I would like to tell the story that has served as a beautiful illustration to me of how the Body of Christ works, where one member can’t say to another member, “I can do this all on my own; I don’t need you.” This story is about giving credit where credit is due. This story is my version of 12 stones in a river. It’s a story of some people in my church home in Denver and how those people moved behind the scenes to keep The Sparrow Studio afloat in the very beginning of this journey. It’s not at all a list of everyone who deserves to be thanked. It’s one story about one community- the friends who bought the very first sparrow ornaments.

Once upon a time, six years ago, I was chatting with Mimi Wilson after church, and she shared a few details about a women's cooperative in Kigali, Rwanda that she was volunteering with, while Cal Wilson was training medical students there. She mentioned that the coop was about to end because there was no market for them to sell the things they were making. I casually offered to buy 50 little sparrow ornaments and 50 paper bead garlands, thinking I would just take them around to my standard holiday season parties. It seemed like a simple thing to do that would be fun and would provide a little cash for the women in the coop as it dissolved.

Many of you have heard this part of the story. I could tell this story in my sleep. But I’ve never written it down.

Rolling paper beads and hanging them to dry in the sun

When the ornaments arrived, they were pretty awful. They were stuffed with mattress ticking. The fabric used were scraps collected off the ground at the market, left over from other people's sewing projects. Wings were sewn on backwards. Eyes and tails were falling off the sparrows. They were not good. I figured well, that would be the end of it, and I didn't have a plan for 50 ugly sparrow ornaments. I had also purchased 50 red paper bead garlands, and the paint was old and off-gassing and kind of sticky, also not good. The next day, I whispered to Rochelle VanRyn during our Thursday morning Bible study about the sparrow ornaments, because she was familiar with the co-op and Mimi's work. Rochelle didn't miss a beat and immediately replied, "Bring all the birds to Bible study next week. You can share about Mimi's work, and we'll call them 'training birds.' They are broken birds made by broken women and as the women heal, their birds will get better." Whatever you say, Rochelle. The next week, I dutifully brought the birds and smelly garlands and set them on the table in the back of the room, thinking perhaps some people would take one as a reminder to pray for the Wilsons and Rwanda. I shared the little I knew about the co-op and Mimi and I said the exact word Rochelle had used the week before and went to class. After Bible study that day, I returned to collect my basket of birds, and all but one had been taken. In their place in the basket was over $500 in cash. I had not planned for that, didn't expect that, and I didn't even have an envelope with me for money. I awkwardly stuffed the cash in my back pants pocket, grabbed by toddlers from the nursery, and hurried to my car.

Group photo with Laura Sager, volunteer manager and Usanase Jane, then translator

I had expected the co-op to close, since their volunteer leader, Mimi, was returning to Colorado. But two weeks before she left Rwanda, she met Laura Sager, who said she “had been looking for something like this.” So Laura began volunteering with the co-op in Kigali. And Laura and I began emailing. Since I had made all my initial donation/investment back plus a tidy profit on the sparrow ornaments, I did the only thing that made sense to me. I bought 100 more sparrow ornaments and 100 more garlands! I hoped Rochelle knew what she was talking about and that as the women healed, the birds would indeed improve. Mimi told me that “women heal better when they can create beauty.” I was in a season of life where I desperately wanted her words to be true for me too. If I could help create beauty, would it help me heal too?

The next batch of sparrow ornaments and garlands were a little bit better. And being able to talk through things with Laura in Rwanda was amazing. More church friends bought all of these sparrows. Then my uncle, Trey Williams, offered to buy 500 sparrows and to send them to friends and colleagues as part of his annual Christmas letter. By the end of that first holiday season 6 years ago, I had sold 8 times more sparrow ornaments than my initial goal of 50 sparrows!

Garlands in Rwanda waiting for a volunteer traveler to bring them to me in Denver

It was really exciting and fairly nerve-wracking and fully overwhelming those first 5 months of working with the co-op in Rwanda. I don’t have a background in business or in sales. I am not a designer. I had two very young children with me at home. I had garlands of every color draped over every piece of furniture. My taxes were a hot mess, and it took the next 3 years to get all my paperwork squared away and filed properly. (Shout out to Heather Spreen for VOLUNTEERING as the first bookkeeper!)

Friends pitched in left and right to hold my hands as I sorted through the next logical steps. Bryana Mansfield whipped up a marketing strategy document for me and created the logo for The Sparrow Studio, the logo for the More than Sparrows cooperative. She designed my first ever business cards and the product tags that I still use on everything made in Rwanda.

Morgan Smelker hosted lunches and recruited everyone she knew to donate all their holiday catalogs so I could start “trend shopping.” She rallied people to send me ideas on Pinterest. Lonnalee Anderson hosted my first Easter photoshoot in her home and served as photographer. Allison Carlson hosted my first Christmas photoshoot and styled the most beautiful fireplace mantel.

Morgan Smelker designed all the characters in the nativity sets- this project lasted for 3 years from the first sample to the last needle-felted sheep completed! I had to learn how Morgan constructed them so I could teach the ladies in Rwanda. (So… — Morgan Smelker designed all the characters in the nativity sets- this project lasted for 3 years from the first sample to the last needle-felted sheep completed! I had to learn how Morgan constructed them so I could teach the ladies in Rwanda. (Some Joseph characters had Hitler-ish mustaches).

Kathi Pitzer made all the patterns for the sparrow, owl, and heart ornaments and then made all the patterns for the pillows and kitchen towels that came next. Kathi wrote me a business plan to give me a little direction and was ever so patient every time I called her in tears because I had bitten off way more than I could chew. I remember telling her, “I didn’t see this coming!” about whatever thing had surprised me. She told me that was God’s grace to me, b/c I would have quit a long time ago if I could have predicted all those things that felt overwhelming. And like clockwork, after nearly every tearful phone call to Kathi, within a day or so her daughter-in-law Angela Pitzer would “just stop by” and would gamely buy up whatever inventory I had so that I would have the cash to place the next order with the co-op.

Terry Duffy re-sewed all our zippers so we could sell the pillows and stay in business!

Fast forward to the next phase of The Sparrow Studio, when Sarah Foster had joined as my business partner, and I been able to visit the ladies in Rwanda in person. We were about to have our first collection of home goods! Sarah had designed pillows and a few other things, and we were ready to expand beyond sparrow ornaments. Then when the first order of 72 pillow covers arrived in Denver, the zippers were too short and too week. They were all breaking. I was panicked (again). I posted a sad plea for help on facebook. “Did anyone out there know about zippers or upholstery?” Within minutes, Patrick Duffy replied, “Call my wife. Tell her what you need.” That sounded like a terrible idea; my spouse does not appreciate it when I volunteer him for things without mentioning it to him first. But as I said, I was panicked, so I called her anyway. I told her the problem and asked if she might be able to show me how to replace a zipper. She just said to bring the pillows over. And then she fixed them. All 72 of them. At no charge. Within a week’s time. I had spent all the funds from all the sales on those pillows, and I was sure that that was going to be the end of this strange adventure. But just like that, thanks to Terry, we were back in business again.

TO BE CONTINUED….