"Woman who prays, woman who works, woman of compassion." This is the motto that the women of each Tabitha center recites and is held to as they adopt the name of Tabitha and are discipled in Bible teaching and sewing lessons. The women of these centers have various backgrounds: some were rescued from some form of prostitution, while others were simply members of the same church who were struggling financially and needed to learn a trade to stay out of a hurtful lifestyle. Now all of the women in these centers have a more promising future. They have hope because one woman made the decision to serve God.
Mama Claudine first moved to Kinshasa, hoping to serve somehow. She took a look at the women of that city and saw that they were getting pregnant all the time and then getting abortions or leaving their babies to die. Starting with her neighborhood, Mama Claudine began to go over the "Choose Life" book with a few women in order to educate them in health matters. But that wasn't enough. She wanted to not only educate them but give them a better future. So she taught them to sew, and the idea grew rapidly and developed into the Tabitha centers.
Today, there are 40 of these centers in Kinshasa which have only been developed in the past year. Each center is started and run by a church who provides a few items like a chalkboard and table. During our visits to the Tabitha centers, we listened to each woman's dreams for the future. Many of them had ambitious visions - often to open their own sewing shop or start their own Tabitha center once they graduate. If these women follow through on their visions, Tabitha centers will multiply all over Kinshasa. The hope is that there will be 1,000 centers in the city by 2019.
P L E A S E P R A Y :
- Resources. These centers often don't have the funds for enough sewing machines for the amount of women.
- Leadership. Pray for more leaders to rise up and start their own Tabitha centers.
- Transformation. Pray that these centers would continue to reach women in need and that it would change their lives for the better.
To see more updates about the Tabitha centers, check out their facebook page.
