This month was the kick off of our 12 months of Be 1 in 1,000 Women Strong parties and it didn’t disappoint. If you don’t know what those are then after hearing about the fun we had head over to the party info page linked at the bottom of the post. Back to the fun though…  This month’s party was held by, one of our very own, Dora with invitees including some of our most loyal volunteers from our Resale Shop. Many have been with us from the beginning in some form or fashion but not all have known about our 1,000 Women Strong Campaign.

As our guests arrived we chatted to get to know each other a little better, how each of us knew about Restoration House Ministries, and one of our guests asked Theresa, our Founder, about how we got started. Before getting into the details of the ministry Theresa gave a short welcome, brief overview of what the party would entail, and we started with a couple of games for some fun prizes…

While I don’t want to spoil the games here I can say they were nice to break the ice, get our minds thinking, and did a wonderful job of showing the heart we have here at Restoration House Ministries. Plus, who doesn’t like the opportunity to win gift cards to the local coffee shop? I know, we all do.

Games, prizes, FOOD, then we got to hear about where Restoration House Ministries started and the impact we’ve made with the limited resources we’ve had. Ten years we’ve been here, something miraculous in and of itself, functioning on mostly volunteerism and accepting zero government funding. God really is good guys. Theresa shared about her own personal story, it was through her that Restoration House was birthed, and in that alone that pressing, “Where did you y’all start?” was answered. Even though I know how we started it still really brings back perspective every time I hear it. Sharing our testimony, what God has done, is the foundation of this ministry and is what allows us to share this with our community. As a result, our annual giving was increased $800!

Having our party and hearing about the vision of Restoration House wasn’t the only fun we had though. After finishing up the presentation and FAQ, we had our wonderful videographer, Micah with Bright Ideas Media, get some testimonies from those who have been (and continue to be) a 1 in 1,000 Strong Woman, why they give like they do. It was a little awkward (doesn’t it always feel that way on camera?) but a lot of fun and I can’t wait to be able to share those in a later update!

All in all the afternoon was amazing and the increase in annual giving allows us to get that much closer to the goals we have for how we further provide for each and every girl that comes through our doors! It’s that much closer to this ministry being YOURS and not just ours. How exciting and it’s only our first party!

If you’re local and want to know how you can join one of our parties do head over to our party info page to get signed up! You won’t regret it.