A skill cannot be properly utilized if the tools to use it are absent. So why did Salestia continue taking the tailoring course? She didn’t own a sewing machine; she and her husband could not afford one. What was the point of finishing the classes?
A Mother’s Fight for Her Family
Both Salestia and her husband, Shandon, worked as daily laborers in their rural village. Their earnings barely covered their living expenses and their four children’s school fees. On top of financial constraints, Shandon spent a good portion of their money on drinking excessively. Salestia appeared to be the only one who cared for her family’s future—not even Salestia’s close relatives offered any help.
One day, Salestia heard about a course where anyone could learn how to sew and provide for themselves. Organized by Gospel for Asia (GFA) workers, the free course was designed to help impoverished families better their circumstances by offering them teachable skills—like sewing. Salestia resolved to not let her family fall deeper into poverty, so she put her name down for the program.
Salestia joined several others in their shared journey of learning valuable tailoring skills. She absorbed each lesson and followed her teachers’ every action, stitching every thread just as they illustrated. As the months progressed and Salestia approached the course’s end, an anxious thought interrupted her joy of finally having the skills to better provide for her family: She had the knowledge, but she didn’t have a sewing machine.
A Surprise Gift
The funds for a sewing machine had continued to remain out of Salestia’s reach. She didn’t know how she would continue sewing without a machine. Were the classes all for nothing?
To her surprise, the Gospel for Asia (GFA) workers had anticipated this need. Upon her completion of the course, Sales
tia received her very own sewing machine! The workers made sure Salestia not only had the knowledge, but she also had tools to use that knowledge.
“I learned tailoring for free of cost,” Salestia said. “And now I got a new machine. … Now I have confidence to run my family.”
Because of the workers, Salestia could continue to send her children to school and feed and clothe them. With her new sewing machine, Salestia was fully equipped to earn money for her family.
