Meet Lyndsay: A Chat with the Amani Ambassador Coordinator

 

 Lyndsay Slaten is from  Signal Mountain, TN, right outside of Chattanooga. She is married to Chris, and their kids, Shepard and Sally Ann, are 7 and 5. Lyndsay started working at Amani in 2015 coordinating Amani's Ambassador Box Parties.

Last September, Lyndsay was able to journey to Amani Kenya and we interviewed her about her experience there...

What was it like to arrive at Amani Kenya and meet the women?

When we first arrived to the Amani Kenya campus, we went into the production room to meet all the ladies. They were singing and clapping and smiling, all for us. I was so overwhelmed with love that I couldn’t stop the tears! After that, they all came around to give us hugs. It was clearly a Spirit-filled place. Kenya and Chattanooga share prayer requests with each other weekly, so I know a lot of names and prayer needs. To be able to finally travel to Kenya and actually hug the necks of these women that I have been praying for and promoting to our Ambassadors was beyond joyful. I knew so many of them by name just from seeing their pictures, but what I wasn’t expecting was that a lot of them knew ME by name, too! It was like a big family reunion with people I had never met before. A little bit of how heaven will be.

What were your favorite things you got to do during your visit?

I had two favorite things. Most of my time at Amani Kenya was spent in the cafe with Christine, Dorothy and the other cafe girls. They taught me some of their prized recipes, and I was so grateful for their patience and willingness to work with me. After just a few hours, we were laughing and preparing food like true sisters. We happened to be there just in time to attend a wedding of one of the Amani girls! My favorite part of the whole trip happened at the wedding, when we sang one of my favorite worship songs. The chorus says:

People from every nation and tongue, from generation to generation.

We worship you! Halleluia! Halleluia!

We worship you, for who you are. You are good!

The most powerful thing about that experience was that we sang it in English AND Swahili. “People from every nation and tongue” --- for real!

How did your visit influence your work as the Amani Ambassador Coordinator?

One of the main jobs of the women at the Kenya center is to create products from scratch. As they are sitting there working at the sewing machine, they know that the product will be shipped to the US and sold to someone who will use it in their home. Our Ambassadors are what makes that possible. The more products our Ambassadors sell, the more products our Chattanooga center needs to order. The more shipments we need from Kenya, the more jobs Kenya can support. The more jobs Kenya supports, the more women are given a chance at a dignifying job that comes with being a part of a Christ-centered work family. Now that I have been on campus and actually met the women and been in one of their homes, I can speak with more confidence and power at the impact our Ambassadors have on the women’s lives. These women aren’t just my colleagues, they are my friends. And I love who they are and what they do! It brightened the fire inside me to grow our Ambassador program so even more people in the US can know about Amani!

The Ambassador program is a sure way to guarantee the sustainable income each Amani woman has come to count on. If you would like more information about how to host a box party or would like to become an Amani Ambassador, click the link below:

Become an Ambassador!