"Why Not?"

Written by Emily Mewborne

In 2021, I ended an engagement and watched the life I thought I was building disappear
almost overnight. Of course, life doesn’t stop when you go through a breakup, so I
immersed myself in healing as best as I could. I found Christian community, went to
therapy, traveled with friends and did everything I could to get through, but the ache was
still there.

A year later, I was frustrated by how deeply I still hurt. How could this last so long? I
spent the year leaning deep into the Lord like never before, but I still felt the rejection
and the loneliness from my breakup.

During that time, I saw that my favorite Christian influencer was hosting a one-day
women’s conference in Charleston. I booked my ticket right away and packed the most
“Charleston” outfit I could find, a tough job for a Colorado girl.

Sitting on that plane, I got out my journal and started writing. I wrote a prayer asking the
Lord to just let me leave here with something. Maybe it was a creative idea, maybe it
was a friend, maybe it was a word of encouragement. All I knew was that I needed
something. I left the request vague, but believed God had something specific in mind.

The day of the conference I met two women who worked with Francis + Benedict. One
being Katie Walters, our CEO, who shared the story of the seamstresses and the
mission to provide dignified and sustainable income to women in Togo. The other was a
woman who was selling the wax print skirts, Kenzie. We chatted for a while, and I even
tried on a skirt while she told me about an opportunity to join the team. As a slight
introvert, this conference experience was already stretching me, so I told her I’d think
about it.

When I went back to join in on the conference, I shared with the women around me that
I was just invited to join the Francis + Benedict team. “I don’t think I will though,” I told
them.

I’ll never forget the look one of the women, a stranger, gave me as she asked, “why
not?”

Why not?

The way she asked wasn’t judgmental or condescending, it was genuinely
curious. Why wouldn’t I say yes to this? It stopped me. It opened my mind to a
possibility I hadn’t really considered, that this could be something I said yes to. I looked
back at her and repeated the question to myself.

I’m so grateful to say that those two words were the push that I needed to go back to
Kenzie and say yes. I said yes to joining a mission that would change not only my life
but also the lives of women and children in Togo, West Africa.

Flying back home after that conference, I did leave with something, although I wouldn’t
have known the depth of it yet. I couldn’t have known that by saying yes to Francis +
Benedict, I was leaving with a sisterhood. I was leaving with a family of women here in
the US and in Togo. I was leaving with a next step to join a mission that changed lives.
I never could have imagined what that something I prayed for would be, but God knew.
He knew during my hard season that I needed to say yes to something bigger than
myself. I needed to lean into something that took the focus off of myself.

Looking back, I am so grateful for the simple question of, “why not?” The Holy Spirit
used that question to lead me into something new and exciting.

The blessing of being a part of a mission like this is accessible to anyone, not just those
who visit Togo or give large amounts of money. By becoming a monthly mission partner,
you help provide apprenticeships, jobs, healthcare, education for children, and, most
importantly, dignity.

Will you join us in saying “why not?” and become a part of what God is doing in Togo?