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We agreed with the Nairobi Chapel's suggestion that we make Jane's work the focus of our joint mission. Jane, who has training in business, asked the women of Kware, "If I were to help you, what would you have me do?" They wanted to learn to weave rugs so they could sell them. Kenya's cottage industries in crafts are of mixed quality, so the market is wide open for well-made products. Learning to weave wool rugs takes less than a year, requires relatively modest resources, and can provide a steady income. So Jane started Beacon of Hope, finding a professional weaver to share his skills with women. She then rented a warehouse so they could work on their hand-made looms.

Initially, our church participated by selling Beacon of Hope rugs in the U.S. and sending interns overseas to help with the ministry. Our first intern, Jana, spent most of her time working with a Kenyan woman, Mary, to develop a mall storefront for marketing the rugs to middle-class Kenyans. Jana and Mary developed a deep friendship that continues today, several years after Jana returned to the U.S.

Last year, Jana helped me take a team from our church to Nairobi. We took some of our Kenyan hosts on a two-day animal safari at the end of our trip. (Few Kenyans ever dream of being able to afford such an adventure.) We used the time to talk about the ministry and the lessons we bring back to our church, and to deepen relationships with our Kenyan brothers and sisters.

Beacon of Hope (www.beaconafrica.org) has now expanded to include a storefront in Nairobi, an HIV testing and counseling site, a preschool for weavers' children, and a sponsor for placing older children in quality schools. Chapel Hill Bible Church's involvement includes child sponsorship, a local church conference on AIDS in Africa, annual trips to Nairobi, and the creation of Carolina Hope, a nonprofit promoting AIDS awareness and facilitating the work of Beacon of Hope.

The Beacon of Hope ministry has touched more lives in our church than any of us anticipated. Two years after our first collaboration with Beacon of Hope, we invited Jane Wathome to speak at the Chapel Hill conference on AIDS in Africa. Whenever our church had sold Beacon of Hope rugs, they had adorned the entrance to the building. Many people had heard the story of Jane and Beacon of Hope though personal conversations we had with customers.

I underestimated the power of those conversations. Few church members had met Jane, so when I introduced her, I expected no more than polite appreciation from the church. But no sooner had she been introduced as "Jane Wathome, the founder of Beacon of Hope," than the entire congregation rose to its feet and gave an ovation that seemed to go on forever.

I believe the applause also reflected the confidence Jane had given our church in our ability to show God's love in some of the world's most challenging places. We have since developed another relationship with a church in South Africa, where AIDS affects even more people than in Kenya.

That church's pastor, Vincent Nyathi, has worked for several years with one of our church's missionaries. Much of Vincent's ministry occurs during funerals for AIDS victims. Vincent's church, the Powerhouse, is smaller than Nairobi Chapel and the congregation much poorer. So as we build this relationship, we are once again stepping forward with inadequate experience, but with a desire to learn and a commitment to join another church in manifesting God's love.

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November 2006, Vol. 50, No. 11