The holiday season is quickly approaching, as is witnessed by the many displays already appearing in stores. One of the features of the fall season is a multiplicity of craft fairs, bazaars, boutiques or similar events. Worthy of special note is one held annually at a church in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood.
For the 25th consecutive year, San Jose’s Lincoln Glen Church is sponsoring the International Gift Faire, an opportunity for local residents to make an impact on world poverty while enjoying folk arts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 18 and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 19 in the Fellowship Hall, 2700 Booksin Ave. Admission is free.
This event features hundreds of unusual gift and home decor items in bamboo, wood, natural fibers and ceramics; there are items such as baskets, ornaments, jewelry, musical instruments, toys, rugs and brassware made in 30 developing countries, including Bangladesh, El Salvador, Thailand and the Philippines.
These handicrafts are imported by Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit marketing and job-creation program established in 1946 by the Mennonite Central Committee. Its mission is to create economic opportunities that help people in developing countries earn a decent living, enabling them to afford improved health care, nutrition, housing and education.
All profits from the Gift Faire are donated to Ten Thousand Villages, which allows the purchase of more crafts from an increasing number of poor people. It is the oldest and largest fair trade organization in the country with 60 years of experience and an annual trade volume in excess of $20 million.
The San Jose exhibition was started in 1987 by two local Mennonite women who felt the need to help disadvantaged people in Third World countries find a market for their handicrafts; it has grown to be one of the largest such fairs in the United States, with more than 100 volunteers; sales last year totaled nearly $90,000. This year’s slogan is, “Your purchase makes a difference.” For more information, visit www.internationalgiftfaire.com.
The Mennonites trace their origin to Anabaptism, a Reformation movement begun in Switzerland in the 16th century. The Anabaptists were persecuted by Roman Catholics and other Protestants because of their distinctive beliefs: only adults could be baptized, they refused to take oaths of allegiance to governments, accepted only the Bible as authority and refused to serve in the military.
Other religious groups today which are descended from the Anabaptists are the Huttites and Amish, who gained recognition through a popular 1985 film, “Witness.” Today there are about 500,000 members of these groups in the United States, about a million worldwide.
A notable part of their faith relates to serving others. This is especially apparent in the functioning of the Mennonite Disaster Service, a volunteer network that responds in Christian love to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States.
Mennonites have always helped each other, but in the 1950s, they began to further organize and expand this mutual aid beyond their own membership. As a people of peace opposed to military participation, the Mennonites find disaster relief an opportunity to serve the nation as a whole, especially through post-disaster cleanup and repairs, at no charge to victims.
Chuck Flagg is a retired teacher with a passion for religion. Reach him at [email protected].
