Tabitha Project is a women-focused ministry that teaches women and girls business skills, like baking and sewing, while empowering and equipping them to help sustain their families.
In the East African country of Mozambique, Otilia, Julieta, Palmira and Maria are a part of Tabitha Project, a women-focused ministry that helps marginalised and impoverished communities to overcome social, physical, spiritual and economic challenges. By teaching small business skills such as baking, sewing and design, Tabitha Project equips young girls and women so that they can earn money and support themselves and their families.
“We also train them, teach them the Word of God from the Bible so that they can trust God in the running of their businesses,” Otilia said.
Young girls in the communities face numerous risks. Some enter the sex industry or premature marriages; some are forced to abandon school because they can not afford the school fees; some use drugs to escape their reality. There are multiple contributing factors, including the loss of parents, families being left with nothing after fleeing their homes, being displaced by natural disasters and parents not seeing a reason for education. Otilia said they encourage the girls to pray for their parents and build a relationship with them, as many of the girls said they struggle to have a relationship with their parents.
Sewing for God
Tabitha Project does not only help young girls but women of any age. Marabda struggled with challenges in her marriage. Her husband would mistreat her and leave the home without providing for their children. Over the course of six months, Otila, Palmira, Julieta and Maria taught Marabda how to sew and cut clothing designs so that she could start her own business and provide for her five children.
“We helped her sew with the Word of God,” Palmira emphasised.
Another woman, Eliza, and her husband had problems bringing in enough income to sustain their family. She had a passion for teaching women the Word of God but no resources to do so. In 2018, Eliza entered the same six-month course that Marabda took and learnt how to sew and design clothing.
“We also taught her to use [sewing and designing] as a way of evangelism,” Palmira said.
After two years, Eliza saved enough money to purchase a used sewing machine and is now using her business to share the love of God with other women. By using her new skills, Eliza can provide for her family and send her four children to school.
“The work that she’s doing is going well and it’s a blessing,” Palmira shared.
Healing touch
Otilia, Julieta, Palmira and Maria serve a group of 12 young women and girls who are a part of a community that was displaced by floods. Combining some of their own money for materials, the four women taught cooking based on meals the girls wanted to learn how to make. Additionally, as they did not have sewing machines, the girls learnt how to knit tablecloths by hand.
Rurdes (12) and Benedita (17) were part of the group. The two girls took what they learnt and began selling items to pay for school expenses that their families could not afford — Rurdes was motivated to start earning money after watching her mother cry about finances. She sells small cakes while Benedita sells cold drinks. Now, their small businesses help sustain their families in addition to paying for school expenses.
“They thank us a lot because if they couldn’t be doing business, they would be looking for other ways to pay their school expenses,” Maria said.
One of the girls, Adenaria (17), suffered from severe wounds on her legs since she was 12. She struggled to go to school because she could not walk. Her family would bring her to witch doctors for healing, but Otila, Julieta, Palmira and Maria urged the family to trust in God and take her to a hospital.
“We prayed with that young girl,” Maria shared. Today, Adenaria’s wounds are gone, and she is able to walk. In 2022, she gave her life to Jesus and has not been back to a witch doctor since.
“Now I can see she’s able to work, she’s able to walk, she’s able to go to school,” Maria said. “All these things because they are trusting in Jesus.”
Door to door
Once a week, Tabitha Project meets with families in their homes to share about the love of Christ. One week, Otilia, Julieta, Palmira and Maria visited Albertina, who is from a Muslim background, anticipating that the family would not be very open to the visit.
“We managed to go there and start sharing about Jesus,” Julieta explained. “We shared different verses. And then, later, Albertina accepted Jesus.”
The four women told the stories of Martha, Mary and Esther from the Bible to demonstrate how God uses women to further His Kingdom. While Albertina’s husband has not yet received Jesus, he stopped drinking and began going to church with his wife.
“It was a house that was very difficult for us to approach but by the grace of God, we managed, and we can see happy faces now,” Julieta exclaimed.
Servant hearts
Otilia, Julieta, Palmira and Maria have dedicated their lives to serving Jesus with humble hearts.
“I work with OM because I love serving God and God has helped me to learn sewing and designing,” Otilia said. “It is through OM that I learnt these skills, so I want to serve OM through the same skills that they taught me.”
“I love working with OM because I feel free when I work with women,” Palmira shared. “I have met some challenges that I can also encourage others to overcome as I did.”
“I was the wife of the pastor; I worked with women in the church,” Maria said. “When I joined OM, I was so involved with women. I liked telling verbal stories, debating together, learning together with the ladies.”
“It’s a big honour to be here at OM,” Julieta said. “First, I was a cook here but when I was still cooking, the Holy Spirit came to me and said: ‘do missions.’ I also love sharing with women. I have suffered a lot in life, but I overcame. So, I think it is my time to share with others and help them overcome the challenges they are meeting.”
Otilia, Julieta, Palmira and Maria hope that the Tabitha Project will expand within the Zambezia province and into Northern Mozambique. Their goal is to train women so that once they leave, those women can train others and grow the ministry.
“We tell women that ‘God has given you something to do, that you just need to discover’,” Otilia emphasised.
Pray with us for women in marginalised and impoverished communities in Mozambique; that they would continue to find their way to Christ and earn a sustainable income. Pray for Otilia, Julieta, Palmira, and Maria as they train women and girls in skills that will help sustain them and their families. Pray for funding for the next intake of 20 women who will learn tailoring and baking and for the next group of 30 young girls who will learn how to run a small business.