LifeTotes restores hope...

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

You will never know what God will use to get you to do what He needs done in this world.  Over 2 years ago, God used a bag with an elephant on it to get the attention of a young woman from Georgia.  The purchase of this bag began an exciting journey of faith that would restore hope to women and children halfway around the world.   

She thought she was buying a bag that reminded her of the mascot of her favorite sports team.  Those were not God’s thoughts at all.  His thoughts were of women in Cambodia that needed a means to feed their children.  His thoughts were of the restoration of hope for these women through the dignified wage that would come with each LifeTotes bag they created.   He was thinking about a pastor who needed funds to build a school for children living at a dumpsite in Phnom Penh.  He was thinking about the hope that would be restored in that community when education became offered and accessible for all.

Today, each LifeTotes bag sewn and purchased represents hope restored for women and their families.  The LifeTotes dumpsite school emerges as a picture of hope restored for many children.

In the foyer of our church is a sign that reads ‘Hope Lives Here’.  Every time I see it, I am encouraged that even though the world around me is in chaos, Hope can still be found.  In the middle of a dumpsite with trash and waste all around stands a school that was built by God so that the community could see His love for them.  Hope lives there.

LifeTotes is all about restoring hope, a hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. Won’t you join us in helping to restore hope in a world that is hopeless without Him?

Contributed by Allyson Overstreet

WHERE DO YOU TOTE LIFE? Saving Susan Ministries Totes Life to Orphaned Children

In 2013, a little girl would change Tracy and Jay Arntzen’s life forever. While on a mission trip to Cambodia, Jay Arntzen met a 5-year-old girl named Vichika at an orphanage there.  Not able to pronounce her name, Jay nicknamed her “Susan,” and she became the catalyst for the Saving Susan Ministry which has brought life and hope to many orphans in Cambodia.

Tracy and Jay started the Saving Susan Ministry to reverse the effects of abandonment felt by orphans. The God-inspired vision of Saving Susan Ministry is to match orphans with Parenting Partners, who will provide love, financial support and relational encouragement to these forgotten children. Through regular Skype calls, orphans and families will grow in their love and knowledge of one another. This covenant relationship helps these children build their future with hope.

Through the open hearts of Tracy and Jay, Saving Susan is currently giving life through their work in Cambodia, a country whose borders are closed to international adoption due to human trafficking. Their prayer is that doors will open in other countries where the need is also great.  Meanwhile, in Cambodia, Vichika (“Susan”) is moving beyond abandonment and being daily restored with hope and future through the love and support of Tracy and Jay Arntzen. 

LifeTotes makes them new...

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Revelation 21:5)

The LifeTote product above is made in Cambodia from a reclaimed cement bag that was once tossed aside as no longer useful. These cement bags can be seen everywhere throughout Cambodia. They pile up in landfills and dump sites, pollute water sources and lay on the side of streets.  They are junk to almost everyone’s eyes except to the innovative eyes that saw their potential, picked them up, and turned them into this useful #LIFEgiving Tote. 

The process of making the used cement bags into a new tote is a labor of love, and step-by-step the new tote emerges.  The bags are thoroughly cleaned, washed and dried.  They are then cut into the exact pieces needed for each specific product.  With all of the unique pieces cut and ready, the skilled hands of the women seamstresses begin to sew together the pieces of what will be a lovely new tote. In similar fashion, as these Totes are being crafted, the women whose hands are cleaning, washing, drying, cutting and sewing them together are themselves being given a clean start, allowing them to piece together from shattered remnants, a lovely new life filled with hope and fullness.

Our totes are a beautiful picture of what we know to be true about a life fully restored by Christ. We believe that in Christ we are all transformed, just like our totes.  He walks us through the process of restoration, cleansing and washing us. When we find Jesus, we get a fresh start. Our old life is gone and we are made new (2 Corinthians 2:17).  We are completely reclaimed and fully restored.

With this new heart, we can embrace the call to live a life of love (Ephesians 5:2) so that not only are we made new, but our actions can bring newness to others so that they too can experience complete restoration.  LifeTotes works to see all people living a life fully restored and made new. 

LifeTotes sees their potential...

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you…" Jeremiah 29:11

God knows the plans He has for us. Before He formed us in our mother’s womb He knew these plans (Jeremiah 1:5), and then He crafted our inmost being, delicately knit us together (Psalms 139:13) and designed us to live life in abundance through Him (John 10:10). 

Life abundant is spiritual wealth that overflows into our behavior and it is rooted in a correct understanding of how God views us. Once we understand how God views us as individuals, we learn how to rightfully treat others. If God’s plans for us are to prosper us and not to harm us, then we can be certain that His plan for us is to prosper others and not to harm them, or leave them in harmful situations if we find them there. We know this is how we should live because this is how God has demonstrated His love for us. So this is why we exist, to help others prosper, to not harm them, to point them towards abundant life where there is hope and future, because this is how we were all designed to function.

LifeTotes takes discarded things...

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 1 Corinthians 1:27

In Western economics, we are taught to constantly consider the bottom line. The bottom line or “the final total of an account, balance sheet, or other financial document” has become our metric gauge for determining profitability and, ultimately, success in the business arena. We build institutions, corporations and even households around it. It is wise to spend less than you have and to find ways to generate more than you had. This is what we have been taught. If a person is investing in a particular industry, we have been taught they ought to know the future of that industry, where it is headed, in order to wisely allocate their investment. This is how the world works.

It is true that some economic principles are wise. It is true, and wise, to spend less than you have. It is certainly beneficial to find ways to generate more than you had. However, the means to the end and the result of those means do not come without consequences  

LifeTotes invests not in industry, or product, but in people. When we consider the future of our industry, we are really considering the future of the human race. Where are we headed as a people? In a world where it may seem foolish to overpay the poor and uneducated and then redirect the profits to further benefit their wellbeing, we stand by 1 Corinthians 1:27. We believe that God chooses things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. We have sided with the economics of Jesus who said that the greatest among you shall be your servant, who considered the outcasts of society, the forgotten of this world, the orphans and widows to be elevated above others. This means, before considering our bottom line, we consider the people who are making our products, the communities in which they live and the ways in which we, as a company, can serve them, knowing that this is our responsibility. If we cannot afford to treat people with dignity, we cannot afford to be in business at all.

Crazy Business

Colossians 3:23-24  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

The line between success and insanity is a fine one. A definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. While that may be true, I’ve often advised young people I mentor, entrepreneurs just starting out, individuals looking to get into better physical shape or just anyone looking to succeed in a particular area to get in place and stay there.  Know the right things to do (educate yourself), and continue to do them consistently and the results will eventually manifest. This feels a little crazy sometimes! It requires grit, especially when results aren’t apparent at first, second or third attempt. It requires a lot of self-coaching, focus and stamina. However, anything worth doing probably isn’t easy, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the proof is in the pudding, but don’t try to go straight to the desert before eating your meal. My point here is, most people give up as soon as things become difficult or navigating something new becomes murky. It’s okay to fail a few times before you succeed. It’s actually okay to be realistic enough to expect a few failures along the road to success. Right now, LifeTotes is navigating through some new territory. We are excited! We are realistic. But most of all, we are working with all of our hearts as unto the Lord because we know this is His story and not ours. With that kind of promise, who can fail?