A little girl somewhere in the world is wearing a dress today that she never thought she’d own. Maybe she lives in a rural village in Africa, where clothes are patched together until they barely hold. Maybe she’s in a crowded city in South America, where survival leaves little room for something as simple as a new dress. Wherever she is, someone took the time to sew a dress just for her—a dress made with care, prayed over and sent with love.
As reported by The Christian Post, that’s the heart behind Dress a Girl Around the World, a campaign by Hope 4 Women International that has given nearly 4 million dresses to girls in poverty.
It all started in 2009 when Rachel Eggum Cinader visited Uganda and saw young girls in “threadbare clothing.” She and her sister began sewing dresses from pillowcases and teaching local women how to do the same. The idea took off, and before long, people all over the world wanted to help.
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Now, churches and volunteers across the globe are part of this mission, sewing not just dresses, but hope into every stitch. Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene in Arizona started small, making just 138 dresses in their first year.
Today, they’ve made over 28,000.
Every November, their sanctuary turns into a sewing hub where hundreds of volunteers come together for a “Sew-a-Thon” to create more than 1,500 dresses in a single day. “Whenever these dresses are distributed by our teams, we share with the girls that God sees them as princesses in His sight,” said David Hillis, the pastor overseeing missions and evangelism.
/**/But it’s not just about clothing. These dresses are a form of protection. Girls in poverty are especially vulnerable to human trafficking, and something as simple as wearing a well-made dress can deter predators. Volunteers don’t just drop off dresses—they educate communities about the tricks traffickers use, arming families with knowledge that could save a life.
Leduc Alliance Church in Canada has been part of this mission for over a decade. Kathy Drader, who helps lead their Dress a Girl efforts, says every dress they send is “taken by an individual or group ministering in Jesus’ name.” It’s not just about handing out clothing; it’s about sharing Christ’s love in a way that people can see, feel, and remember.
And here’s something beautiful—this project isn’t just changing the lives of the girls who receive the dresses. It’s also transforming the lives of the women who make them. “Many sewers have said this program gives them purpose. We’ve seen women who were depressed and are now fired up to get out of bed and sew for girls living in poverty,” Cinader shared. It’s proof that when we serve others, we often find healing ourselves.
There’s something deeply personal about sewing. It takes time, patience and care. Every stitch is intentional. And when a little girl puts on a dress that was made just for her, she knows—maybe for the first time—that someone values and loves her.
That’s the power of Dress a Girl Around the World. It’s more than fabric and thread. It’s dignity. It’s protection. It’s the love of Christ in a form that a child can wrap around herself.
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
