Fighting Poverty, One Purse at a Time

Bany Trading Company is featured in the Religious Section of the
Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Check it out!!

Fighting Poverty, One Purse At A Time

By GEORGE MONTALVO

Stefani Masten, 31, took her first trip to Africa on a six-month Mercy Ships mission to Sierra Leone in 2005. Her task, as a physical and occupational therapist, was to live among the poor of the community while providing medical assistance.

She said she had no idea the effect her short-term mission of mercy would have.

In Sierra Leone, a nation suffering from a nine-year civil war and subsequent corruption, she came across a 20-something paralytic victim of polio who handcrafted purses to support himself. She purchased a few purses as souvenirs.

"When I arrived home, everyone asked about the purses, said Ms. Masten, who attends Grace Community Church at the University Boulevard campus.

"All my friends wanted them. So I figured on my next trip I would pick up more of these beautiful handmade purses. That's when I first started having the idea of manufacturing the purses for sale stateside and using the proceeds to assist the impoverished of Sierra Leone."

"GOOD FRIENDS"

Ms. Masten's enthusiasm proved infectious. Amanda Storer, 28, a co-worker at a Tyler clinic, decided to get involved. The pair began praying and making plans. They shared their ideas with the Rev. Danny Loeffelholz, pastor of their church.

"Stefani and Amanda were good friends," Loeffelholz said, "and they had hopes of going where the Gospel was needed most -- a place where the message would most penetrate the darkness."

According to the Human Development Index, Sierra Leone is the third-lowest-ranked country when assessing the life expectancy, education, and gross domestic product of its citizens.

The Human Poverty Index measures its people as the seventh poorest in the world.

Visiting Sierra Leone in 2009 to scout potential business opportunities, the women visited a trade school that supported the Orphanage Vocational Training Center.

The school is attended by former sex slaves who are learning how to read, keep accounting books, cater food, tailor and practice cosmetology.

This was the place, Ms. Masten said, they thought provided a perfect venue to serve. But why would people in a country that is 70-percent Muslim accept help from two Christian women?

"TRULY CARE"

"We arrived to help meet a physical need," Ms. Masten said. "They listen to what we have to say because they know we truly care. The Gospel is so much more than telling someone, 'Be warm and well fed.' It is truly about providing a warm blanket and making someone a good meal."

The trade school committed to the idea manufacturing purses, but it needed sewing machines and desks first. Returning to Tyler, the pair began asking friends for help and speaking at churches. Suddenly, a source opened that would allow them to purchase old school desks at five cents apiece. They bought 110 desks -- then needed a way to ship them.

"We really had no idea what we were going to do," Ms. Masten said.

An anonymous supporter came to their aid and found a shipping company in Oklahoma City that would send the desks. The 110 desks are now being used by the Orphanage Vocational Training Center to make purses for about $6 each, Ms. Masten said.

In the U.S., finished purses can fetch a donation of about $20 to $30 for each purse, she said. All the funds go back to projects to help the trade school.

"In the future, we hope to take teams to Sierra Leone to serve and help the orphanage," Ms. Storer said. "We hope in the long-term, to even have a factory built for the production of purses. We hope to make this enterprise self-sustaining. Maybe we can even add jewelry and tops to the product line. Who knows?"

Added Ms. Masten: "People don't care how much we know until they know how much we care. Caring opens a door for us to share the manifold blessing of God. We're not about only meeting physical needs, but also nourishing souls. That's social justice. That's the heart of Jesus."

For more information about Ms. Masten and Ms. Storer's charity work, visit the Web at www.banytradingcompany.com, or call Grace Community Church at 903-593-3800.

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20100320/RELIGION/3200309/-1/religion