(史蒂夫)文学学士 圣经1984年，澳门新葡京网站
(史蒂夫)文学硕士 任务, 1985, 澳门新葡京网站
(阿琳)文学硕士 教学, 1984, 澳门新葡京网站
(史蒂夫)先锋公司总裁
奥兰多,佛罗里达
“热带地区的被子”
阿琳·理查森
As my husband and I worked among an unreached people group in Southeast Asia, one day a box containing three quilts arrived from a group of praying women in North Carolina. They had lovingly stitched together scraps I had claimed from my grandmother’s antique shop after she passed away. 我从没想过上帝会如何使用这些残羹剩饭.
The quilts were so beautiful they caught the eye of 我亲爱的朋友 Dede. Dede was from a small village in the mountains of our volcanic island. Her husband divorced her after only a few months of marriage. 贫穷和沮丧, she had come to the city looking for work so that she could feed herself and her baby boy.
Eyes wide with wonder, Dede asked if I would help her learn to make a quilt. 我几乎不假思索地说:“是的!几天之内，黛德自己做了一条简单的被子. The color choices weren’t the best, but her handiwork showed promise.
Soon some of Dede’s relatives traveled from their distant village, and begged to join in. Soon our living room and backyard shed were overflowing with people, 都渴望工作，渴望学习一项新技能. I quickly recognized that God was doing something unique and unexpected. He had opened a door for me into the hearts and lives of dozens of people!
Within weeks, the expanding project took on a life of its own. When it outgrew our modest home, we rented a house down the street. A Chinese Christian provided scraps of cloth from his garment factory, along with discarded padding.
15年后的今天, HeartCraft employs about 400 people and has been under local leadership for about 15 years. 他们生产了数万条被子, 大部分都是在赤道地区出售的, 在这个岛国的大城市里, 在孤立的石油营地. 在这个过程中, hundreds of people have heard the gospel around the quilting table, 许多人在基督里找到了新生命，包括黛德, 我亲爱的朋友, 谁已经成为一个熟练的绗缝者和一个无所畏惧的传福音者.
In the adventures of HeartCraft, I have learned many leadership lessons:
Hold your plans lightly; God may choose a different way.
I thought that because I was a 圣经 college and seminary graduate, I should be teaching theology or leading small group 圣经 studies. 但是在这种情况下, among an unreached the Lord wanted me to show His love through deeds of kindness and by sharing a practical skill with the poor. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love,” Galatians 5:6 says.
与一些可靠的人建立关系.
神从小处开始，他使用各种各样的人. 他在找勤杂工, 有远见的人, creative people – all kinds of people who are willing to trust Him to do the impossible. HeartCraft started with one person, my friend Dede, who only had a third grade education.
把“心”放在你所做的事情上.
我请求上帝让我的心对我周围的需要保持警惕. One day I met two young women (sisters) who had been excommunicated from their families for accepting Christ. 他们迫切需要收入. The quilters were already making many quilts, but God gave me the idea of making dolls. 女孩们在我的车库里和一组人一起工作, learning how to make dolls from the scraps and padding from the quilts. 在此期间, 我的朋友们祈祷他们未得救的父母, 谁是他们社区的印度教领袖, 会相信基督吗. God answered their prayers, and now the whole family is growing in Christ. The women eventually kept making dolls, worked their way through 圣经 school, and married godly men. 今天，他们把福音带到另一个未得之民的岛屿. The dolls continue to provide a source of income for their ministry of church planting and evangelism.
神要在路上坚固你的品格.
God knew I needed to change, and I needed to learn the lesson of perseverance. One time our quilting patterns were stolen by a group of Muslims. They started an Islamic quilting group to compete with HeartCraft. 还有一次，我和丈夫不得不解雇一名员工. Firing is not something that is done in this culture, but we did it and the backlash was strong. 还有一次，一个员工偷了10美元,我们辛苦赚来的钱, 我们一直没能找回来.
One day the house we were renting nearly went up in flames because one of the men was smoking near the quilts. 还有一次，我们在布里发现了一条毒蛇. The cutting team started to fight one day and attacked each other with scissors! Someone spread a rumor that the house we had rented was haunted so no one came to work for several days.
The Lord kept assuring me that there would be fruit through it all. 圣经告诉我们不要对反对感到惊讶. 它会到来，而且会很痛苦. 但是神应许说:“早晨就有喜乐。.”
上帝有幽默感. 学会认识和欣赏它!
在事工中有太多的曲折. 《澳门新葡京娱乐》并不具有人性意义. I taught poor people who had never learned to sew a highly-skilled craft which I had never mastered myself. Then I, not being very organized, tried to manage them cross-culturally. 还有热带地区的被子? 荒谬的.
The irony of this whole story is that I have never made a quilt! But I have seen thousands made and sold, paving the way for spreading the gospel. 事工不是澳门新葡京娱乐能做什么或不能做什么, it is all about Him and what He can do when we are willing to trust Him. 耶和华说:“我的道路不同于你们的道路。.