My Church Needs One Of Those!
Bagging a better future
PROMISE BAGS is an Indian business giving holistic freedom to women trapped in caste-based discrimination. ‘Our mission is to offer freedom to Dalit (or Untouchable) women trapped in 3000 years of a caste system in which they have been treated with less dignity than an animal,’ said founder and CEO Elisha Chowtapalli. The company currently
provides employment for 12 women in a safe, loving and caring environment. The women create beautiful and high-quality leather and jute bags, handcrafted with heart and passion, samples of which will be on sale at CRE National 2021. ‘We produce 100 per cent genuine leather bags,’ said Elisha. ‘Our dream is to employ 100 women by 2025.’
He brought a selection of bags to CRE National 2017 – and sold out! This year visitors will discover a variety of products suitable for family, church or business needs. Forty per cent of profits from sales go towards a notfor-profit education project with Dalit children, started 13 years ago (see lightkids.org) Promise Bags are on stand A54 at CRE National 2021.
Getting to root of eating guilt
THE LIVES OF a lot of people in our churches are secretly ruled by food. So says Professor Deborah Lycett of Taste & See, a unique blend of fact and faith helping to bring freedom to lives ruled by food, dieting and emotional eating. ‘Many people feel guilty whenever they eat or step on the scales,’ said Deborah, who teaches in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at
Coventry University. ‘This unhappiness makes them want to eat more and they find themselves in an endless cycle of dieting, overeating and feeling miserable. But God wants to set us free! He wants us to taste and
see that he is good and that food is good, too!’ Designed with and for churches and developed out of research at the university, Taste & See is a 10-session audio-video, smallgroup programme that
anyone can run! ‘It’s not about dieting but learning to eat in response to our body’s natural signals of hunger and fullness, rather than in response to our emotions and what we see or smell!’ said Deborah. ‘The Christian principles of love, acceptance and freedom with responsibility fit well with this and are included in the programme.’ Taste & See are on stand E8 at CRE.
sponsored by www.mellorandmottram.co.uk
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