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Dane Sériès, the head of fundraising at Assemblée Chrétienne de Chaville sent us this report of their recent event held jointly with the collaboration of CTMI Partner Churches in Paris, UK and Mauritius.
‘Le Flamboyant’, our CTMI Fundraising group, has been flourishing since its inception 3 years ago. Through a contact in the UK church at Ringwood, we were invited to exhibit our hand-made products at an up-market two-day charity event held in Central London in December.
For 25 years, the ‘Junior League of London’ has hosted this special ‘Boutique de Noel’, inviting American and English guests to come and buy Christmas presents from a very select group of invited stall-holders. Our stall cost £700 for the two days, with the proceeds going to the Junior League of London Charity for local children in need.
Having received the invitation to purchase a stall, I was both excited yet apprehensive, feeling in my heart that it was a great opportunity to raise funds for CTMI. But at the same time, I was concerned that we would have to sell a large amount of our products just to cover the expenses, before even beginning to raise any money. I shared the idea with the churches in Paris and Mauritius; we prayed earnestly about it, and felt that it was of the Lord and that we should go for it.
So on Monday 15 th November, Nathalie, from Mauritius, along with George and Hetti, left Paris and headed for London in a jam-packed car. I went ahead to meet them. The following morning, we unloaded our goods and started preparing our stall with eager anticipation. To encourage people to notice our ‘French Corner’, Nathalie had painted a stylish Eiffel Tower as back-drop; we were all dressed in matching red, white and blue outfits! As people wandered past, they could watch Nathalie hand-painting trays in front of them, which delighted passers-by and brought home the hand-made authenticity of our products.
A Gala event was held on the first evening, where invited guests enjoyed canapés and drinks and were free to mingle around the stalls, taking the opportunity to purchase some of the best products on sale in a relaxed atmosphere, as well as making note of what they would like to purchase the following day, should they wish. All the stalls displayed beautiful quality products and hand-made Christmas delicacies. Of the 125 exhibitors, ours was the only Charity stall at the event. Le Flamboyant’s Jam, Sewing, and Painting teams had been working around the clock to produce their best offerings, and lots of them! Some items were hand-painted in Mauritius and brought all the way to London, 11 000 km away…
What a great success it turned out to be. The buyers loved the 22 different flavours of jam; fig was the seasonal favourite. They descended en-masse on the beautiful hand-painted trays and mirrors. We were overjoyed as people left our stall happy and loaded down with hand made lavender pouches, aprons, wooden handicrafts, and soap sets. We were also able to share the vision of CTMI with many through the day, and everyone visiting the stall received a CTMI Newsletter.
We were amazed by a donation of £500 towards the cost of our stall. We enjoyed an excellent contact with the event organisers. One in particular, who greatly warmed to CTMI, made a £200 donation towards the cost of the stall and invited us back next year.
The sale raised a great amount for the CTMI projects supported by Le Flamboyant and, thanks to the various generous donations, we didn’t have to spend a single penny on the stall hire.
As we loaded up the car and headed for Paris the next day, we were deeply grateful for such a wonderful opportunity that God had given us to serve Him as an international team united by the same spirit and vision – to see the Kingdom of God advance and the gospel gaining ground everywhere.
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