Pastor’s wife making clothes for orphans
Kristina Croft has a passion for missions. Being the wife of a pastor will do that.
For the wife of Gavon Croft, pastor at the North Fort Myers First Baptist Church at 75 Evergreen, the mission that sparks her particularly is to provide clothes to children’s orphanages in Third World countries.
That is why she has made a vow to make one dress a day, or 365 of them, by the end of the year – which has, in turn, sparked the interest of the church’s sewing group, which is making sure she can achieve her goal.
“The group has made some T-shirt dresses for orphans in Haiti. Me and my daughter have joined the sewing group and we decided it’s not hard to make a T-shirt dress, so let’s make as many as we can,” Croft said.
Croft contacted the Orphan’s Heart ministry, with the Florida Baptist Children’s Home, and learned they needed dresses and shorts.
“That’s when we decided to make 365 of them, one for each day of the year,” Croft said. “We’re about halfway there now and we’re sewing away.”
The clothes will go to orphanages in Tanzania, Uganda, Haiti and Guatemala.
Croft is on track to reach her goal. Since beginning in November, they had made 162 as of Thursday. She admits, however, that sometimes she has to make two a day because of her church activities and four children.
Not only is the sewing club helping put together these items, but the congregation has donated T-shirts for the T-shirt dresses, material and other sewing supplies. And they are always looking for more donations and help, Croft said.
“We have one lady who’s homebound, but she sews and has made dresses and donated them to us,” Croft said. “Any kind of help we can get with fabric or if someone likes to sew and wants to pitch in, that would be awesome.”
Croft does a lot of work at home with her daughter, 7. Each dress takes between 30 minutes and an hour, though more intricate ones can take longer.
A person does not need to be a member to join them in the sewing room every Thursday from 10 a.m. till noon.
To learn more, contact the church at 995-2150.