A woman's hands...

Oh there is so much in my heart!  How to express it all?  God is certainly up to something!  I feel like He is taking me through a time of refining my ministry.  I had a very interesting dream last night that confirms this to be true.
In my dream I saw a rope with many random things dangling from it.  I can't remember the specific items that were hanging there but they were certainly random and seemed to be completely unrelated to each other.  Then suddenly someone reached over and gave the hanging rope a little tug.  The random items began to slide toward the bottom of the rope and they disappeared and became an arrow at the end of the rope.
When I woke up I felt like I instantly knew the meaning of the dream.  I love when that happens because for me it is a sure sign that God was using my dream to speak something to me.  To this point (over the last year and a half) my "ministry" here has felt rather random.  I have been doing good things but never with any real purpose or focus to it.  It has been a "little here and little there" kind of ministry, often leaving me feeling as though I am not really "doing" anything.  Of course that is not true, but without a specific focus I have felt random, to say the least.  I have been crying out to God to "refine" and "clarify" what He wants me to focus on and spend my energy doing.  I truly believe that the "tug" on the rope is God (using my sister) pulling things together and showing me where He wants my focus to be.  Hands For Hope is the arrow at the end of the rope and the place I firmly believe He is calling me to focus.  Hands For Hope is in the process of being born.  Right now it is not an official "organization" or anything but who knows where it will lead in the future.  Right now we are planning to partner with the local church where my husband is the pastor.  It will be a project involving the women there.
In short, we are going to create opportunity for them to use their hands in bringing hope to their lives and the lives of their families.  My amazing sister has been raising funds to bring with her when she comes to Rwanda in the beginning of June to get this whole thing "kicked off the ground."  We will be setting up a place where we can train the women in sewing and jewelry making.  Lord willing, we will be trying to find a "market" for the items they will create, both here in Rwanda and also in America.
If there is one thing that I have learned about women struggling to survive here in Rwanda, it is this.  They are not looking for a hand out but they are look for an opportunity.  Even if they are at my door asking for a hand out, I know that in their heart what they really desire is an opportunity to make life better for themselves and especially for their children.  I have had many women come to my door looking for a job.  They want to work, to do something with their hands.  They ask if I have someone to do wash, someone to cook, clean, anything that they could do for a little job.  Most of the time I don't have anything for them to do and I have to turn them away saying that I have no work for them at the moment.  It always breaks my heart.
Hands For Hope is about creating opportunity for women to learn a skill and then to work with their hands, giving them hope and dignity in their work.  I don't know exactly where God will lead this project in the future.  I am praying that this is the beginning of something that will grow and minister to many more women in the future!  Pray with me for this vision to become a reality!  And watch for more updates as this project takes form over the next two months!