On one December Saturday every year, Abbey Road Christian Church turns its welcoming hall and sanctuary into an international crafts market. The Cape Girardeau congregation partners with Plowsharing Crafts to share the stories and sell the handicrafts of artisans in over 40 countries, providing them with fair trade income that helps pay for food, education, health care, and housing.

The sale is promoted with yard signs, social media, and old-fashioned button-holing of friends. A caravan of SUVs goes to Plowsharing Crafts’s brick-and-mortar store in St. Louis to load up with goods. Meanwhile, at the church, other members prepare racks and display tables. “It’s exciting to see a vibrant slice of the world in our sanctuary,” says the congregation’s interim minister Rev. Doug Job. This year’s will be ARCC’s seventh annual sale, so Cape holiday shoppers have come to look forward to it. Between six and eight thousand dollars have been raised with each market.

Saturday, December 8, from 8 am to 1 pm, the Plowsharing Crafts International Fair Trade Market will be open at 2411 Abbey Road, Cape Girardeau MO 63701. Please come “buy” if you’re in Cape!

Thanks to Rev. Doug Job for this information and photos.

Note: South Joplin CC will also be holding an Alternative Gift Fair Nov. 30-Dec. 2.