Shining a Light
I cannot believe I had never thought of this non profit before! Jenny VanderGalien is from my River Terrace Church in East Lansing, Michigan (My home church!!) and has started a non profit organization in Arusha Tanzania. I have personally talked to Jane about her past and she would be the LAST person you would ever have expected to pack up everything and move to Tanzania.
Jenny was involved in drugs and drinking, but had a great job that payed well! Jenny had not accepted Christ into her life and while at a low point realized something was missing. She talked with missionaries at my church and decided to go on a mission trip to Tanzania. While she was there she saw how poorly all the women were treated and how lots of them had no way to make a living in a male dominated culture. Most of them had to send their children to orphanages because they did not have enough money, as single mothers, to care for them. Jenny prayed a lot about it and tried to use her strengths to find a solution to this problem.
“Changing one sole at a time”
Jenny saw these beautiful hand made sandals being sold by a man and came up with an idea. She could teach all these women to make these sandals! Jenny’s idea came to life and she came up with the name for her organization from a passage in Isaiah.
Today Jenny has a website and she sells sandals all over the world! I actually have two pairs of them and they are the best sandals I own! It’s so cool that I have these really cute shoes and I actually know where all the money is going. Jenny has really helped these women in Arusha. She used her strengths in fashion and sales to start this non-profit and help people who cannot help themselves.
I encourage all of you to go visit her website! The shoes are so cute and they would make great Christmas presents for anyone! My grandma even has a pair and she loves them!
It’s always amazing to see how God works in people’s lives to change them and bring about His perfect will. I love stories like these because they really show that just about anyone can be an entrepreneur and make a difference. I love it how this company enables these women to support themselves by making products for other women- it’s a cycle of women helping each other that is really awesome. I hope that this business has a very successful future ahead of it- it is supporting a great cause and hopefully giving these women the skills, money, and confidence they need to start building a better future for their families.