Tucked among the mangrove forests along the Pacific coast of El Salvador, La Calzada is a small island community stretching 10.5 miles long and less than a mile wide. About 1,600 people call the island home, where opportunities can be limited and many families face significant economic challenges.

It is here, on this narrow island surrounded by water, that five women recently celebrated a milestone that once may have seemed out of reach: they became the first graduates of a new sewing program.

For nine months, the women gathered to learn simple sewing skills under the guidance of Christ For the City International missionary, Verónica Pérez. But the classes became about much more than learning to thread a needle or operate a sewing machine. Each class began with worship and Bible study, creating a space where the women could grow not only in their skills, but also in their confidence and understanding of who they are in God.

For Verónica, the program began with a deeply personal experience.

“I knew the difficult situations these women live in and wanted them to feel valued,” she said.

Verónica once believed she didn’t have any particular skills herself. Then a CFCI missionary, Amelia DenHartog, sponsored her to attend sewing classes.

“It was a dream come true for me,” Verónica said.

She discovered that she could sew, and that discovery gave her a desire to help other women experience that same sense of possibility.

After visiting CFCI bases in Nicaragua and Costa Rica and seeing their sewing programs, Verónica began dreaming about bringing one to La Calzada.

They had no sewing machines. They had no supplies.

But little by little, God provided.

“God provided everything and the ministry grew,” Verónica said. “His provision confirmed for me, ‘This is of God.’”

And so, the first sewing class began.

The women came with different challenges and different reasons for wanting to learn.

One of them, Noemí, has a disability in her hands that makes writing difficult and had limited her opportunities to find work.

When she first began learning to sew, she was nervous.

“I am so nervous. I can’t do it,” she told Verónica.

But she kept trying.

Learning wasn’t always easy. She sewed more slowly than the others and couldn’t do everything, but she refused to give up.

“I asked God to help me because I had never learned to sew,” Noemí said. “Thanks to God I can sew a little now, though I can’t do everything well yet.”

What surprised her most was not simply that she had learned a new skill. It was the feeling of creating something with her own hands.

“I was so happy to see that I could make something myself, with God’s help!” Noemí said.

For Verónica, watching Noemí persevere was one of the clearest pictures of what the program was becoming.

The women were learning to sew, but they were also learning to believe they could do things they had never done before.

That confidence began showing up outside the classroom, too.

One day, Nery came to Verónica with a story she couldn’t wait to share.

She had gone home and made a pillow, all by herself.

Then she sold it for $3.50.

It might seem like a small accomplishment, but for Nery, it was proof that what she was learning could become something practical and productive.

Before joining the program, Nery had never touched a sewing machine.

Now she can make pillows and sew some of her own clothing.

“Truly I felt so good knowing I could now do something for myself,” she said. “I thank God for allowing me to graduate.”

And she isn’t finished.

“God-willing I will continue to learn more, getting better every day,” Nery said.

Another student, Anita, told Verónica, “I can go look for a job now!”

Those words represent a change that goes far beyond sewing.

For women who have struggled with low self-esteem and difficult circumstances at home, learning a skill has helped them begin to see new possibilities for their future.

The first five students worked hard throughout the nine-month program, eventually producing shoulder bags that were given to CFCI Board members in April.

They were surprised by what they had accomplished.

Abigail said she was grateful for the patience and wisdom God gave her as she learned.

“I feel good because with God’s help I could learn to do something I had never done before,” she said. “I feel very happy.”

Then came September 22.

The women arrived dressed in their best clothes for their graduation, the first five graduates of the La Calzada sewing program.

There were certificates, gifts, a devotional, and plenty of proud smiles.

Verónica even sang in front of the group before sharing a devotional about God as the Potter and each of us as the clay.

“I wanted them to feel blessed and special, to see how God had worked,” she said. “I saw their happy faces—it’s hard to put it into words.”

But one moment in particular brought Verónica to tears.

Patricia had become one of the most committed students in the class. She had even helped Verónica with the lessons.

When it came time to give Patricia a sewing machine of her own, she was overwhelmed.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“You don’t know what this means for me,” she told Verónica. “I had asked my husband to buy me a sewing machine, but we couldn’t afford it.”

For Patricia, the gift represented more than a sewing machine.

It meant another opportunity to learn. Another way to be productive. Another possibility for helping support her family.

“I feel grateful and blessed,” Patricia said. “I felt proud to know that there is something else I can do that is productive, happy to have made progress in my life to be able to help support my family.”

Verónica had a simple message for her: God provides for the desires of our hearts.

Patricia responded with a strong hug.

“My heart was filled up,” Verónica said. “I wanted her to know that it is God who gives us these gifts.”

Five women graduated from the first sewing class on La Calzada.

But their graduation isn’t the end of the story.

It is the beginning of something new.

They came to learn a practical skill. Along the way, they gained confidence. They learned that they could create something with their own hands. They discovered that their circumstances did not have to define what they were capable of doing.

And each week, as they worshiped and opened their Bibles together, they were reminded of something even deeper: they are seen, valued, and loved by God.

For Verónica, that’s what makes the program so meaningful.

“I knew the difficult situations these women live in and wanted them to feel valued,” she said.

Now, five women have graduated.

One has sold a pillow she made herself. One believes she can begin looking for a job. One has discovered that even with a disability, she can learn something new. And one now has her own sewing machine and a dream of using her skills to help support her family.

The machines may be sewing thread into fabric.

But something much bigger is taking shape on this small island.

Confidence. Purpose. Opportunity. And hope.