Christ Community Church Old Mill Campus - Missions sermon - Malia

On the last Sunday of the Global Summit conference at Christ Community Church , Craig Walter, missions pastor at CCC, gave a sermon about current mission field issues and mentioned, along with a picture of Malia, our blanket ministry.  Here is the link go to the Global Summit sermon, her picture is near the end at about 20:13.  How exciting!!

http://www.cccomaha.org/media.php

"Isn't that cool!! " says Malia, "I never thought this would happen!"  
What will God do next!!
I can't wait.

Thank you Note from a mom in Mali

This is a note from one of the mom's who received 2 of the blankets (she had twins).  How exciting!!  Please continue to pray for the women and babies who receive these blankets, that they feel the love of Christ and begin to ask questions about Him which could lead them into His loving arms.

For Malia:

Hi Malia,

Greetings from Mali! Below is a letter from the mother of twins who received blankets you made! She wrote the letter in French and I have translated it into English below. Just FYI, here in Mali, there is no mail delivery at people's homes, and only a small percentage of people have a box at the post office -- whereas cell phones are more prevalent, which is why she gave you her family's cell phone numbers. If you want to be in contact with her at some point and you e-mail me, I'll have her number from this e-mail and can try to call her to relay your message. She is still in the hospital with her premature twins who are progressing well.

Thanks so much for blessing moms and babies here in Mali. The blankets you made are beautiful!

Gratefully,

Jessica Schaeffer

Director of Nursing, Koutiala Hospital for Women & Children

Dear Malia,

I am sending you this letter to thank you very much. The babies like your gifts very much -- the blankets are magnificent and they please the babies and their parents. The babies and their parents wish you much happiness, success and longevity. The babies (twin girls names Fadina and Mariam) would love to be your friends; they would be happy if you stay in correspondence. The babies thank you very much for your gifts, and they greet you.

Here is our telephone #:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. We live in Koutiala, Koko Darsalam II.

Until next time,

Ina Kone

A Note from Mom...

Note From Mom:   Lessons learned.  Being a home school mom I try to look at every opportunity and activity as a chance to train my children up in the way they should go.  This ministry has been a wonderful tool in Malia’s education as well as her discipleship.  All the sewing, measuring, cost and benefit analysis, ripping of seams with tears of frustration, telling about her feelings so we can communicate them in the written form, working with dad on the new letter style and editing, time lines, dead lines; not to mention learning to be obedient, diligent, practice, take correction, seeing God’s hand, producing with purpose, discussing issues of poverty, parenthood, the difference in knowing Christ and walking in darkness.  Wow!!  It’s almost an entire education in one beautiful Providential package!!

 What have I learned?

I have learned that obedience = do the next thing=God’s provision.  Malia was obedient to God’s prompting of her heart and then He prompted others hearts in turn.  We would get the 1^st blanket done and send it off and more money and fabric show up. Then the next 6 get done and before the plane lands in Africa we have an offer to raise more money and donate more fabric with a possibility of 20 or more blankets!  Obedience. Do the next thing. 

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here I am. Send me!”  Isaiah 6:8   

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  John 15:7-8

Praise the Lord!!   Please continue to pray for the mothers and babies of Koutiala, Mali and for this ministry and Malia as she learns more and more about God and His purposes for her.

Serving Him,

Kathy  

Blanket update

First of all I want to thank all the people who have helped with this ministry.  People like Grandma’s, who gave money and time to teach me better sewing skills, my mom who helped with the many things that needed to be done, the ladies who donated fabric and money to make blankets, the Medical team to Mali who brought and presented the blankets to the mom and babies of Mali and those who have prayed for the ministry.

                When we received the photos from the Mali team I couldn’t believe that those tiny babies were wrapped in the blankets I worked on.  There was even on set of twin girls. They each received a blanket of their very own.  All the babies were preemies and looked so teeny in those huge blankets.

 

                Amazingly, while the Mali team was gone, Mrs. Terry Walters called us and asked if she could have a fund raiser with her piano students to help raise money for more blankets!!  We said yes, thank you!  The fundraiser is very successful so far ($40 in 3 days!).   God is good!  He is opening up people’s hearts freely.    It is like, we make the blankets and then someone comes along and says “Do you need more material or money for your blankets?”  It sometimes feels like we can’t even keep up.  What a great problem to have.  We started with 1 blanket, then made 6 blankets and at this time we believe up to 20 blankets for the next Mali team in July.  WHEW!!!  We even have the MUMS group offer to set up a “block party” where they will come one or two nights and cut squares for the blankets.  Once again God provided a way.

Again, thank you for trusting me to make these blankets, for trusting me with your money, time and resources.  

Okay, let’s go make some blankets!!!  God bless you! -  Malia

A Note from Mom...

Note From Mom:   Once again, I am very proud of Malia, she has stayed on task as far as wanting to continue what she started.  We took a month or so off to work on personal diligence and organization skills and she has proven to be very trustworthy.  Thank you for supporting her in her ministry.  All praise to God! For only He can move a heart towards Himself.  Please continue to pray for her as she continues His work for her and in her.  Thank you again!

As for the moms and babies who receive these blankets, my heart it that we bathe the blanket in prayer so that they feel the hope and love of Jesus through these small gifts and the care they receive in the hospital.  It’s hard to be a mom, imagine being a mom raising children in poverty, sickness and not knowing your Creator.  Please pray for each family that receives these blankets;    

“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,”   Colossians 2:2

Serving Him,

Kathy  

Thank you for your help...

Thank you for trusting me with the money and the fabric donated to make the blankets.  I know that 10 years old are sometime “flighty”.    This is really fun for me to do, it is getting easier every time I sit down to sew and I know a little baby will be very happy. 

Love to all,

Blanket update

NEW BLANKET UPDATE:

1. Over Christmas we received more fabric and $50 to buy more fabric.

2.  My grandmother came to stay with us while my parents were on vacation. She taught me more about sewing and improving my skills. Thank you Grandma Hutton.

3.  I have finished 4 blankets.

4.  My mom has contacted the team leader for the next Mali trip, Dr. Vaughn Wenzel, and he was excited to help us out.  He would like 6 blankets (4 more to go) 1 for each person on the team to hand out and for me to do a presentation at their last meeting on 13 Feb.  They depart 17 Feb.

5.  Two blankets to go.

Getting Ready to send more blankets...

Hi, it’s Malia again with an update on our first Mali blanket.  I was so excited when we received the pictures of the mom and baby who were given the blanket.  Here is a small part of the email we received:

Lynn Holt, team leader for Mali trip emailed us with details of the blankets journey. “When we arrived in Koutiala, Martha, the midwife told me that the Mayor of Koutiala's daughter had just delivered her baby at the Women's and Children's hospital the day before.

She (the midwife) thought it would be a great testimony if we gave the quilt to her. As you can see in the pictures, we read her your note, showed her the picture you sent, and swaddled the baby in the quilt.  We also went back the next day before she left and took the last picture. ”

I was so encouraged by these pictures of the little baby swaddled in the blanket and by the smile on the mom’s face.   I am encouraged to continue making more blankets.  

A Note from Mom...

Seeing my daughter selflessly give of herself and then get so excited about serving others was the incentive for me to work with her.  This experience has done as much for me spiritually as it has for Malia.  Rod and I are so proud of her.

Mom and Me Time...

This has been a very fun activity to do with my mom.   We encourage you to do it with your daughters, granddaughters and nieces.  We spent some time thinking about the mother and the child.   Talking about what they might need, what difficulties they might have, the doctors and nurses, their families, husbands and other children and that they may come to know Christ.  We prayed each time we sat down to sew. We pray for guidance for our hands as we made the quilt and that it would be fun for the both of us.  

Wanna Help?

If you are interested in supporting this small ministry there are 3 ways to help:

You can donate money. We believe that a quilt can be made for about $15.00. 

You can donate new or scraps of flannel.  We have found the cheapest and most variety at Walmart. 

or if you want to pre-cut squares, they are 8x8 inches.  We need 60 squares for a blanket.

Why I wanted to learn to sew...

Hi, my name is Malia Hutton.  I am making rag quilts for babies in Mali, Africa.  I was earning money by selling lemonade, cookies and brownies from my lemonade stand called 7^th Heaven, in our back yard, which is next to the golf course.  I was going to use the money I earned to buy a sewing machine.  When I heard a Double Your Impact sermon God worked in my heart to make blankets for the new babies being born in the hospital in Mali.  I liked this idea because it was easy, cute and my little sister has a rag blanket which she received from our church in Virginia. She loves this blanket.  This would be our prototype.  My mom liked the idea of being able to pray for a new mom and to meet a specific need. So I talked to Pastor Steve about the idea and within a couple of weeks we had a due date for our first blanket on October 24^th  to be delivered to a new mom in Mali on November 3, 2010.

My mom and I had no experience sewing, much less making quilts.    With a lot of help from the Holy Spirit, the internet and a nice lady from the quilting store we finished the quilt and it was delivered to a new mom in Mali.