Threads of Hope—Crafting for Missions
Grace Phillips
The Ashland Beacon
More than five years ago, Kelli Anderson attended a women’s event at her mother’s church in Flatwoods. It was at that conference a friendship began to grow and a burden to help with a new ministry was birthed. The speaker was Amy Compston, a wife, daughter, sister, friend, inspirational speaker and missionary.
Amy’s story is quite remarkable…she calls it her “Grace Story” and freely shares it wherever she can. God had delivered her from a life of drugs and alcohol and completely turned her life around. It was then she found her passion and a heart for the children in Uganda. In 2013, Amy began the Amy for Africa mission. The mission originally was to provide Ugandan children with a high quality education and give them a knowledge of God’s word. However, the mission has grown and expanded.
Anderson knew this story and admired Amy for the work she was doing; however, it wasn’t until this conference and hearing about Amy’s new addition to the work in Uganda, which began in 2019, that Anderson became excited about the work there. “I thought the school was interesting, and we support one of the kids there, but the new division Amy was telling us about just spoke to my heart. It is called Threads of Hope.”
Threads of Hope works specifically with the single women in Uganda. They teach them tailoring—a skill they can use to better their lives and the lives of their children. Anderson continued, “It’s not that this part of AFA was better than any of the other works, it is just the one that spoke to me.” Anderson and her mother, Connie Marshall, decided to do something to support this new part of the mission. Anderson had done vendor shows and crafting for a number of years and had a lot of ribbon, fabric, and items they could use that she didn’t use anymore. In 2020, she decided to donate all of it for the work in Africa.
Amy began to connect Anderson and Marshall with some of the women in the program. She had always had a desire to help with the work there, but she knew there was more that she wanted to do for them once she was able to get to know some of the women.
“In 2021, I told my mom there had to be something more we could do. We knew how to do vendor events, so why didn’t we do that. We decided to host a vendor show at her church with all the proceeds going to the Threads of Hope ministry.” It was a huge success. In just two short years, the show quickly outgrew the church and the search was on for a larger venue for this year’s show.
This year the Amy for Africa Craft and Vendor show will be held at the Boyd County Convention Center on Saturday, September 23. The show will be open from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Admission is free. Kelli replied, “We have more vendors and crafters than ever before and also raffles with all proceeds going to AFA specifically the Threads of Hope division. I think so many people are aware of Amy and her work with the school and children in Uganda. We want to raise awareness of this part of the mission work. These women are taught a skill, provided each day with a meal, and also taught a Bible lesson. It is so important to see this work continue, and I want to be a part of helping with that.”
There will be information available at the show about the Threads of Hope mission and the work they are doing. If you would like to have more information about Amy for Africa Missions or specifically the Threads of Hope, check out their website, amyforafrica.com. For information on the craft and vendor show, you can contact Kelli Anderson 606.547.8759.