Be[ad] the Change

Beads, the Chepokilipa people, and life change? Yep, you read that correctly. As you are aware, our water team is busy in villages daily either restoring access to or providing access to clean water. Zoe’s empowerment team has been partnering with the water team to create even more change in communities. The Chepokilipa people group is one of those communities, and God is working!

The women in this community have been learning bead working skills over the past several months. Our Zoe Artisans have been curating this skill in other areas, and we’ve expanded that program to some of the villages of West Pokot. These women not only learn a valuable skill that will provide income for their families; they are given a boost in confidence and self-worth. With these new skills, women are able to create, sell at market, and reinvest their money. Through one skill, women are learning financial responsibility and stewardship. They are able to invest in themselves and their futures, a gift many of us take for granted. This influx in income is in addition to the crops they are now able to plant because of clean water access. These crops are also now a source of revenue and sustainability for these families. Women are able to feed their families, invest in their children’s futures through education, curate new skills (& much needed self-worth), and generate a sustainable income through their new business ventures. 

While those things are all wonderful and life-changing, Zoe’s primary mission is not to just meet earthly needs. The number one need in many of these people groups is Jesus. Each interaction with our staff points individuals back to Christ. Along the way, these women are loved and discipled well. They are introduced to the only One that can bring that eternal life-change; it just so happens that beads are what allow Zoe to accomplish the mission!

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