Alegria Accessories Prayer Partners

Sun is beaming in through my windows this morning and the air was crisp when I walked the dog this morning. Hot steamy coffee sits next to the computer and I'm looking forward to church in a few hours. Fall is such a beautiful season and I'm grateful to live in a place that gets all four seasons (sometimes within a week!) Today it's raining and cooler in Honduras, a high of 83º. I long to be there again with our artisans. Soon, I hope! I'm reflecting on the month so far. Always looking back with gratitude for God's provision, and looking forward with prayer for wisdom and God's hand of protection and favor on behalf of His daughters in Honduras. This week will launch our ads for the holidays - "One Gift Can Change A Life". And we will begin to shape our website and posts to suggest gifts for our loved ones as we all shift our spending. In Honduras, our artisans are hard at work finishing stocking up on our best sellers before they turn their attention to designing for spring. And we are just weeks away from welcoming a new family member there, so we are down one set of hands in the office as her maternity leave has started. I was reading about the beginning of Jesus' ministry this morning and the disciples panicking in the storm while Jesus slept. It sticks in my head because I can look at our numbers, our bank account, the upcoming bills and payroll, and then the need to spend for advertising...and I panic a bit. Where is this going to come from? Will our faithful supporters shop with us again this holiday season? Will we find new customers that will join the mission with our ad spend? And then I remember the God who has been faithful through the last 5 holiday seasons. I can't put my trust in events or ad channels, but I can put my trust in Him who called and equips and then sustains. Here is what I'm praying this morning and I would love it if you would join me: Praise and gratitude for His constant provision and care for this mission to provide jobs for His daughters in Honduras. Continued healthy pregnancy and safe delivery of the new baby in Honduras, and healthy mom and baby going forward. Wisdom and favor for our ad campaigns, a strong return of sales on our ad spend. For the faithful return customers to again make a choice to holiday gift shop with Alegria. For our Joy-Partner stores to see huge sell through on their Alegria pieces this holiday. I'm also praying for you, that God would return to you 10 times the blessing you give to Alegria with your shopping with purpose. And yes, ONE gift can change a life!

The hustle and bustle of the 4th quarter is upon Alegria, and yesterday, I rested (mostly). Last week was a holiday week in Honduras, so our artisans got a week with their families to rest. And many of you will be off today for the holiday. I pray you are getting to rest. Mondays are 'Mission Monday', a time to focus on why Alegria exists:  Alegria Accessories exists to create safe, living wage jobs for the women who have aged out of Faith Home children's home in Honduras. We are interrupting poverty, exploitation and trafficking with employment. We hand craft trendy, high quality fashion jewelry for our Joy-Creator customers in the United States. I am so grateful to be a part of this mission, so grateful the Holy Spirit whispered to me in the midst of seeking His will after the company I had been with for 23 years closed its doors. I'm so grateful for artisans who have said yes to a job at Alegria, and especially Erika and Elizabeth who have been with us since the beginning on the back porch in 2021. And I'm grateful for you, who pray and shop to support our mission. The only way the money comes in to fund our operations and payroll is through mission hearted shoppers and stores that choose to make a purchase that will provide a living wage job to the makers in the supply chain.  You choose to purchase their works of art, their hand crafted pieces. Thank you! Today, I'm praying about how we can get this mission and our products in front of more mission minded women and store owners so that we can grow and hire more artisans. Please pray with me, and if you have a minute, could you share our Live from last night to your Facebook page? Oh, and we have a Fall Break sale going on our website: Buy 1 piece, Get 1 piece for 50% off. Would love to ship you some beautiful new pieces tomorrow when the post office opens! Christmas is 10 weeks from Friday!

New Jewelry New Quarter New Stores New Opportunities New Artisan? Thursday, the new Joy of Gifting Winter Collection dropped on our website and it's meeting with lots of smiles and purchases at our pop-up this weekend! New jewelry takes A LOT of work, but it's so exciting to bring it to you. This was an area we made a decision to slow down in order to grow faster and it has paid off. I know we miss the monthly drops, but our Joy Box is still filling that gap. And it doesn't mean we won't have new pieces at any other time than the seasonal drops. But the weight of constantly doing something new is a load we gladly only carry 4 times a year now. And it fits the rhythm of fashion. Thursday also started our 4th quarter - the 3 months where we pray for a harvest that gives us savings for the lean months. It has started well! Thank you to our Joy-Creators and our Joy-Partners who have ordered or shopped this weekend! We were able this Christmas to put a joint ad in the Munce Christian Bookstore catalog that mails out in a few weeks - it will not only help the sell through of 2 of our most purchased products by Christian Bookstores and Christian Boutique and Gift Stores, but it is also introducing new stores to Alegria's artisan mission and jewelry, and we're adding new Joy-Partners! There are 2 very large new opportunities for Honduras that I cannot speak about yet, but they would go hand in hand and would be life changing for Alegria in Honduras! This morning, I would invite you to join me in thanking God for a successful new jewelry launch, a strong beginning for the 4th quarter, and the new Joy-Partner stores that are ordering for the first time with Alegria. And then would you also pray with me that our 4th quarter will bring a huge harvest and a savings that will carry us through the winter? Would you pray for our Joy Partner stores to sell through their Alegria and need to restock, and that more Munce Christian Bookstores would join us as Joy-Partners and order for their stores before the Christmas catalog? And finally, please pray for these unspoken opportunities for Honduras. Pray that the Lord's will would be evident and accomplished, and that it would lead to new jobs for women who so desperately need them. Thank you so much prayer partner! Your petitioning and praising on behalf of Alegria sustains our mission!

Sunday morning confessions - I do like football, but I was always there for the marching band! And I'm a summer girl through and through, but I'm welcoming these cooler mornings and evenings this year. Do you think this summer's heat was a little extra, or am I just getting older? October starts this week, the fourth quarter of the year. I'm going into it with an incredibly grateful heart and looking forward to the holidays with extra anticipation, as it could be my first Christmas as a grammy! (she's due on the 28th, so we could just be anxiously awaiting still, babies come when they are ready) As you are praying so faithfully for Alegria, I'd love for you to join me in thanking God that although we had a rough start to the year, we are now catching up. Our third quarter was up enough to make up for shortcomings.  Thank you Lord! And on my heart this morning is "A" - our next artisan to hire in Honduras. There are things in the works to help us move closer in a big step, but I still believe in the faithful support of our base of Joy-Creators that have shared and brought us this far, and I am praying today that we will see Christmas shopping and fall/winter fashion shopping from a huge number of us all in the fourth quarter. That faithfulness is how our other artisans have been paid a steady salary for over 5 1/2 years. This week, we will be launching our Winter & Gifting collection on Tuesday to our retailers and stores, and on Thursday on our website to our Joy-Creator customers. (And Joy Club and Joy Box members will get their early access Monday evening!) Pray for a smooth launch and great sales! Happy last few days of September, and first days of fall!

Good Sunday morning Joy-Creators! I’m sitting outside in New Harmony enjoying the cooler morning and talking with Kunstfest goers about Alegria’s artisans, jewelry and mission to use dignified employment to fight poverty and exploitation.  Yesterday I was standing by our tables at Skyline church at the GB Women’s Ministries conference doing the same thing.  How did you first hear about Alegria? At a craft show or women’s conference? Did a friend share it with you? And what moved you to purchase or subscribe to our emails?  This is a season of busy and activity, in the US and Honduras, as Christmas gift shopping begins and stores are stocking up. Would you join me this morning in praying: For our artisan who just began her maternity leave. For a safe delivery and healthy mom and baby. For our activity these next weeks to reach new and returning Joy-Creators who will make an impact with their shopping dollars. for our Joy-partner stores to sell out and reorder…that Alegria sales would bless them and in return their reorders can bless our artisans.

52 years...and I'm just grateful! My birthday was quiet this year, thanks to a headcold I came home with from SING Conference. I was supposed to be at Mt. Vernon River Days, but kept my germs to myself. I did a little work and then Randy ordered pizza and we watched a movie at home. My phone buzzed all day with birthday wishes from family and friends, and I even got a beautiful video from Honduras of them singing both in English and Spanish to me 💖. I'm sitting here on Sunday morning with a hot cup of coffee and just thanking the Lord for another year of getting to serve Him, being blessed with a family I love so deeply, and a job that I wouldn't trade for anything.  And I'm thanking Him for you, because you are choosing to walk with me in this calling to bring work and wages to the women from our Faith Home family. This next week, I will get to see so many of you at the Inside Out Conference in O'Fallon. Or at Kunstfest in New Harmony. Please pray for the volunteer who will be helping Alegria be in 2 places at once.  This week also holds a very important meeting for a prospective partnership that could produce new jobs. Please pray with me that God would use it to make a way for more artisan jobs. Lots of moving parts this fall, lots of jewelry being finished for our winter gifting collection. Join me in celebrating, giving thanks, and seeking God for his wisdom and blessing on behalf of Alegria.

Good Sunday morning Joy-Creators! As you're reading this, I'm probably driving to Nashville, unloading the booth, setting up the booth, or already sharing Alegria with the SING! Conference attendees. The next 8 days are full of incredible opportunities for Alegria. 4 days here at SING! in Nashville, and then 2 new Joy-Partner meetings, 2 days at Mt. Vernon River Days, and wrapping up next Sunday at Myriad Craft Fair in Newburgh. Oh, and my 52nd birthday is Friday! (come say hi to me in Mt. Vernon). Plus, last night and today, our artisans in Honduras are being blessed by the women's ministry team and their conference.  Here is what I'm talking with Jesus about early this morning: Thank you Lord for how you are moving and working on behalf of your daughters in Honduras with Alegria. Continue to speak and move at the Women's Conference in Honduras today - encourage our artisans and all the women attending and participating. Keep me and our booth and inventory safe on the road this week. Protect us from theft and weather and other drivers. Give me words from you, full of wisdom and passion, to share with SING attendees, the two prospective Joy-Partners, River Days attendees and Myriad attendees.  Draw them into our booth and move them to join our story through a purchase. I'm asking for 52 orders to come in through our website by the end of my birthday Friday. God you are able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we can ask or think (Eph 3:20). I'm asking for all of these things and more according to your calling and vision for Alegria. Thank you for praying with me today! Enjoy your Labor Day holiday tomorrow. - Sarah

Good Sunday morning Joy-Creators and Joy-Partners!  If you've been praying with us for a while now, you know we have some ongoing requests, and one of them is still to create our first job in our 30 by 2030 campaign. Currently 7 women work for Alegria in Honduras, 6 artisans and 1 admin. The need is great for more jobs. And those jobs are created by sales - to our Joy-Creators (customers) and our Joy-Partner stores. If you know me, I'm not the greatest at waiting, patience is not something I am good at or that I pray for. But the God we serve is, and He will patiently prepare us for what we need in the next season. I know and believe that growth in Honduras is coming, and it's coming soon because He sees His daughters there and He knows the need for safe, living wage jobs. It's why He planted Alegria in our hearts. We're working on systems in the US and in Honduras, because scaling to larger production is needed for larger sales, and we have to up our game in other areas too, like packaging and shipping. So even when we're waiting for that next step and more growth, we are working. Thinking back, isn't it already amazing that God has provided through your shopping a steady salary for 7 women for so long?! 5 1/2 years! (That's a lot of jewelry!! 48,301 pieces to be exact!) And it sells 1 or 2 or 20 pieces at a time to customers and stores. You're keeping me very busy showing you jewelry, sending emails, visiting stores, and posting on social, as well as setting up at markets, like my last day at Frog Follies today. Today, would you pray about making a purchase? In the season of preparing, we need sustainers. Christmas shopping will be picking up soon, and our Joy Box Subscribers will be receiving their new September box in a few days. We have a packed September...but August has been quiet, and we need a little boost of our online shoppers to finish this month well.  Alegria's artisans have created a stunning fall collection and you would look amazing in a new set! Or maybe someone you know needs a little pick-me-up with a new pair of earrings or a necklace or bracelet. And even thought the purchase will be a blessing to you or your gift recipient, the blessing it is to the hands that made it cannot be overlooked - you are investing in a woman's career in a country where the barriers to a living wage job were impossible to overcome without Alegria. Yes, you can order on Amazon and it will be cheaper...but who made it? Did they earn a living wage? Is a big corporation taking your money and exploiting the maker? You know exactly who made your Alegria pieces, they are the models on all of our social posts and online. And I assure you on payday, their salary will take care of their needs and give them enough for also having dreams and goals for maybe owning a car, or a house.  Pray for us in this season of preparing. And also pray about financially supporting this mission today with a purchase.

Happy Sunday Prayer Partners! I'm packing my cooler for the final day of the Centralia Balloon Fest, and then wrapping up August next week with our first appearance in Women's World at Evansville Frog Follies. There has been Christmas shopping going on already at the Alegria booth - yep, just 4 months away! As I'm about to hit the road, I'm going to be praying my way over to Centralia with these things on my heart and lifted to the Lord: A fantastic last day of sales in Centralia, with lots of new faces in our booth to hear about our talented and hard-working artisans in Honduras Safety on the road and in breaking down our booth For our DHL shipment to deliver tomorrow as scheduled For our artisans this week as they are planning the next production schedule for their PO, and for supplies to be available and shipped on time to them For our Joy-Partner stores as they are being called this week and next for their fall restocks - and that it will bless their stores and sell through quickly Thank you for praying with me today!

Zephaniah 3:17 has been a favorite verse long before I knew that "Alegria" appeared in it twice!  Do you know about Zephaniah? And what was going on in Israel and Judah at that time?  Zephaniah was God's profit warning his people that Babylon is about to come and conquer them and take them into exile. Why? Well, God is a Father to this nation and like a good parent, when kids are off the rails and not making wise choices or listening and obeying, He is going to practice some tough love. He needs to regain their attention. But in this chapter, Zephaniah is delivering this promise - the exile will end, they will be brought back home. He IS (present tense) living among them. (they are not abandoned, only being disciplined) AND when this is over, He is going to save them. Here is the part of the verse I adore because as a parent, I know this feeling. Pulling my child into my arms and loving them with everything in me. Delighting over them. And singing over them in the night when they are scared or sick. Nothing on earth makes my heart rejoice more than my children. And how much greater is the love of God than my imperfect human love?!  And when I read it in Spanish - Alegria is gladness and joy! Today, I'm praying gladness and joy to be sung over our artisans in Honduras, that work now at Alegria, and those who will join us. We WILL reach 30 by 2030, even if we have started so slowly in 2026 - know that God is working behind the scenes. Do not lose hope and pray that those awaiting a job will also be protected and not lose hope. The enemy wants to keep these women enslaved in poverty, exploitation and hopelessness, BUT GOD! I'm also praying gladness and joy to be sung over our Joy-Partner stores - that their inventory of Alegria will fly off the shelves in the next few months and they will be moved to restock and continue to be part of the mission.  And for new stores to join us and be blessed by Alegria in their stores. And I'm praying gladness and joy to be sung over YOU, our Joy-Creators! That the pieces you wear will make you feel lovely, and that you will be able to tell others about our mission and artisans. That you will be able to shop more, and choose to give Alegria for gifts. And every time that you bless Alegria, that God would bless you 10 times over! This week, we are going to be starting a fall campaign for online sales - join me in praying for wisdom in how we communicate and how we set up the advertising so it will return in greater sales. And I will also be at the Centralia Hot Air Balloon Festival in Centralia Illinois. Please pray for safety and for good weather and a huge turnout and sales. Lastly, this week in Honduras, we are wrapping up our next shipment. We are still awaiting some supplies (always silver). So as with every month, we would love your prayers for shipments both to Honduras for supplies, and to the US with the finished jewelry.  For safety and health for our artisans and their families.

Good morning sweet Joy Creators! Thank you for praying for me at the Christian Products Expo this past week. It was a success and 7 new stores added Alegria (check them out on our Shop In Person map on the website). Let's thank God for these new Joy-Partners and ask Him to bless their Alegria inventory to sell quickly in their stores. I have several current CPE Joy-Partners to follow up with this week for virtual meetings for fall reorders and I'm asking God to bless those calls and the stores that reorder. Honduras is buzzing with stocking up our best sellers for Christmas, designing ornaments and new items for gifts and our winter collection. We always pray for creativity and wisdom when we design. And of course for our supply chain in Honduras to stay reliable with our bisuterias that order and stock our materials.  Thank you for joining us to pray for these things as well. We do have a new baby on the way in Honduras and one of our artisans that will soon be on maternity leave. Thank you for praying for a healthy baby and healthy mommy (and daddy). This will be the wonderful couple's first baby. We all know the fears and anxieties around your first. But what a joy to anticipate and pray with them! This week in the US we are inviting everyone to come to a fashion show at Posh on Main and we pray for a large turnout and a great sales day that provides wages and expenses for our artisans. If you are close to Evansville, we'd love for you to come and bring a small crowd with you! Happy first week of school to so many of you that are teachers and moms sending kids back or getting your homeschool classroom ready.  We pray for a wonderful, safe, and joy-filled school year for you.