At Trades of Hope, we love being able to keep families together when they're in desperate situations. Our hearts are full when we can empower a mother to put food on the table and she can send her child to school so that she never has to hand the baby whom she loves to an orphanage director.

However, there are heartbreaking cases where children are already impoverished from food, education, shelter; and then poverty steals their parents away from them as well. This is where adoption is a beautiful thing. Adoption restores an orphan's opportunity to re-obtain love, laughter, and hope for a future. 

Despite the reward, Trades of Hope co-founders Gretchen and Elisabeth Huijskens know through the adoption of their daughter and sister that adoption is a long, unpredictably bumpy road which is not for the faint of heart. That is why Trades of Hope loves using Gifts of Hope to support The Sparrow Fund. The Sparrow Fund walks with families going through the adoption process emotionally, educationally, and financially. They offer grants, fundraising, and regular training opportunities. 

The Sparrow Fund's training opportunities are more than just sharing depersonalized statistics and facts; they declare that it is "connecting with others and allowing stories, relationships, experiences, as well as information to encourage and equip us for the adventure of adoption" (sparrow-fund.org). 

In addition, we are drawn to the efforts of The Sparrow Fund because many of our Compassion Entrepreneurs are in the process of adopting and are even using their Trades of Hope sales commissions to fund their adoptions. Trades of Hope is so proud to support an organization that is abolishing all obstacles for families to rescue orphans from a dark, unknown future!  

                                            WHAT IS GIFTS OF HOPE? 
Gifts of Hope is an important link in the chain of helping women out of poverty. It is a way that Trades of Hope gives back through the profits of our product sales.   

Through out the year, Trades of Hope gives donations to programs that promote long term business, education, and growth all over the world! 

At Trades of Hope, we love what the A21 Campaign is doing to rescue women and girls from the grasp of human traffickers. We also love their desire to abolish slavery in the 21st century! They share our passion and vision to bring a renewal of hope to the broken souls of cherished women. 

Throughout history, we have heard of, learned of, and participated in the fight for freedom for those who are enslaved. After Lincoln's term, after Martin Luther King Jr.'s daring dream in the Capitol, we believed that the freedom-fight was over and won. And yet today, in this moment of the 21st century,there are more souls enslaved than ever in human existence. Simply put, of the 27 million people in slavery, 1.4 million are sex slaves; and those 1.4 million bodies are being raped and beaten to generate $32,000,000,000.00 (32 billion dollars). Heartbreakingly, 99% of women and girls trafficked are never recovered. Only 1% are rescued.

It's easy to become numb to the dehumanizing digits and numbers, until we put a name and hear the story of that one precious 1%.

"Natalia had met him through a friend and they had arranged to meet up for a coffee date. She was excited to meet him and thought they were having a great time, laughing and chatting. What Natalia didn't realized was that when she went to the bathroom he drugged her coffee, causing her to pass out. She was thrown into the trunk of a car and driven away. When she finally awoke, she found herself chained to a bed, in a different country. Natalia was raped and beaten repeatedly. Soon after she was sold as a sex slave....

However, Natalia is a part of this 1%. After being rescued, Natalia was brought to one of the A21 safe houses. She was given full medical care including treatments and testings. Natalia was also provided with life skills and job trainings, to help her take back ownership of her life to give her freedom, hope and a new chance at life. The A21 lawyers also helped to see Natalia's traffickers sentenced to 15.5 years in prison and fined €108,000." (theA21Campaign.org)

If you are interested in doing your part to abolish modern day slavery, shop our Freedom Tote (which is freeing women from the sex trade in India) or the Redeemed Necklace (which is redeeming women in Southern California from lives of sexual exploitation).

 Also, give to the A21 Campaign to do what you can to bring hope for these women! Together, we can change the world!

P.S. - While you were reading this, 8 more women were trafficked over international borders. Be a part of that 1%'s rescue story!

                                                      Kate's Story
"I came to Hollywood to pursue a dream in the music industry, but within a few days I was practically forced in to prostitution to survive. I became a stripper, a drug addict...... for 10 years I lived a lie and didn't see my family. Hollywood threw me a bone occasionally that kept me believing it would all work out in time. It wasn't until I was arrested and spent some time in Sybil Brand, a women's correctional facility for car theft and drug possession, that I began to realize my life was out of control. 

Soon after I was released, I left Hollywood and came to the high desert to escape that environment. I prayed that God would help me get away from this lifestyle that I was afraid to leave.Those years are behind me now, but it was because I found the truth. I found out that I am Cherished and loved more than I could have known. I was just looking in all the wrong places! I love being able to reach out to the girls in the industry and support them in what they are going through because I remember what that life was like."


Kate's entire life has been transformed because of the love she found in God - which now includes a life of peace and joy with her wonderful husband and children. She started Cherished, a faith-based outreach and support group in the high desert that reaches out to women and victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking, empowering those who are ready with the message that they are loved, valued and cherished.  Artisans who are in the support group are invited to make jewelry to help supplement their income and to pay for the professional, individual counseling offered through Cherished! Their redeemed necklace is created by women that have escaped a life of abuse and have now found hope again. They are learning that they are Cherished!

On a recent trip to Haiti, Trades of Hope took 10 Compassion Entrepreneurs and were privileged to be able to meet the three little girls that Trades of Hope sponsors through our Gifts of Hope program.  These little girls are in preschool attending Three Angels Christian Academy!!

Three Angels' elementary school exists to serve the underprivileged in Haiti, giving opportunity to children who otherwise would not be able to attend school.  Most schools in Haiti charge tuition, very few are free.  They also require that the children have uniforms and purchase their own books.  This means that for most, education is only just a dream.

Three Angels steps in to fill that void for over 300 children.  Trades of Hope wants to support their efforts and help these little girls reach their full, God given potential. We pray that they dream big and break the cycle of poverty for a better future!!

We hope to be able to be with these three little girls as they grow and advance through their education!  These girls were so sweet, dressed in their little uniforms and ready for school! Trades of Hope considers it a blessing to be able to give back through the sales of our products and home parties!  Thank you for changing the world with us!

If you are interested in joining the Trades of Hope team, please contact your Compassion Entrepreneur or enroll on the Trades of Hope website here. 

If you are interested in sponsoring a child at Three Angels Christian Academy, please visit  http://threeangelshaiti.org/the-work/education/.

Esther is from one of Trades of Hope's artisan groups,  the Leprosy Colony in India. Esther was affected by leprosy long ago, and has been treated and is cured. Unfortunately, the sign of her having had the diseases are shown in her bent fingers. For years she worked as the assistant in the colony clinic. Before becoming a ward aid, she learned how to weave in the weaving rehab unit that used to run in a converted chicken shed. The group started to provide work for the women in a colony where most of the men went begging for months at a time across India, and through this the weaving unit has grown!

In this picture Esther is weaving one of the wonderful bags she makes. Esther's husband, MohanRao died suddenly a few years ago and she now depends upon her own income.Trades of Hope is helping her earn an income and provide for her family!!

We bring you the latest fashion trends so that you can focus on changing the world! (And look fabulous while doing so!)

When the day dawns, the sun peeks through, children arise, and classes commence, every woman needs that stunning piece of jewelry-art which makes wearing a fashion statement seemingly effortless. However, between the drop-offs, appointments, meetings, and world-changing, that perfect accessory should feel invisible while others awe, so as not to slow down the day's accomplishments. And what if I said, to top it all off, that this wonder-accessory is changing lives of women in Southern California? Impossible? Trades of Hope doesn't think so.


The Redeemed Necklace is the must-have for every dependable, dignified, diligent woman just like you! The long necklace becomes a second-thought throughout the day due to it's momentously light weight. Its brilliantly flat pendant rests on the upper stomach, unable to catch on seat belts, drawers, or in little hands. And to top it off, the smooth cord carrying the pendant cradles the neck, eliminating irritation from the equation! You'll seem fluent in simultaneously changing the world and looking fabulous!

The adjustable length of the Redeemed Necklace makes this accessory compatible with any and every top's neckline. Versatile for every occasion, the black polished cord adds chic perception, and the blue mosaic tiles make it a fun, color-popping fashion statement. 

This necklace is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, for as it wears comfortably and embellishes any outfit, this treasure is also transforming lives in Southern California while it's transforming your style. Women in Southern California who were victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking are being redeemed into new lives of walking in the knowledge that they are cherished by crafting these necklaces. My favorite part? Each woman engraves her initials onto the back, into the silver of the Redeemed Necklace they made; showing the permanence of their redemption and the significance of your choice to empower another woman in this world. 

Happy empowering, ladies!

                     ~Elisabeth

By DEBORAH ADAIR

Special to The Herald: Credit belongs to the Herald: Visit the original article here.

“You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” — C.S. Lewis

He was found in a trash can, only hours old, barely alive. Nothing is known of his mama, one of hundreds of hopeless women in Haiti who abandon their babies because they can’t even feed themselves, much less provide for another life. I hold him in my arms at the orphanage, singing softly over him and am stirred again to do more, to try harder, to help other mamas in Haiti and in countries around the world to keep and feed and clothe and send their children to school — to give them hope and a future.

I am in Haiti as a result of a journey that began last year, to make a difference for women and children caught in poverty and oppression, to “speak up for the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” (Proverbs 31:8). Faced with overwhelming statistics, that today more than 30,000 children will die of starvation or preventable disease, that there are over 147 million orphans, that between 12 and 27 million children and women are caught in human trafficking, I also hear the challenge that we all have the power to change these statistics if we would each do just one thing to help — just one thing — and I searched for how I could make a difference. A statement I read in “Kisses from Katie,” by Katie Davis compelled me: “I know that I can’t change the world, but I can change the world for one person.”

Today I am a Compassion Entrepreneur with Trades of Hope, founded by two women who wanted their young adult daughters to know that they were born to make a difference in the world. Together, the four of them began Trades of Hope two years ago as a business with a mission, to hold “Parties with a Purpose,” selling Fair Trade, hand-crafted artisan products that would empower women out of poverty, sweat shops and the sex trades through creating a market to provide sustainable incomes. Fair Trade ensures that the women are paid a living wage in workplaces where they are treated with dignity and respect and where the community as a whole also benefits. By offering opportunity instead of handouts, the cycle of poverty is broken and people are helped to become self-sufficent. Trades of Hope has a vision of an army of CEs changing the world!

In Haiti with our founders and 10 other CEs from across the country, we see for ourselves how we are changing lives. At the ApParent Project, we meet with Shelly Clay, who came to Haiti to adopt an orphan and stayed when she discovered her “orphan” had a living mom who couldn’t feed him. Shelly and her husband started this nonprofit to enable moms to keep their babies. They began with six artisans, teaching them to make jewelry out of recycled cereal boxes, and now employ more than 200 men and women in jewelry making, sewing and pottery crafts, providing an income that is twice Haiti’s minimum wage. We visit with the artisans, many with babies on their laps, as they teach us to roll beads, to try our hand at pottery, to observe their creativity, and I am thankful to play a part in the hope I see in their eyes, the smiles on their faces, the plump, healthy cheeks of their children.

We visit a new partner, Heartline Ministries, where their artisans are creating new handbags on sewing machines purchased by Trades of Hope, so that they could begin a training program to provide jobs for these new moms. We hear how women have been able to leave abusive relationships, move into a new home, send children to school for the first time because of this opportunity.

At Three Angels Children’s Relief, we meet three school girls sponsored through the sales from Trades of Hope, girls who will have a future because they are getting an education, and we meet the women in the artisan program who are learning new skills and crafts to provide for their families. We see hope, dignity, pride in what they are producing, and we know that what we do matters.

Back home in Tennessee, far from the constant crowing of roosters, honking of the tap-taps (brightly painted trucks with benches for public transportation), roar of motorcycles, pervasive smell of gasoline and burning charcoal, my heart and thoughts remain in Haiti. As I picture the faces of the strong women of Haiti, I remember the warmth of the abandoned baby in my arms, and I realize anew that every choice women here in Tennessee make when we spend our money really does impact our sisters in Haiti, in India, in Uganda, in Guatemala, the Philippines, in all the places women are working in safety and dignity through Fair Trade groups. And I am encouraged to advocate even more for women here at home to realize the power that we possess to impact women around the world.

Just by choosing to shop with organizations that support Fair Trade, we can help women out of poverty, sweatshops and oppression — every one of us can change the world for one.

For more information on Fair Trade visit www.fairtradeusa.org.

                                                                                                              ◆◆◆

Deborah says her desire is to continue to follow the Lord into every new dream He has for her life and to encourage other women to do the same.

She is a member of Columbia’s First Baptist Church, where she teaches a Kindergarten Sunday School class and second graders in Wednesday night Kids Club. She is also active in the ladies Bible study group at First Baptist as well as in Community Bible Study. She blogs to advocate for Christian women becoming involved in social justice at http://todreamanew.blogspot.com.

Gifts of Hope is the program through which Trades of Hope gives back through the profits of party sales. Usually, these gifts are used to help women start new businesses, however this time we saw an opportunity
to support an organization within our own community.  A Celebrate Recovery campus was recently planted in 
Palm Coast, Florida.

Celebrate Recovery creates a road map for health and healing from depression, fear, codependency, and addiction.
All have been hurt one way or another. It is a place to be real about hurts, habits, and hang-ups. The program develops 
authentic relationships where people can be transformed and healed through the love of God. 

The structure of the program allows for personal growth and the potential for individuals to learn to be leaders, helping others. New, enriching relationships, bring support and accountability that leads to comfort and joy with the promise of a new tomorrow.

Trades of Hope's mission is to empower every woman to be the hero of her own story. Sometimes, those women are right in our own community! We encourage you to reach out to those around you and empower them through friendship and healing. Together, we can change the world!

Dear Sister,

I'm standing here twirling the beads between my fingers, turning them around over and over without a thought, because I just fiddle with things while I'm waiting for the woman to ring up my groceries.

The beautiful apples I hand picked from the nice display of choices. 
The bigger thing of spinach, because I have a choice and we are eating a lot of spinach these days.
The box of goldfish because my kids like it after naps and those overpriced individual packets of applesauce that don't require a spoon.

I drive it all home in my dependable car that carries the best of car seats x 3 and pull into my garage where I store the food that nourishes my family for a week and I plop down on the floor to snuggle the boys whom get me all the time because I can be at home, while their Daddy works all week to provide.

And all at once I'm overwhelmed and my heart aches and I feel a bit breathless.

This bracelet you've made that circles my wrist is not just an accessory that matched my shoes for the day. It's your life.

I imagine you cutting, and wrapping and glazing each one. Checking to make sure it's done right and well. Stringing them on and packaging them up, all the while you are trusting and hoping and praying I buy one. That someone buys them. So you can keep your children. So you can eat something. 
So you can live.

Thinking of it brings me to my knees and I begin to lather my boys with hugs and kisses against all protest, and I won't stop.

And I ask Him- why Lord? Why have you blessed me so? Why do I get to drive to the store and spend more than she makes in a month, to feed my family and then put them to bed at night in a house with a lock and heat that we turn on like it comes without cost? Then He speaks,


 So you can bless her. 

So that you, with what I have given you, can bless those without.

Do you think I blessed you so that you could just sit tight and cozy and store up your                    money in banks and properties and ride safely through life? 

And I get a lump in my throat and the tears form.....

Most thank me and then carry on, so grateful they are blessed, but yet haven't received the biggest blessing they could ever get.

Giving.

Giving isn't a blessing.... it is THE blessing.

He has given to me so that I can give to others, and isn't that what love is? My sweet sister, toiling away at your trade working long hours and falling to sleep at night exhausted and grateful all at once.  Isn't that what our whole life should look like? All poured out, and overflowing. Used up and spent. That is how we truly feel alive.

I put my bracelet away at night, on my shelf and I take hold of the journal from India another made and I sniff it. I breathe it in and pray for her, the one whom  have been given life because of it and I glance at the earrings from Peru and I smile remembering how many times someone has commented on them and then I get to share your story too. My scarf from Nepal? It's an eye catcher, and when I describe what these women  do to make it, people can't help but be moved.  And I feel connected to you and to them, chosen to do this task. To shout it out, to share your stories, to lift some of your burden and I am humbled and honored.

As I tuck my wee ones in bed tonight, ever grateful for the warmth their blankets provide, I vow to not just be thankful, but to live out my gratitude by speaking for you and our other sisters like you.

Krystle is a Trades of Hope Compassion Entrepreneur and a blogger. Check out her awesome blog at www.3littlemenandamommy.com

This month, Trades of Hope was able to donate $400 to a ministry called Haitian Creations. Along with this, we are also donated $1000 to a maternity center that helps these women give birth to their babies in safety. Both this maternity center and Haitian Creations is a part of a ministry called Heartline in Haiti, and is very near to our hearts! This ministry provides women and children in the community with a safe place to learn about Jesus and to adopt life-skills!

Haitian Creations is Heartline's program that helps women learn life skills and empowers them to be business owners. These Haitian women learn how to create products in a safe environment, where they can learn to be proud of the beautiful work they create. Trades of Hope is excited to be carrying some of their unique products for our next catalog, and our donation was able to help these ladies increase production and buy materials for their work! 

Their maternity center is also helping save many lives. "Giving birth is dangerous business for Haiti's poor, who suffer by far the highest maternal mortality ratio in the Western Hemisphere. Out of 100,000 live births, 670 Haitian women died of pregnancy-related causes, according to UNICEF" (msnbc.com). In a place where it is very dangerous to give birth to a child, Heartline's maternity center is rescuing women and teaching them how to properly care for their children once born. Our $1000 donation will go toward building a new maternity center as well! 

At the end of November, I had the personal privilege of traveling to Heartline and meeting the wonderful artisans that create our soon to be products. As I drove down the dusty Haitian road where they are located, I had no idea the unique community existing just inside the building's doors. As the green doors opened, I was met with smiles and hugs. The sounds of cooking, ladies laughing, sewing machines creating, and friends being made overwhelmed me.

Chandler, Haitian Creation's director of design and development, greeted me as I walked in. She told me her story about how she had decided to move to Haiti from the States with her new husband and help run Haitian Creations. As we entered each room, she kissed some of the ladies on the forehead, she told others how beautiful they looked, and she encouraged others on their work. Her radiant spirit soaked into each room and the artisan's smiles showed that this was truly a place where love and freedom was cultivated. We visited the sewing rooms, the cooking room, the beading room, and the literacy room...even the maternity center was next door! So many rooms filled with life! And that is truly what is happening at Heartline's Haitian Creations - life. Raw, real, beautiful life is being remade, recreated, renewed through sustainable business and ministry.

Trades of Hope is excited to donate money for our Gifts of Hope program each month, and we could not think of someone who deserves it more than these ladies. These artisans have a reason to get up in the morning. They can go to work and be greeted with wonderful ladies, like Chandler, who constantly remind them that they are business women, strong and independent. They are women of worth, and no one can take that away from them.

While at Haitian Creations, I had the privilege to photograph and film some of these ladies. I have included some photos and a video below. In a world where reality can sometimes be unbearable, Haitian Creations has cultivated a culture of love, acceptance, and empowerment. They have brought light to the darkness.

Haitian Creations says 'thank you ' to Trades of Hope and our customers! To learn more about Heartline, visitwww.heartlineministries.org. Without your sales and purchases, we would not have been able to impact these women worldwide. We are honored to work with you to change the world!

          Have a Merry Christmas from all of us at Trades of Hope!

Gifts of Hope is an important link in the chain of helping women out of poverty. It is a way that Trades of Hope gives back through the profits of our product sales.   

Through out the year, Trades of Hope gives donations to programs that promote long term business or education all over the world! 

Check out some stories here! 

Trades of Hope is so excited to be helping artisans in Guatemala this month!
 
This October, Trades of Hope has donated to a ministry of coffee farmers and their families (pictured right). These artisans make a living by creating coffee and by selling through fair trade companies in the US. To properly create this coffee, the artisans and their families need to build a wet mill. That is where we come in! The new wet mill will revitalize the community and lay the foundation for economic security for the farmers! This does not only affect the artisans, but also affects their families and their communities.

This wet mill project is being led by a mission minded company in the US, called Provision Coffee, and by HOPE Bible Missions. We are so excited that we are working together to not only give these artisans a viable business, but sharing the love of God. This ministry is dedicated to training up leaders in the community who can own businesses, love one another, and contribute to creating change!

Trades of Hope is honored to be able to support such life-changing artisans, and we want to thank you for every sale and purchase you have contributed to changing the world. We could not do it without you!

                             Below are some pictures sent to us from the community in Guatemala!

Trades of Hope considers it a privilege and a blessing to be able to give back through the sales of our products and home parties! 
 
This month, Trades of Hope has sponsored four women in a training program at Heartline Ministries in Haiti. When ladies finish beading class and are ready to start working, they purchase a tool box containing necessary supplies. The sponsorship program subsidizes their costs to help cover the cost of their tool box, coming alongside a lady and giving her a head start in her new profession!

Yvetta is one of the women Trades of Hope has sponsored. She was born in Carrefour, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her mother already had eight children by the time Yvetta was born, so her mother sent her to live with her aunt a few miles away. 

Before coming to the Heartline Women's Center, Yvetta had not ever stepped foot in a classroom. With Heartline, she has learned to read, write and she went through Artisan class. She learned how to roll beads, what it means to match colors into beautiful pieces of jewelry and is a diligent, loyal worker.

Yvetta is a single mother to three sweet boys. They are twelve, five and four years old and are all in school. She loves her boys fiercely and is proud to be able to put them through school and to provide them with a home where the four of them can live all together. She has high hopes for her kids and their future.

Yvetta's spirit is gentle and sweet. Because she lives near Heartline, they often see her walking hand-in-hand with her kids as she walks them to and from school.

The goal of Trades of Hope is to empower women like Yvetta each day to be the heroes of their own stories. Thank you for changing the world with us! 
 

Our new fall catalog is out, along with many of our new products! We are so excited to introduce a beautiful fall collection, created by women worldwide. But it is more than just products. We are truly so passionate about the artisans we are helping with your purchases. Thank you for all you do to make a difference! Check out our new catalog here!