A Shared Passion

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Linda Thomas and the ladies of byTavi in their Ignite t-shirts – July 2011.

Ignite Women shares a passion with byTavi for seeing women set free – spiritually, as well as physically.  During Ignite’s recent Bible study, Vanessa Alexander shared how lives are transformed by the power of Jesus Christ through the work of CGI.

Linda Thomas, Ignite leader and author of In Step with the Spirit, also shared her passion for the women and girls of Cambodia. Having traveled to Cambodia in 2011, Linda visited the byTavi workshop along with the Daughters program and the Culinary Training Center (now including the Green Mango Café & Bakery). Linda encouraged the ladies of Ignite to express their faith through love (Galatians 5:6) for the at-risk girls in Cambodia. In this case, that meant SHOPPING! Purses, totes, and messenger bags, along with an assortment of scarves and “Make More Than a Fashion Statement” t-shirts, were available.

CGI appreciates partnerships such as Ignite. In 2010, Ignite leaders specifically prayed they would make an impact “around the world.” God has answered that prayer.

If you are a woman – regardless of age or church affiliation – we encourage you to visit Ignite online: www.Ignite Women.com. Read more

Happy Hands – Happy Handbags

DSC_0081 (1)We are constantly overwhelmed by the opportunities that God provides for byTavi in the United States. It seems that every time we turn around, God has opened a door for a major event, or saved us a prime spot at a conference, or gives us the opportunity for a great marketing tool for FREE! This last example is exactly what happened a few weeks ago…

Have you heard of Vine? Vine is a mobile app that allows its users to create and post six second videos that can be shared on social networking services, such as Twitter and Facebook. Several weeks ago, Brandin6 approached us about running a Vine contest. Whoever came up with the best Vine video about byTavi, would win a cash prize.

Well, what does this mean for byTavi? It means that we were featured on the main page of Vine and Brandin6, people who never knew we existed, were now creating videos about us, and the word spread like wildfire. We are so grateful for this opportunity that we thought we’d share it with you. We are so thankful for @hunrharrison who created the winning video.

Check out “Happy Hands make Happy Handbags” here:

You can also check out ALL of the byTavi videos here: http://www.brandin6.com/bytavi.html

by Kristen Baynai

A Future of Hope

photo (1)When I was at the workshop yesterday, Sokheng (the older woman seated on the left) asked if her two nieces and their cousin could be included in the byTavi program.  I told her she should ask Nary, who had already sent her to me.  This led to the three of us, plus Vibol, sitting down to talk.  Apparently all three girls arrived from the countryside on Monday.  They were sent to the city by family to stay with Sokheng and work in a factory.  Both Sokheng and Nary fear that without a safe network these girls will be taken advantage of by factory supervisors.  The girls are not here by their choice.  They are petrified, and they do not want to work at the factory.  The youngest is 16.  Knowing the risk Sokheng and Nary asked if they could be a part of byTavi.  Long story short, we now have three new seamstresses-in-training.

In many ways this story represents why byTavi exists.  We can help these girls and create a situation where they can help their families.  We can prevent them being forced into a high-risk situation and place them in a healthy multi-generational, Christ-centered environment.  The future for these three girls is now full of hope and potential.
Until ALL have heard,
Chris