EGBF Oct Update

This month has been an interesting one in the life of our factory.  As we were in the process of trying to get our building’s fire safety certificate, we discovered the cladding they had used on the walls and roof was not up to standard.  At first it was suggested to us that we could get around this by simply submitting a sample from another factory’s wall.  Considering honesty and integrity are company values, we opted for the expensive and time consuming solution of actually removing the unsuitable walls and replacing them with siding that meets the standard.

As we watched the walls begging torn down, the story of Jericho kept coming to mind and we were sure there had to be some sort of spiritual analogy to it.   We may not be trying to conquer a city in the Promised Land, but in living according to His promises we do hope to see some of the walls of dishonest business practices in our area get chipped away.  We are also praying for the walls around the heart of the man who is overseeing the replacement project.  He used to be employed by our dishonest contractor, who often cheated him out of his wage.  When he hadn’t been paid in the past he came to our factory in a huff, and jumped on the roof threatening damage to our property.  This man had a front seat to all our interactions with the contractor and through it he was able to hear the truth.  We are asking that having him back with us, he would once again witness how the Father helps us keep our word and that he would hear more truth.  We also continue to ask that his life would be eternally impacted because of the time Father arranged for him to work with us.
 
This month we also finally signed long term contracts with 8 ladies to work for us full time as production staff.  Getting to this point is a huge answer to prayer for all of us.  We didn’t move overseas just to open a business or run a company. Instead, we see the company as a means to live life on life, having daily interaction with people who otherwise have no means to hear truth.  It is amazing how He can open doors for truth-filled conversations even in the little daily tasks of factory life, like mopping floors or paying salaries on time.  Please join us in asking that Father would give us a boldness in our sharing of Him, and that the ladies’ hearts would be soft to His working.

While it is exciting to have staff around on a regular basis, it does keep us busy and means there is less time for making headway on some of the other jobs before us like signing the rest of our fruit and vegetable contracts, applying for our organic certification, finishing our pouch design, fixing/improving things around the factory site, hiring office staff, working with the marketing team and those of you who responded last month to our need for website content creation.  Please continue to ask that we would know what items need to be prioritized and to make progress on these other equally important tasks before launching.