By Sarah Capehart

Inspiring and Empowering Women to Find Their God-potential.

General Baptists are one organization. We are all one church. Women’s Ministries is one integral part of that organization. We strive daily to make sure that all activities support our mission statement and that we work alongside the women’s groups and churches to give them the tools to fulfill the Great Commission. We exist to support women’s groups and churches to make them aware of how they can support missions through various opportunities.

Alegria is one of those opportunities. Read how God has used Sarah Capehart to support Faith Home in Honduras.

Vicki Smith

In the beginning, well, maybe let’s not go back that far! Let’s start with 2020; hmm, perhaps that’s not the best start either. Ok – 1998. Randy and I had just become new parents, and at the same time, a new adventure was just getting started on a mountainside in Honduras. Brand new grandparents, David and Martha Kelle (my parents), raised support, learned Spanish, and prepared to open Faith Home. That was undoubtedly a year of faith and trusting God and taking Him at His faithful Word!

The following years were full of pictures of precious young ones (our two daughters and the beautiful new family of Faith Home) going back and forth in letters and being rejoiced over at dinner tables on those all so wonderful trips for my parents to visit us back in the US. I met Erika and her siblings and quiet little Elizabeth as my mom and dad would tell us about them. They spoke about their progress, antics, health scares, and how joy returned to their lives through the faithful support of General Baptists and Faith Home.

2004, Fort Branch GB church announced their team trip to Honduras. We began to make plans and preparations – all 4 of us spent our first week out of the country and saw firsthand the blessing of this little mountainside gem and how God worked mightily to restore lives and raise mighty men and women in this gorgeous country. Both of my daughters have traveled back to Faith Home with their grandparents during high school. Honduras is indeed woven in the fabric of the Capehart family.

And now, back to 2020. From February 17th, 1998, until 2020, I had been a successful rep with Premier Designs, selling jewelry and growing a team. That miracle, along with piano lessons, allowed me to work from home through my girls’ entire childhood. But on December 1st, on an afternoon webinar, the leadership was told Premier would be permanently closing on December 31st. I had just lost my job of 23 years. My full-time job, in the middle of a pandemic. And precisely four weeks later, the Monday after Christmas, my husband’s job was eliminated too. But we knew God was faithful, and in this storm, He still had us in His hands.

That dark December afternoon started a period of mourning and earnest prayer for the protection and guidance of God. As I weighed options, I had to pivot and think about going back to my OCU degree. Could I teach piano lessons? Should I look for a teaching job?

It’s a pandemic. And God gave me 88 Pink Keys Virtual Piano Studio. I would teach over Zoom to keep students and myself safe. (Little did I know, parents would LOVE not having to drive their students to my house once a week, and it also works out great when you get stuck in Honduras for two extra weeks. Covid positive.) I started the year with 21 piano students – Thank you, God!

God, is this it? Back to a job I had when I was a teenager and in my 20s? I will do it but is there something you want to do with Premier’s 23 years of training and leadership? So I kept praying. In fact, in the middle of the night, crying the loss of my Premier career and family, I begged God to use that for his glory. And a still little voice interrupted the darkness, “Start your own jewelry company. Hire the women from Faith Home.”

I composed two emails and discovered neither the president of Premier nor my dad was sleeping either. So, by 10 am, I had connections made for phone calls with Vicki Smith and a plane ticket to go to Texas to work with the jewelry designer at Premier before they closed. Praise God for technology, as I soon had a conversation about Alegria with Odalin over Facebook messenger. She took the leap of faith and joined me part-time in January, then left her full-time job in June to work for Alegria full-time.

I could tell you so many details about the hand of God and all the miracles He has worked out to bring about Alegria (which means Joy in Spanish). About the connection with Odalin, our full-time manager and jewelry artisan. About Erika and Elizabeth, our founding artisans who will also soon be full-time. But you might have to let me share that with your women’s ministry group.

Alegria means JOY! Creating safe, living wage jobs that employ women who grew up at Faith Home children’s home in Honduras. Interrupting poverty by empowering women to handcraft joyful jewelry! Read more and shop at: AlegriaAccessories.com