Kristen Welch and I are sorta, kinda, soul sisters? As I serve on the board of directors of the ministry Kristen founded, Mercy House Global, and we serve together to dream up for you the best #FAIRTRADE beauty of The Grace Case and the Grace Flame Candle subscription that supports local refugees while funding the Kenyan maternity homes of Mercy House — so I get to see it first hand again and again, what we can all do together to change the world for women, if we say our brave yes. I absolutely love this woman with all my heart — it’s a grace to welcome my soul sister, Kristen, to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Kristen Welch from Mercy House Global

On a cool Friday in October a few years ago, Ann Voskamp and I knocked on a door together in Houston, Texas. 

I was going to introduce her to a Muslim family from Syria who had changed my life.

Get up every day and light a flame and fall in love with all the same things.

Ann writes of our day, “I once walked up to the door of a grandfather refugee from Syria, who now lives under a roof in Houston, and he flung open the door of his narrow townhouse, then flung his arms wide open and bellowed, “A million, million welcomes!” I smile shy. A part of my heart falls in love with him.

“Get up every day and light a flame and fall in love with all the same things.”

He’s only been on safe soil away from the missiles exactly 6 months minus a day.

He welcomes me into their small living room and tells me that they had raised their children under a roof in Damascus, Syria, and they kept count, until they counted 57 houses bombed in their neighborhood.  “It was the same, day after day — danger, barrel bombs falling from sky, driving our children right into the ground.”

“There are people who are living a life that is gloriously alive after death.”

His daughter, Muna, stands at the table awash in later afternoon light, trimming wicks of candles one by one.

The white-haired father pauses — composes himself — then looks me in the eye.

“If you are actually killed — you die once. But if you actually have to live through the same nightmare, the same pain, the same misery, day after day, you die a hundred times. I am alive, but I have died a hundred thousand times.”

There are people who are living a life that feels worse than death.

“You have come for the candles we have poured by hand?”

God is doing something uniquely special in this candle-maker and this is your invitation to light up your home and invest in her coming-to-America story of trial and triumph. 

Muna looks up from the table, her eyes glinting warm. There are people who are living a life that is gloriously alive after death.

“Yes sir,” we return his smile, and wink. “We’ve come for the light we’re all going to make.”

On the hour drive home, Ann’s eyes on fire, we dream about how a candle, a light, could not only provide desperately needed work for this family of seven, starting over in America, but it could pave a way to shine the light of Jesus deep into the heart of this home and these lights would burn brightly one day in your home. 

Isn’t this the striking, startling, stunning work of the Gospel? How God connects us all with the Light of love. Perspective can change the way we see the world and God lights the way.

That was 4 years ago and thousands of candles later… made by Muna and her mother, for Grace Flame, the candle subscription club birthed in my car with Ann Voskamp on a chilly October day. I am an eyewitness to a story of hope and daily, I watch it unfold and the light of Jesus burns brighter and brighter.

Muna carries the weight of her entire family now and making candles has never been more critical. She is so intertwined in my life that she feels like family more than friend. God is doing something uniquely special in this candle-maker and this is your invitation to light up your home and invest in her coming-to-America story of trial and triumph. 

“Life is hard,” she said the other day to me. Besides making candles, she works part time at Mercy House Global, packing orders. She is my sister and co-worker. I put my arm around her waist, thinking my own difficulties paled in comparison to her losing everything, even her country. “Yes, it is.” I said honestly. Then we looked at each and said in unison, “But we have each other,” and laughed at our perfect timing.

“To light a flame of grace and choose one way, every day, to live out one same brave habit, or to be grace to one person, or to pray day for one person, one situation, this one hurting world,” Ann Voskamp.

Every time I light a candle in my home that Muna carefully poured and the fragrance fills the air, I am reminded of the beautiful opportunity we have to be a light in this dark world… 

Yes, Muna, life is hard, but we have each other.

Today, you can become a part of this incredible story by joining Grace Flame for only $21 a month and receive a stunning high end candle and inspirational card. You will not only empower Muna with your purchase, but also contribute towards the work of Mercy House Global who is funding rescues of pregnant, trafficked teens who are welcomed into maternity homes in Kenya. Every candle comes in a box, hand-stamped by a USA group transitioning out of homelessness and difficult situations. 

Some purchasing decisions are difficult, but occasionally the light shines on an opportunity to be a part of something holy and you simply can’t look away.

“To light a flame of grace and choose one way, every day, to live out one same brave habit, or to be grace to one person, or to pray day for one person, one situation, this one hurting world,” Ann Voskamp.

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