 Hello there friends!
Bronwyn Jayde here today to share with you about a special Smile Project Outreach that we did over the holidays. :) I asked Olivia if we could do something special for strangers this Christmas to remind them how loved they are by God. I had the idea that we could make little goodie bags with a Gospel tract in them. So, we bought ten $5 Starbucks gift cards and I put them in little bags with some scrunchies, a tea bag, a Gospel tract, and a little note from TSP. I was able to hand them out over the holiday season to ten ladies and each lady I gave a bag to was THRILLED! One lady I gave a bag to had just gotten in her car after getting off the bus. I approached her car, tapped on the window and told her that I had a little gift for her. She was so surprised and told me that she had been having a really rough day. She said, “girl, you just MADE my day,” with a big smile. I told her that it wasn’t just from me, it was from a ministry that I am a part of called “The Smile Project.” She laughed and said, “Well, you all sure made me smile.” :) I am so thankful that we were able to brighten her day and the other ladies as well! “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers…” Hebrews 13:1-2 (NIV) Let’s pray for each one of the people who received a goodie bag. Let’s pray that they will know just how much God loves them and cares for them and that they will put their trust in Him as their Lord & Savior. Great things God has done and will continue to do.
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 I am very pleased to share with you all about our November Smile Project today!
This project was for two beautiful girls named Natalie and Bella who were involved in a horrible car accident. As you can see above, we had a wonderful turnout of love and encouragement for them! They were very excited to receive it, and were blessed and encouraged by each of your kind words and the Scripture's you shared. Please remember them in your prayers as they continue in their journey of healing and recovery. Every month it makes me so happy to see what God has allowed us to accomplish for His Kingdom. He works through people like you and me to bring His hope and encouragement to those who need it most. What a honor! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each of you who participated this time around. Great things God has done and will continue to do. Happy December, everyone! I'm really thrilled to be sharing with you all about our October Smile Project today!
This project was for a dear lady named Mrs. Wright who has been battling health issues for a long while. As you can see in the slideshow above, we received many lovely contributions for her! We were so honored to have been able to brighten her day and make her smile; she said she was very encouraged by everything and has all of the cards she received strung up in her room. Please be in prayer for her as she continues to battle health hurdles. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you all who contributed to this project! I know I say it every time, but we are so very blessed to have the opportunity to come along side our Christian brothers and sisters and help them through hard times. It's an honor and a privilege for me to run this ministry and see what we all can do to help others through Christ! May we never forget what an impact we can make in someone's life by simply writing a card or sending a package. Great things God has done and will continue to do.  I am so thrilled to have the privilege to share with all of you about our September Smile Project!
This project was for a beautiful young lady named Sophy who has gone through some very hard things, but has valiantly clung to Christ through it. We were so happy to be able to come alongside her and remind her that she is never alone and of how very loved she is by her Savior! As you can see we had a wonderful turnout for this project and Sophy was so surprised to receive it! We know it was of encouragement and uplifted her spirits immensely. Thank you so much to each of you who contributed to this package of love and joy! Every month I say this, but it just brings me so much joy that we are able to help our Christian family in all the things they face through the blessing of happy mail. I hope you know that even if you only send a card, it isn't just a card - it's a testament to the person receiving it that they are so very loved, that they are prayed for and that God loves them so much. What a blessing and a privilege it is that we get to be a part of God's amazing plan in His children's lives! Great things God has done and will continue to do.  I'm so excited to get to share with you all about our August Smile Project today!
This project was for a lovely couple who are facing a hard health struggle. As you can see above, we had a beautiful turnout of love and encouragement for them! They personally wanted to thank everyone who contributed and were so very happy, blessed and encouraged to receive it. Doesn't that just spark joy in your heart to hear? Yaaaaaay! *throws confetti* :) Isn't that wonderful? God has blessed each of us with a unique ability to encourage and uplift others and as a result our Christian brothers and sisters are reminded of His incredible love for us! What a true joy and gift. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Great things God has done and will continue to do.  I'm so thrilled to get to share with you all about our July Smile Project today!
This project was for a wonderful lady named Robin who is going through a hard health struggle. As you can see above, she received many beautiful cards of encouragement to remind her of God's faithfulness and strength. I know it blessed and uplifted her immensely as she fights this health struggle with God at her side! All of the beautiful reminders that she is not alone and that we are all praying for her were no doubt a huge blessing. God is so good! It brings me so much joy to be able to encourage and uplift our Christian sisters and brothers every month! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you who participated and/or prayed for our recipient. May God bless you abundantly for your kindness, generosity and love. Great things God has done and will continue to do.  I am so blessed to have the privilege of sharing with you all about our June Smile Project today! As you can see, it was a beautiful gift for a super special young lady dealing with some difficult health issues. It made my heart so happy to see the outpouring of love and kindness for this sweet soul! Our recipient really loved the project and was very encouraged by it and was so grateful to receive it! I know she'll be having fun using and reading everything that was inside, not to mention being able to re-read all of your kind and sweet cards and letters whenever she needs some sunshine. :) Isn't this wonderful? Seeing how God is using each and every one of us to strengthen and encourage our Christian family? It brings me so much joy to see how one person, just by sending one card or gift - together with another person doing the same, and another person - through Christ all together create such a beautiful gift for someone super special. It's such an honor to be a part of the great works of our Creator!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who contributed! You are so very appreciated! Great things God has done and will continue to do.  I am genuinely thrilled to be able to share with you all about our May Smile Project today! :) Our May project was for a dear young lady in need of uplifting and encouragement from her Christian sisters - and she sure received just that! She wanted to thank everyone involved and said it meant so very much to her to know that so many people were praying for her, and it encouraged and made her feel so very loved. As you can see above, it was a beautiful project filled with sunshine, happiness and kindness! Isn't that wonderful? By God's wonderful grace, we are able - together - to help our dear Christian family through tough times, to remind them of God's goodness and to know that they are never alone. That is so beautiful! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your kindness, generosity and love for others! Seeing how God has allowed this ministry to bless others brings joy to my heart. :)
Great things God has done and will continue to do.  I am so thrilled to be sharing with you all about three amazing Etsy shops today - all run by one sweet family! I will be honestly reviewing these products, some I received for free for the purpose of reviewing and some I purchased - I was not paid for this review and these opinions are completely my own. Let's start by reviewing everything and hearing about the shops! Be sure to read to the end to enter the giveaway! Let's start with Set Free Ministries - run by our Merch Designer Bronwyn Jayde!   I really love what this ministry stands for as the owner talks about here, "Set Free Ministries started in 2014 with a very simple set up. Every time I got an encouraging email or saw something that I thought would be a blessing to someone, I would forward it in an email to a small group of my friends. This went on until 2018, when I decided to start sending out monthly emails with a little devotional, and some photos. In 2019, I created a logo for my ministry and it started to expand. People were telling their friends about Set Free and I was getting lots of prayer requests from people and messages saying how encouraging my emails were. It wasn't me that was doing all of this on my own, God was helping me and using me to encourage others. In 2020, I decided to try using a new program to format my Set Free issues. People loved the new layout and so I have been using Canva ever since. I now send out emails every other week, and then I send out a “magazine” type issue quarterly. More recently, I have felt God laying on my heart to start an Etsy shop so that I could make some extra money, but also to use some of that money to help others. With every purchase, I am using some of the proceeds to help me sponsor several little girls at a Christian School for Deaf Children in Burundi, Africa that my missionary friends started. There they will be able to learn how to communicate with others and also be able to learn just how much Jesus loves them! If you would like to learn more about the deaf school, please visit: www.gisuruschool.com I would love to be able to help share the Gospel with others all around the world. The Gospel is the good news about God's wonderful gift of Salvation, which is free for everyone to receive. So, that is my big goal that I hope will come from starting this shop. I also hope that my products will be a blessing and an encouragement to those who buy them. I want every single one of my products to have a Bible verse on them because God's Word is so comforting. Whether you buy an item for yourself, or to give to a family member or friend, I pray that it will bring a SMILE to your face and that you will know just how much God loves you and cares for you. God sent His one and only begotten Son to this world to die for us so that we may have eternal life. Jesus conquered death by dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. All He asks is that we ask forgiveness for our sins, and put our trust in HIM! When we put our trust in the Lord as our personal Savior, we are SET FREE from the bondage of sin. "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." John 8:32 "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." John 8:36 My friend, always remember that God loves you. He is with you all the time and He wants to help you. There is a quote that I love that says this: "God doesn't give us what we can handle. He helps us handle what we are given." If you are going through a hard time right now, call upon the Lord and He will lift you up. (James 4:10) A little bit more about the deaf school: The mission of the Gisuru deaf school is to “empower deaf students with the ability to communicate through sign language, reading and writing. These skills will transform their lives and provide means of education, self expression and job opportunities.” “Gisuru is a city on the eastern side of Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world. The lack of accessible health care has resulted in a large amount of children being born deaf, or becoming deaf at a very early age. Underfunding has also crippled the public school system from being able to provide special needs education to students in Burundi. Deaf children in Gisuru are not allowed to attend public school as they have no tangible way to learn, and do not have the financial resources to travel to the only deaf school in the country, five hours away. These realities have led local missionaries Daniel and Annie Johnson to take up the task of building a deaf school in Gisuru. Buildings have been built, teachers are being trained, but students still need help. Each student needs sponsors to cover the cost of tuition, room and board.” The cost to sponsor a child at the deaf school is $30 a month although they really need two sponsors to cover their costs (tuition, room & board, and food), so it really is $60 a month per child." Below are some photos from the school! Isn't that a wonderful mission? Now it's time for my review of two of Set Free's products! :)  First up we have the Floral Snail Mail Kit (on the left)! This kit is the perfect thing for letter writing or for making happy mail! It includes 4 mini floral stationary sheets, 1 washi tape sample card (with 3 designs of washi about 24" long), 1 brown paper envelope, 3 floral die cut stickers, 1 floral sticker sheet, 1 pomegranate tea bag, 1 floral print card (single sided). I personally loved the kit! The paper used is very high quality, the stickers are nice and sticky and have been printed very well and are not blurry, and I just love how you could make a perfectly matching, floral themed letter using all of it to not only make someone's day, but also to help support the deaf children in Birundi! How awesome is that? I give this kit 5 stars. :) Next up we have another product by Set Free! This is one of her Bible Verse Cards! I really like this single sided card because it's a piece of art as well as something to mail someone! So not only can you encourage someone with the verse on the front and the pretty artwork, you can also encourage them with a message on the back and then your recipient can reuse the piece as artwork in their home. Multipurpose - I like it! It's also very high quality cardstock, and great quality printing - very clear. I give this one 5 stars as well. :) This is only 2 products out of over 25 different things Set Free has for sale (plus she adds new items regularly!) so if you love happy mail (which judging by you reading this I assume you do) please go check out Bronwyn's shop by clicking here and don't forget every purchase helps support the Gisuru School for the Deaf! And did I mention everything always comes super nicely packaged and always includes special extras? ;) I've ordered from this shop multiple times and am never disappointed. Next up we have Sunshine Corner Shop run by Aliyah Faythe (Bronwyn's sister)!   Let's see what Aliyah has to share about her shop, "Hi! I'm Aliyah, a Christian homeschooled girl who absolutely loves art! I have many hobbies, like biking, taking photos, and reading; but art is at the top of my list. I hope my artwork will encourage others, and bring a little sunshine to their day!” I have to say, Sunshine Corner Shoppe is one of the cutest Etsy shops I've seen! The whole color scheme and vibe of the shop is just so sunshiny, which goes along with her tag line of "Bringing A Little Sunshine to Your Day"! :) Today I'm reviewing her Floral Snail Mail Kit!  I love this kit so much I orderded another after receiving this one. The colors are so happy and vibrant, the paper is very high quality, the stickers are very sticky and clearly printed, and just overall it's the perfect thing for making happy mail!  In this kit you'll receive: 1 floral sticker sheet, 4 sheets of lined floral stationary on cardstock, 10 floral matte die cut stickers, 1 playlist sheet and 1 book log sheet. I give this kit 5 stars! :) Please go check out Aliyahs amazing shop, this is only 1 of 14 items she has for sale with new things being added regularly! All are beautiful and perfect for snail mail. :) I've ordered from her a few times now and am never disappointed! Lastly, we have the amazing Just a Glimpse of God's Handiwork shop by Bronwyn and Aliyahs mother, Mrs. Pamela Beth!   Let's see what Mrs. Pamela would like to share about her shop, "I started my business when my husband was out of work for 2.5 years. A friend suggested making and selling cards and frameable prints using the beautiful photos that I have taken. Throughout the years I have sold my cards in 4 different shops, including one in Canada and also at various arts & crafts shows. I put things on hold when my Mom became ill and entered into Hospice care. She really loved the Lord Jesus Christ and put her faith in Him when she was just a child so when the time came, the Lord took her Home to Heaven to be with Him. It is in her memory and in honour of our dear Lord and Saviour, the Creator of everything, that I am going to begin selling again. That is why I created this shop. It is my hope that when people see the beauty of all that God has created, that they will put their faith in Him. The Bible tells us in Acts 16:31, to "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." God's free gift of salvation is for everyone in the world and it is the very best gift of all! We can have the assurance and peace of knowing that if we ask for forgiveness of our sins and put our faith in God, He will one day take us Home to Heaven to be with Him forever. The Bible says that right now "He is preparing a place for us." My Mom and I both chose to receive His gift and it was the best decision that we have ever made. I miss her very much, but I know I will see her again. This assurance gives me great joy and hope and much to look forward to! It says in Revelation 21:4 that in Heaven, "God will wipe away all tears and there will be no more sin to deal with, or sickness, sadness or death." Doesn't that sound wonderful? I am sure that it is beautiful there! In the meantime, He has given us Just a Glimpse of all that He has created for us to enjoy!” What a sweet thing to do, to reopen her shop in memory of her dear mother! :) Today I'm reviewing two of Just a Glimpse of God's Handiwork's products!  Let's start with her Jesus Loves You Stickers (right)! These stickers are incredible quality; the printing is very clear, the color is very vibrant and they are very sticky.  These are a perfect way to spread Jesus' light to postal workers, and to also encourage whomever you send them to as well! I will definitely be ordering these again! I give them 5 starts. :) Last but not least we have her lovely Butterfly Nature Postcard! This is a super nice quality postcard printed on high quality cardstock, and the colors are very vibrant! I also love the Bible verse on the back. It's nice and thick too. Perfect for putting a quick note in the mail to someone special! I give it 5 stars. :)
These are only 2 of over 20 amazing products that Just a Glimpse of God's Handiwork sells, so please check out her shop today! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope you all enjoyed these reviews! Now for the giveaway *CLOSED*! I'm giving away Just a Glimpse of God's Handiwork's Butterfly Nature Postcard! I will be writing a special message for one of you dear readers to brighten your day! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment down below! For an extra entry let me know if you checked out any of the shops! May God bless you all abundantly! Go make someone smile today!  I'm very excited to be sharing with you about our April Smile Project today!
This project was for a dear couple who have gone through a lot in the past year or so and really needed encouragement, prayer and just to know how loved and treasured they are. I'm very happy to report it did just that! Our project coordinator said they were so surprised and it really blessed and encouraged their hearts. Isn't that wonderful to hear? Each and every contribution you send to each and every project we put together make a difference. A big difference. Whether you send a card by itself, or a whole box of goodies, God uses it to change the life of someone who needs it and that right there is beautiful. We, simply by caring enough to reach out with Jesus' love, can bring someone the comfort and encouragement they truly need during a difficult time in their lives. That is the beauty of the body of Christ coming together! Thank you from the bottom on my heart to everyone who contributed! Great things God has done and will continue to do. |
Olivia BellUpdates about our latest projects and all the Smile Project news put together by our co-founder. Archives
April 2023
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