A group of nearly 20 women gather together once a month to support and pray for strangers in their community who are hurting and healing. The women, who have come together from several different churches and live in towns from Rochester to Sterling Heights, are all skilled at knitting or crocheting and have chosen to donate their time and talents to help others.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry creates beautiful prayer shawls, chemo hats, mini (pocket) prayer shawls, preemie hats and bereavement blankets which they donate to organizations across metro Detroit. Recipients include New Day Foundation for families facing cancer; Beaumont Hospital for premature babies; Faith Lutheran Church in Troy for anyone in need of prayers; and the Pregnancy Center for babies needing blankets made with love.
“It is such a blessing to see the faces of these wonderful women, men and families that we are helping,” said organizer Sharon Ede, who started the group in her home 11 years ago. “During the night of our meeting, every shawl that comes in gets passed around, hands are laid on it and we pray over it. Our shawls have a label on them with the name of the person who made the shawl. After I get the name of the recipient, that name gets passed back to the maker of the shawl and that person/family continues to be prayed over.”
“Our Prayer Shawl Ministry started about 11 years ago. It was an idea of a gal named Jo, but the only problem was, she didn’t knit or crochet,” Sharon explains. “But, I did. We both had the need to serve and bless people who were hurting, so I offered to host the group in my home. We spread the word to gals we knew knitted/crocheted and we had three show up the first time. That was our start. Every time we heard of someone grieving from a loss or going in for surgery or treatment, I asked if they would like a shawl. We always were looking for an opportunity to spread the word. But, mostly we continued to ask the Lord to show us where we can help bring comfort to a stranger who just needs to know someone cares.”
At New Day, we witness the importance of simply caring in each and every family that we are able to help. Oftentimes, just knowing that someone cares and is willing to help can bring much-needed hope to a family facing cancer. As we work to reduce the effects of Cancer Related Financial Toxicity, or CRFT, we hold strong to the belief that hope is healing, and we are grateful to groups like the Prayer Shawl Ministry for helping to keep hope alive.
For the members of the group, the act of giving to those in need is a gift in itself.
The group is always seeking more yarn to knit and crochet into shawls and other items. If you have yarn you would like to donate, please contact Sharon at stitches@wowway.com.