Ministry Highlight - Threads of Hope

Bracelets from Threads of Hope

Some of you who have been here will remember these, and many of you who haven't been here will have seen these.  I'm talking about the colorful little thread bracelets that KIM passes out.  They come from a ministry called Threads of Hope.

Alex Kuhlow and his wife Chris are missionaries in Manila.  As with any missionary, they sometimes needed time to get away from the city and rest.  They frequented an island called Mindoro, where they eventually got to know some of the natives.  Mindoro is a tourist destination and many of the islanders make their "living" by trying to sell wares to the tourists that visit.  Well, tourists don't usually like being bothered by these people, so it's often the case that the families who live along the beach don't make enough to support their families.  The Kuhlows found out that to make ends meet, families often would sell their children into prostitution to get dinner on the table.

Alex Kuhlow with about 150,000 bracelets.  This is about 2 months
 worth and will sustain about 500 people in Mindoro.

It's an unfortunate reality in impoverished parts of the world like this, but a ray of hope shines where Christ is introduced.  The Kuhlows partnered with some of these families as another part of their ministry, creating Threads of Hope.  The island women make threaded bracelets, bookmarks, etc. and the Kuhlows began to take them and sell them to people they run into- then return all the profit to the families.  After a while, people all over started asking for the bracelets.  It soon became international as the Kuhlows sold more and more of the "threads of hope."


You can read more about the story on their website, www.threadsofhope.com.ph/. We're beginning to see that there are many ministries all around us, and that God moves in many ways in the Philippines.  It's great to be a part of it!