the model for more of these in the future.

Potential for economic independence

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries would primarily be women who are part of the community. They are mostly from Hindu backgrounds and very poor. They would benefit by acquiring skills, growing spiritually and being able to learn other life skills to improve the quality of life of their families.

What We Like About The Partnership

There are a number of things to like:
- This is a partnership with people we already know.
- It is an extension of an existing partnership.
- It is addressing real needs and enhancing the impact of the gospel in rural communities.
- There is a good framework and skilled people to lead and train the participants.
- There is a passionate key person who wants to make it work.

Relationship To Other Partnerships

See IND07

Key People

Leadership Profile

The project will be directly overseen by Gloria Shaw, wife of Isaac Shaw, director of Delhi Bible Institute.  Gloria was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She comes from a Catholic background and was educated in Egypt, Ireland, Lebanon and Israel. She graduated from Appalachian State University in North Carolina where she was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. She currently leads ministries among Indian and Spanish speaking women. 

Gloria and  Isaac have four children, twin daughters, Gloria Raquel and Myriam Elizabeth (born 1994), Sarah (born 1997) and Isaac (born 2000). 

Other People Involved

The secondary leadership will be the wives of the Directors in the Strategic Church Resource Centres in Dehradun and Lucknow which will act as secondary supervisors to the project. The third line of leadership would be the wives of church planters or able supervisors in the church community who will be able to establish these centres in their communities.

See Personal Life Change stories below for one of the key women who will be involved in the training.

Rural poverty

Vision And Annual Strategy 

Vision

To establish sewing centres in the Dehradun and Lucknow Strategic Church Resource Centres so that we can see the effectiveness of the project for our church plants.  Among the women trained, to train women who can train other women in the village areas and enable the mentors of the church planters to have a firsthand experience of how to run the centres so they can guide the church planters in the development of their own centres.

This will be the pilot programme in which we will observe how it operates and the real costs then it will be possible to evaluate the true effectiveness of the project. The next phase would be to implement what we learnt in six new areas; three in the Dehradun area and three in the Lucknow area, analyse what the results are and whether it is a feasible project that enables a family to become self sufficient and will contribute to the needs of the community through the church.

We will measure the success of the project by these outcomes:
1. Are the women who are trained well able to work the machines and make their own and family’s clothes after 6-9 months?
2. How many of these women who are trained become involved in the church community?
3. It is expected that at least 60% of the candidates will make enough profit after one year so they can contribute 10% of their earnings towards the sewing project fund.
4. The establishment of a fund that will support at least the initial amounts for the second year training. This fund will be set up for the sewing project with the view that it will become self sufficient five years after the initial investment.

Strategy 

Each pilot will have 10 people being trained. Three sewing machines will be bought for use by the trainees and one for the trainer to use and for demonstration, this one will be of higher quality than the other three.

The course will run for nine months and at the end of it each participant will be given a sewing machine.

Annual Budget

For two pilots the amount required is $US10,890. There are a number of set up costs in the first year that will not be repeated in subsequent years. $US5,445 for each pilot.

Samples of Nirmala's work

Personal Testimony

Real "Life Change" Stories

NIRMALA’S TESTIMONY
My name is Nirmala and I am married with three children. I was born in a Hindu family. I used to put sitara, sip and moti on womens suits, sweater and fancy cloth and that was my part time export business. I know tailoring too.

Before confessing Christ, I was a worshipper of Sherawali Mata that is one of the supreme goddess called Eternal Supreme Power the Aadi Shakti. (According to Hinduism in the beginning was the female deity who created Brahma Vishnu and Mahesh the three main gods) I used to fast during the Navaratra (nine days fast.) I was doing everything which Hindu women usually do.

I was against my husband and I hated him because he was working in DBI which is a Christian Organisation. He used to tell me about the Lord Jesus Christ and while I came to Deharadun he started sharing that Jesus Christ is our Savior and he has paid the price for our sins and sacrificed him for us but I did not believe in all these meaningless things.

Before the 20 days of my baptism one night I had a dream and I saw that I was lost in a jungle and wandering here and there. Then I saw an Indian Sadhu who was very religious and he had covered his face and was saying to me stand beside me, stand beside me, do not wander here and there. I shared this dream with my husband and he interpreted it for me and told me that the Indian Sadhu was Lord Jesus Christ himself. I put my trust in him and gave my life to him in the month of September 2008. While Pastor Isaac Shaw came to Deharadun and ABC student Rahul Masih was ready to take the baptism, my husband asked me if I am ready to confess Christ through the baptism and I said yes I am ready for it and I got baptised on 4th September 2008 by Pastor Isaac Shaw.

Earlier, while I was in Delhi I hated going to church but now after the baptism I love to attend the church. The unique transformation came into my life and earlier if anybody said something silly or wanted to fight with me I was ready to fight with him/her and I would not spare him/her but now I ignore such things and there is humility in my life now. Sometimes I laugh about my old self and how I am a totally different person now. 

How Can I Help?

Fielding Bible Chapel and the Anchor Church in New Zealand have provided funds to enable the first pilot course in Dehradun to commence and Bright Hope for Tomorrow in Canada has provided funds for the course in Lucknow.