A labor of love, giving new life and meaning to those in places less fortunate.
BENNETT SPRING, MO. – So the question that has confronted more than a few Ozark families is – now that no one in family sews anymore, what’s to be done with Grandma’s old sewing machine which she absolutely cherished? They don’t want to throw it out, even if it no longer runs and yet it seems silly to hold on to it. The answer is actually a two-part one and is also based right here in the Ozarks.
The first part is called Jay Reynolds. In 1998, while recovering from knee surgery, Jay, who lives at Bennett Spring on the Laclede-Dallas County line, a few miles west of Lebanon, Mo. began working on an old sewing machine, cleaning, repairing and getting it running again. Retired from the Kansas City area, Jay and his wife, Sharron moved to Bennett Spring so he could take up his favorite hobby, trout fishing. Now at age 84, the trout fishing has gone by the wayside but Jay is still working on sewing machines of all types, sizes and ages and has been for over two decades.
He began collecting Singers of all ages, scavenging repair parts which put him in touch with others in England, Scotland, and Germany via the internet. By the time, his collection had reached 200, he realized he was going to have to come up with a new plan.
The second part of the answer is called Abundance Ministries of Bolivar, Mo., started by Don Wollard and his wife, Linda in 2007. As Don described it ‘here in America, we can help others in the US and around the world, from our own abundance.’ They had traveled to Central America with their church on various mission trips. Now they began to fill shipping containers with used hospital and medical equipment, including beds, IV poles, wheelchairs, walkers, and canes as well as used clothing, school supplies, toys, dolls, umbrella strollers, bicycles, unbreakable household items, sheets, bath towels, eyeglasses and used sewing machines. As Don once shared, ‘some of those items, like wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, and bicycles are particularly important to people without a car.’
When the two met for the first time, Jay recollected that he and Don had the longest, most marvelous conversation, on a summer day, standing out in Jay’s driveway and suddenly, a new mission was born.
Since that day, almost twenty years ago, Jay has been fixing machines and Abundance Ministries has been shipping them to various established ministries in Central America. The sewing machine that no longer has a life in America – because it’s too old, a veritable antique in American terms as well as those that are broken or missing parts – can, after a little time spent in Jay’s shop, have a whole new life in Central America, providing a seamstress or a tailor there with a new way to make a living.
Their first year Abundance Ministries sent four used sewing machines to Central America. They sent three shipping containers to Central America and one to post-Katrina Louisiana. Sadly, Don who was a well-known barber in Bolivar for over 40 years, passed away in 2012. His wife, Linda, his daughter, Amy who works in insurance in Bolivar and his son, Jared, also a Bolivar barber continue the work of Abundance Ministries and with Jay’s help have shipped over 1,322 used sewing machines to various Central American ministries.
Today, Linda works primarily with Jesus is Real ministry in Honduras although she has worked with several others, including Springfield’s own Convoy of Hope as a shipping resource. She just returned from another Central American trip where she spent two weeks working in the ministry warehouse there. Amy has also accompanied her and Don, in the past on mission trips.
“There are so many people involved in this,” Linda shared recently while visiting Jay to pick up a new load of machines and some donated yard goods to go with them. “There are the folks working in the ministries and my volunteers who come to help us sort goods and load the containers each time.”
Jay, who readily admits to being a stay-at-home guy, has made friends around the world while repairing donated machines that have then traveled to distant lands. He has repaired treadle machines which work well in parts of the world without reliable electric sources. He has converted many a treadle machine to electric and even converted one electric machine back to treadle for a quilter in Alaska who told him the long winters without electric go better when she can continue to sew with a treadle machine.
Jay once repaired machines that went through another ministry to new homes in some of the Russian republics. One of the American missionaries on a visit home to the US came to his shop, bringing along another co-worker who spoke no English, only French and one of the African languages. They came to see his workshop and upon being introduced to Jay, she glanced up at some of the photos that had been shared with him. Suddenly, she was chattering in French with tears running down her face as she recognized one of her friends in a photo pinned on his bulletin board.
“It was so touching to think that something I had done had so affected someone clear on the other side of the world,” Jay added with a shy smile.
Closer to home, Jay has made many friends amongst those in the Mennonite community, repairing machines for their members and receiving donated machines from one of their stores. His son, daughter, three grandsons, and two granddaughters all sew and for many years, he and his wife, Sharron were very active quilters. He humbly shares that he still works on used sewing machines six days a week and is always looking for more donated machines.
“Sewing and quilting in America are great past times and fun hobbies. I kept track one time and figured out that I was working for 17 cents an hour when I was making quilts. We make quilts here for the love of quilting but in sending these machines to others in poorer countries, we are giving someone else a way to make a living.”
And as Jay Reynolds has learned, there is no labor more precious than that.
