To whom much is given, much is required.

It is time for us to share with you our vision for Morning Star Fiber. We had expected that this day would come a little further down the road, but things have progressed faster than first thought. Some of you have asked, some have wondered, and with some we have shared our vision, and our goals. It is now that we share with all of you what has been in our hearts from the beginning. It started as a dream, then became a vision, and now is becoming a goal and a plan.

For many years we have nurtured a desire to reach out to others in need. Two years ago, things began to serendipitously (or providentially, depending on your reference point) fall into place. Karen and I take our personal faith quite seriously, and that has placed a call on our lives we must answer. As we have sought to seize each opportunity that came (or was sent) our way, a much larger opportunity seems to now be unfolding.

Our vision is for Morning Star Fiber to establish satellite fiber mills in third world countries. These would become a faith based source of micro economic development for local communities, thus bringing them a two-fold source of hope. We are wanting to underwrite, with the help of others, these fiber mills initially staffed by a missionary couple. In the early stages, this could help defer some of the living expenses for the family. As the business grew, they could train local people to run the mill while simultaneously sharing the message of hope. The final goal would be for the mill to be turned over to trusted community individuals to own and operate. In support of this goal, we will continue to expand our operation here in Ohio.

For some of you, this news will be of little concern. For others, this will be an encouragement to partner with us even more. For all of you who have supported us in the past, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Rest assured that regardless, we will continue to maintain a high regard for and offer quality service to all of our customers.

Here is an example of the puzzle pieces that have recently been falling into place. A few of you have approached us with the thought of donating fiber as a charitable contribution. We have also been recently been made aware of a group of people at an orphanage in Thailand who until recently were weaving products as a source of income. They have now had to stop that source of livelihood because they can no longer get yarn. We are presently attempting to get in contact with these people to see how we can help.

Other puzzle pieces are a missionary team in a Muslim country that some members are unable to renew their visas because they don't have a business vocation to show other than Missionary. We're looking at the possibility of using Alpaca felt to make blankets or sleeping bags for the homeless, but need distribution and sewing assistance. There are other examples, and as time permits we will share more of these puzzle pieces with you. If you think you may be another one of the puzzle pieces, please contact us.

We at Morning Star Fiber will be praying that:

• God will continue to bring together the puzzle pieces
• That we will be faithful to His call and good stewards of His provision
• That His purposes will be fulfilled

To whom much has been given,

Our son JC (who is taking on more responsibility at the mill) has begun a blog to "flesh out" the concept of faith and business. If you're interested, please feel free to interact.

Update on the puzzle pieces: Recently we were contacted to host a tour of our mill for a delegation from Kyrgyzstan that included many fiber artists. This was unsolicited by us, and strangely enough one of them knew of a family that we have a connection with in Kyrgyzstan.

Over the last few months, we have taken end of run scrap and other waste fiber to make what we called "mystery bumps" roving. We sold those and donated 50% of the selling price to Asia's Hope ministries for an orphanage in Thailand. They were then able to use that money to purchase a sewing machine and some other sewing tools for use in making products to provide support and to teach skills to the older girls. Here's a thank you note from them. We at MSF thank you, our customers, for helping make this possible.

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Website last modified: 04/12/2008