Your night will become like the noonday

Today, sitting in church I was convicted about something… The pastor, Wil, was preaching about pain. As he was describing different types of pain, he talked about a young girl from Vietnam. He explained her journey of floating away from her country on a raft with her mother; a mother dealing with psychological issues due to the death of her husband and other children who died leaving on a raft. As he continued to recount her story, the trials she went through were horrendous. She suffered multiple abuse at the hands of men in her family that were kept quiet – as per her culture. And to top it off, this is recent, and she is just now attending college.

This triggered the reason I started Noonday Collection. I was sitting (safely I should say,) in my comfortable seat at an incredible conference, The If Gathering. I was able to pay for my flight, lodging and travel expenses.  I say this because, as I was sitting comfortably, I heard the story of a young Filipino girl who had been tricked by a ‘friend’ to go to the big city to make money to support her family. She in turn was sold into cybersex slavery – as a child. She spent the next 7 years of her life at the hands of evil men and women. Thank the Lord – she was saved out of it due to an incredible organization called IJM (International Justice Mission.) We were able to watch a video of this beautiful young lady – now in college, beaming at her new life. She was saved from that life, introduced to Jesus, now lives in safety and is attending college due to the funding of people who support groups like IJM.

This entire scene interrupted my soul. I sat there thinking ‘I have to do something. Anything.’ At that moment, they gave us an opportunity to join in partnership with them. I did. But I kept thinking, couldn’t there be more. How hard is it for us to write a check to people and let them go do the work?

Well, this imagery would not leave me. I cannot forget the face of this beautiful young lady that was so indescribably abused and subjected to things many of us can never imagine. She was tricked into this because of the dire need in her village. Many of the people starve, are forced to sell their children-or orphan them. They live in shacks or huts with dirt floors, no running water and barely any food.

The hope found was that she was rescued.

As I was walking around during the break – to recover from this turmoil of my heart – I went shopping at the vendors to clear my head😊… And I noticed that everything being sold was going to support something. One group funded missions and adoptions. One group funded a ministry to counter racial intolerance. Another was fare trade items that were made by people in other countries. And that struck a cord with me.

I have often thought, we need Christian coffee shops with fare trade items being sold. A gathering place that brings consumers back to the place of giving – out of our extravagance – just a wee bit of money toward something that was bigger than us – doing good for those who have nothing.

I heard of Noonday Collections at my first ‘If Gathering.’ I loved the bag they gave us made by ‘artisans’ in other countries. This company has been on and off my mind since then.

Fast-forward a week, I was back home and at a Starbucks reading my ‘Magnolia’ magazine. I knew it was going to be great because New York was on the front of it… I came to an article about an amazing entrepreneur that started a business to support the adoption of her son. I, who have a touch of an entrepreneur personality, always loves articles about those that defy odds and go do it – whatever ‘it’ is. The article was talking about the fact that she began the business by selling handmade artifacts from Africa and other places. It started with a ‘trunk show’ of these items at her house. This one simple activity then produced an idea. Across the world, a couple in Uganda (both artists) had been house sitting for missionaries trying to make ends meet. They had 3 children and were barley making. And, as God does, he created an opportunity for a divine appointment. He got the lady going through the adoption together with couple and boom…Out came a company that provides meaningful jobs to men and women who would otherwise be another statistic in a small village, in a country that we know nothing about.

The article about the entrepreneur turned out to be Jessica Honegger – the founder of Noonday Collections.

Well, as you can imagine me… when I read this, I knew that I needed to do this. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt, that I would buy jewelry, purses, scarves and other accessories. Why not buy the ones that give people an opportunity? The couple in Uganda now have around 100 employs under them. And it doesn’t stop there. There are artisans in many countries. Peru, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Guatemala and India, just to name a few. And the most exciting part to me is the ‘Story Line collection’ from East Asia. The jewelry, which is 10k gold, is made by women that are found and rescued out of brothels. This is a safe, meaningful job – paying money – introducing them to Jesus and hope. All through jewelry.

What is my conviction? That Noonday is truly and important opportunity worthy of telling others about. People want to know how to make a difference- and this is an incredibly easy way to do it - and make $ doing it.

I am amazed that something so simple can help people out of conditions that are unimaginable. I ask you to not only pray for this company, but the others that are going out there and freeing people from the unimaginable. Here are a few…

IJM (International Justice Mission)

Star Fish Project

A21 (Christine Caine)

 Isaiah 58:10: "If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the no