Circle of Hope – Our Dreams of Expansion

In December of 2020, the Circle of Hope made its first trip to the town of Quniceo in the state of Michoacan—four hours south of Guadalajara—as part of an integrated church planting strategy to reach and train the Purepecha, an indigenous people group. The goal is to plant a new church, Breath of Life, in the nearby town of Paracho and establish the community development ministry of Circle of Hope. Once a suitable office is found in Paracho, the church and Circle of Hope will begin to offer Bible studies, spiritual counselling, legal aid, and job skills training for home micro-businesses.

A great challenge for Circle of Hope will be to identify and then train women in this distant city who will become workshop leaders and future leaders of the ministry. Workshops being considered for this area are focused on meeting the needs of the women in this indigenous community, relieving the poverty and illiteracy so that the gospel can bring hope and dignity.

Workshops under consideration include:

Literacy and GED-Type Programs—In this area and in many parts of Mexico, many women are taken out of school after fifth grade to work, either in the home or as helpers in other homes or to begin the process of learning their indigenous crafts and selling them in the city square. Boys are allowed to continue their education, which causes a great inequality in education, jobs, and pay. This situation is more prevalent in indigenous communities.
Sewing—In this community, the women create tapestries and clothing made of intricate stitching designs, and it can take up to six months to finish one skirt. Each design tells a story of their beliefs and traditions, which are usually syncretistic in nature, including many gods. The Circle of Hope sewing workshop would include techniques known to the women but would be presented in a different medium, possibly through a type of quilt-making workshop where women would learn how to make coverings for beds. The designs in each square would be biblical, telling the God-story instead of the animistic symbols and gods with which they are accustomed.
Artisan Jewelry—This would give each woman a new skill and an outlet to earn money, either by selling their finished products along with their typical indigenous crafts or making bracelets for the Circle of Hope ministries around the world as we distribute bracelets to churches and ministries in the Alliance world.
Basic Health Care Instruction—This is a vital element of the indigenous and rural Circle of Hope, providing basic training for mothers with an emphasis on nutrition for young children. This instruction will depend on the support from outside sources such as short-term medical teams.
Computer Skills—Our focus would be on school-age girls and single mothers. Circle of Hope would be willing to launch into this area given the lack of employment opportunities for young women. We believe that with the provision of stable Internet, we can dedicate one room permanently to computer access as we develop a micro-business for women at the center focusing on skills in database entry and graphics arts design.

Alliance Women is committed to prayer and financial support for the Circle of Hope ministry in Mexico. We have set a goal to raise $16,600 for this vital ministry to women. To participate, please visit www.alliancewomen.org/give.

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Circle of Hope – Our Beginnings

The Circle of Hope ministry began in August of 2018 in answer to the great needs the Breath of Life Church was encountering in their church community. Women and children did not have the means to sustain themselves adequately or were in desperate situations due to the violence in Mexico. So many women and children were coming to our doors, finding hope, and learning about Jesus, but they also needed help in practical, physical ways.

In November 2019, we were one of the recipients of the Alliance Women National Project and received a very generous donation that spurred the ministry to begin to dream about how to truly become a place of caring and hope for so many in the community surrounding the Breath of Life church plant in Guadalajara.

The Circle of Hope began to offer different workshops for women in our community, giving them job skills, dignity, and the ability to move forward and advance in society. Each workshop began with a verse from the Bible and a short thought on that verse. These mini devotionals were prepared by the women leading the workshop.

The workshops offered were basic haircutting techniques, professional makeup and nails, basic English classes, introductory calligraphy (just in time for Christmas and homemade Christmas cards), artisan jewelry, and sewing (birthed from the COVID-19 pandemic where we began making facemasks).

As we grew in 2020, Circle of Hope began to look for a larger building. The initial space we were renting was a one-room office where we were very restricted on space. We could only have one workshop at a time with a small area left for counseling, but at least we had a space.

With the infusion of the support from Alliance Women, we began looking for different rentals that would meet our needs to facilitate more ministry.

Due to the economic crisis of 2020 in Mexico from the pandemic, we were able to rent a home with a large first floor, a covered outside patio area, and four bedrooms upstairs. Our director, Lety Avila, is now living on site at the Circle of Hope home. During the week, there are several workshops that happen simultaneously—it is a house filled with hope!

Laughter can be heard in each room. In one room, women gather to learn new techniques on cutting hair while in another room, a group of women learn about the Fruit of the Spirit through a Bible study led by one of the lay leaders from the church. In yet another room, Lety and I are look at the new year and determine what new workshops we should plan for and what our budget allow us to dream about.