Believe
In 2011, I stepped into the Jacaranda workshop in Nairobi Kenya and my eyes were immediately drawn to a word painted on the wall. Believe. As I met the ladies and heard their story, I kept seeing the word Believe in my mind.
When we designed the 1st Marketplace in Grace Covenant, we picked a barn and found an 80 year old billboard. I had the word Believe painted on it and up it went in front of the store.
When we closed our Grace location because God wanted us to “take it to the people,” we put the billboard in our fashion truck #therollingshack. In our initial design, it was covered up by our clothing display. When we did our latest truck renovation, we moved the clothing. I saw the billboard and I just stood back and remembered. I remember standing in that workshop and God speaking to me. Believe. Believe that you can help these ladies. Believe you can change the world. Believe I am working through you. This time I wasn’t going to cover it up. It is the backdrop of our bracelet bar.
Last Saturday as I closed the doors to The Marketplace at Oak Street, I thought back to all of my trips to workshops around the world. I remembered the artisans I had met and their stories of empowerment. I shed a few tears but then I remembered Believe. Many people when they heard we were closing the Oak Street said they were “sorry it didn’t work out.” But what they didn’t realize is, it did work out, the way God wanted it to. In order to continue to grow and empower more people with jobs, we had to release something. We had to take a leap of faith and Believe. At The Marketplace, we are not conventional. We don’t do what people think we should, we do what God wants us to do. Why? So He will get the glory.
Sunday I received so many emails from our customers who said they were praying for us and were so excited for the next season. I received messages from our different artisan partners telling me they were standing with us. That’s humbling. So guys as you step onto #therollingshack look for the Believe painted on the billboard. I want to share that word with you. Whatever God is asking you to do that is sooooo big, know that what you have to do is Believe and then take the next step.
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