*Title Picture featuring Ernest and Arlene John, Navajo Artisans
Mt. Pleasant Church of God, in Pt Pleasant, PA (ARC) will once again be hosting the Gifts of Hope Fair Trade Marketplace on Friday and Saturday, December 5th-6th. The market will run from 6 P.M. - 8 P.M. on Friday, and 10 A.M. – 2 P.M. on Saturday.
Gifts of Hope, as the name implies, is a Christmas-themed fair trade market, intended to reshape how people make purchases over the Christmas season. Featuring products, art, and gifts from a wide variety of countries and organizations, Gifts of Hope partners with artisans, farmers, and vendors from all over the world to bring products to western PA.
Gifts of Hope:
We found out about Gifts of Hope when one of our office members returned from Mt. Pleasant Church with coffee from the event. We like it so much, we started purchasing it for the office, but the story behind the event is even better.
Penny Zeisloft, the founder of Gifts of Hope, was first exposed to fair trade by her pastor, who was actively involved in fair trade and had brought Ten Thousand Villages (a Fairtrade chain store that can be found around the country) to Pittsburgh. Next, Penny attended a house party about 10 years ago where fair trade products were being sold, and Penny loved the ideas so much that she quickly set up her own sale in her house. At her first sale, Penny helped the vendors sell $4,000 worth of products.
10 Years later, and Gifts of Hope now has around 25 vendors at the yearly market, selling as much as $25,000 worth of products in their 2-day sale. With products from Ecuador, Uganda, Bali, Haiti, Nicaragua, Ghana, El Salvador, Kenya, and even from the Navajo community in the United States, there is tremendous variety. We also spoke with Blaine Barclay, Head Trustee from Mt. Pleasant Church of God who helps facilitate Gifts of Hope, who said that “when people come, they see a pretty good variety of products that are unique. You can't get [them] at Walmart, you're not going to get at Amazon. And I think that's something that people really look forward to.”
The event consists of upwards of 20 vendors in Mt. Pleasant’s Christian Ministries Center, lined around outside walls, and interspersed through the center. Courtesy of Mt. Pleasant, free doughnuts and coffee is provided, and a band plays live music. One of their new attractions this year is a section called "Tiny Givers Market", where kids can purchase a low cost items to shop for their families, and they plan to have unpainted balsa wood ornaments from Nicaragua that the kids can paint and decorate.
Neither Gifts of Hope nor Mt. Pleasant take any proceeds from the event, and the church sees it as a ministry. The church and its members have underwritten advertising, food, and more for the event as a way to show support.
As Penny describes it, “Fair trade is simply a trading partnership in which fair prices are paid to the producers, and typically production is small scale. It's built on relationships and everyone in the supply chain has the producer's "best interest at heart."
What is Fair trade?
Fair trade is a set of principles that shape how products can be produced, delivered, and sold in a way that supports producers rather than taking advantage of them. The goal is to ensure that farmers and producers are paid a fair and living wage, and have extra income to reinvest in their businesses.
Fair trade’s principles are based squarely on ethics and sustainable business practices
Beyond selling products, fair trade organizations often work with the producers to help in other ways. Penny gave the example of one organization that helps prevent and rescue women from human trafficking, while also providing the opportunity for the women to support themselves by selling products they make through fair trade. Some fair trade organizations help producers gain access to clean water, safer equipment, and microloans.
In our conversation, Penny made the distinction between charity and fair trade. “I like to say fair trade is not a handout, it’s a hand up. When [artisans] feel that they have value, and they have something to offer, that builds dignity in them.”
Faith Connection
When asked about whether Gifts of Hope is outgrowing their space at Mt. Pleasant with new vendors, Penny made it clear; it’s fundamentally important that Gifts of Hope is connected to the church, and vice-versa. Speaking about the faith connection, Penny quoted Proverbs 3:27:
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.”
“And it is in our power to act when we're spending $1000 a person on Christmas presents every year.” Penny said. “That's something easy we can do. We can buy gifts in a way that can be a blessing to other people.”
Sometimes helping people requires much effort and sacrifice. And sometimes the Lord asks us to undergo trials and sacrifices for His will. But it’s just as often the case (or perhaps far more often) that small, relatively painless decisions can have steady impacts for the good of other people. It doesn’t always take a dramatic choice or ultimate decision to move mountains.
Penny said that, “It's so easy for people to choose fair trade.” And she is correct; we have the opportunity to use our everyday purchases to better support hard-working people, here and abroad. We have the commerce and economic systems built to make their businesses financially viable, and we have the supply chains available so that the cost is similar to other products. We just don’t make the small effort to do it.
Referencing passages from the prophets like Isaiah 58, it’s clear that scripture undergirds the mission of Gifts of Hope. Penny and Blaine don’t want to see Gifts of Hope outgrow the building because it’s important that the church facilitate Gifts of Hope, and for people to recognize that. Scripture holds us accountable for the health and peace of our neighbors.
It’s also a great way to get members of the church involved. Penny and Blaine said that at least half of the church participate in some way, either through advertising, set up and tear down, moving items for the vendors, etc. “it really brings a lot of people together it seems,” Blaine said.
In fact, word has spread around to other churches in the Allegheny Region of the CGGC; churches like Indian Head, West Newton, and Kingwood have helped to sponsor some vendors so they could make the journey to sell their products directly.
With all of these people and organizations coming together, it’s fair to say that the Gifts of Hope Fair Trade Market has been a success. Penny mentioned in our discussion that as of last year, Gifts of Hope has sold over $100,000 of products through the annual market, of which every penny goes toward the organizations, farmers, co-ops, and artisans that make fairtrade markets possible.
You can find a full list of vendors who will be at this years market here: Gifts of Hope Vendors
In asking what Penny sees for the future of Gifts of Hope, she said “What I really would love to see happen would be for other churches to participate. I'd like to see it spread geographically and have other churches do these sorts of events on a smaller scale and then grow.”
Does this sound like a fun or meaningful event to host at your church? Penny suggests starting small with just a few fair trade vendors and building overtime. If you or your church want to get involved, Penny would be happy to speak with you. Reach out to Mt. Pleasant Church by phone or email.
Mt. Pleasant phone: 724-547-7110
Mt. Pleasant Email:
Website: https://www.mpcog.org/
CGGC eNews—Vol. 19, No. 47
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