E.K.A Inspirations

My Recent Trip To Cambodia

ekagyeman — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:09:07 +0000

Our field trip to Cambodia a few weeks ago, was one of the best highlights of my life! Being exposed to limitless possibilities, the excitement of stepping out of my comfort zone, seeing the fruition of 6 months hard workof pushing the ‘Clothe The Nakid’ campaign! Excited about hanging out with my team members and meeting new people! Words really don’t do it justice! But heres a few scribbles from the trip.

Day 1 Morning Devotion! ‘People see what we do, God sees why we do it’

We started the morning as a team reading, searching our hearts and discussing the REASON for us being in Cambodia. Too many a times in life, we can become so carried away with our actions that it’s easy to forget ‘why you do what you do’. Frequent ‘heart motivation checks’ helps to refocus and do things for the right reasons while at the same time renewing your passion!

After discussions, we came to a conclusion that one of our main priorites was to ‘serve’, it didn’t really matter to us how it looked, as long as we saw a need, a problem; our heart was to serve to be the solution and meet those needs.

For me, this was a great start to the trip! At this stage i became even more excited!!

We Visited the ‘She Rescue’ home http://sherescuehome.org/, this incredible organisation provides safety, protection and love in a housing system for teenage girls that have been abused, trafficked or are at risk. We spent the day learning about the stats of trafficking in Cambodia. It gave a me a new perspective on the trafficking issue, and an appreciation for organisations such as ‘She Rescue’ who are doing their part in making a difference in the lives of precious teenage girls! Their offices had many cool posters, one of my favourites was…

”Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed”-Proverbs 31:8.

We also got to hang out and play volleyball with some of the girls at the home, I got excited during the game and started shouting ‘c’mon! c’mon!’. The kids bursts out laughing, I thought I was on a roll, well i was…until the translator came and told me that my ‘c’mon’ chants in their language sounded like I was saying ‘kill chicken! kill chicken!!’…..Yeah it was awakward but a very fun arvo. We also left the girls Jeans clothing and footwear.

Day 3,We had a very early start, we went out to the local markets and bought hundreds of pieces of clothing. We made the mistake of not taking a translator with us and so…yeah, it was tough communicating with the market people. It was an experience nonetheless and turned out to be an entertaining morning. It was such a blessing to support these local people, I’m sure we helped them achieve their 6 monthly sales target in an hour!

We decided to go to Siem Reap and check out the Tomb Raider temples and the world famous ‘quad bike’ and relaxed by the swimming pool, trying to improve my water survival skills…:P

All in all, we provided clothing to 50 young girls at the She Rescue home, 200 clothing were distributed at Dusco village in the Kandal province and 300 it was a GREAT trip!

Thank YOU to all our customers and supporters for helping us make a difference in the lives of the precious children!!

Let’s not stop here, as long as there is children in need of clothing around the world, we’ll do our best to provide clothing where we can, so continue to partner with us and support us and together we can make a greater difference!

From Eric & the PVBS team!

Cambodia Trip 2012 (Video)

ekagyeman — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:24:33 +0000

Click on the link http://youtu.be/xuq-WUsRLCY to check out our trip to Cambodia! Masive THANK YOU to everyone of our customers and supporters! Thank you the difference your making in the lives of precious children in Cambodia! Looking forward to our … Continue reading →

Inspiring A Generation To Dream..

ekagyeman — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:40:01 +0000

In about 9 hours I will be somewhere in Melbourne city speaking to some really cool high school students! I’m really excited about the opportunity to speak life, purpose and hope into the leaders of tomorrow!

We’ve heard the saying ‘words have killed more people than bullets have’ meaning, that words are more powerful than we know. There are so many people out there today, still wounded by the negative words of friends/family/teachers/people around them.

One of my goals this year is to be ‘a part of the solution’ to encourage as many people (especially) high school students I can to dream, to think big, to press forward no matter their past circumstances and to become everything they were born for!

This passion and dream has led to the initiative ‘Inspiring A Generation To Dream’ high school motivational workshops!
I’ll be sharing everything from my experiences/failures/business/social enterprise/moving forward/dreams/legacy etc

I’m excited at the opportunities, I’m excited about meeting new friends, I’m excited about the testimonials of changed lives, I’m excited about people realizing their worth, I’m excited at the next generation of John F Kennedy’s, Martin Luther King Jnr’s, etc, people who will make the world a better place!

If your a teacher/year level co-ordinator/Principle etc and want to give your students an empowering start to this year email me at ekwaasi@yahoo.com.au for more info about how I can serve your students.

Peaceout!

Radio interview

ekagyeman — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:34:52 +0000

Last week PVBS had the opportunity to be interviewed on a radio segment on 88.6 Plenty Valley FM! This is our third radio interview and still get excited at every such opportunity like it’s our first! The interview covers our last 18 months, our current ventures and the future of the brand and the legacy we would like to leave! A big thank you to Gianna Dalla-Vecchia who made it happen!

Check out the interview on the link below!

#PVBS Corporate??

ekagyeman — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:25:03 +0000

Recently you might have probably seen the #hash tag being thrown around a lot on our fan page and the term #PVBSCorporate (there it goes again ) So we thought we’d let you all in on the exciting new adventures we’re embarking on!

#PVBSCorporate (inspired by mentor and friend Joel Newland) Is a branch of our apparel brand that partners with corporate organizations to raise awareness for global poverty, increase an organization’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and to promote the PVBS brand to see more children clothed through our ‘Clothing The Nakid’ vision.

Within two weeks of our campaign, the feedback from the businesses have been beyond our expectations! Our first partners are the Commonwealth, Box Hill branch. Daniel the manager was very generous and supportive, even giving us the opportunity to set up our banner and merchandise inside their branch to do our presentation and sell too! (Photos are on our facebook page)

Overall it was a great experience and heaps of fun connecting with people from different backgrounds yet all passionate about the cause and the opportunity to help others!

This is just the beginning of #PVBS Corporate. Our goal in 2012 is to reach (minimum)1500 staff in the corporate workforce to establish partnerships with their organization’s/company’s. Why?? So we can see more smiles on the faces of precious children in Cambodia! It’s simple, the more partnerships, the more children’s lives being changed!

Every company we’ll be partnering with will be receiving framed photos from our trips to Cambodia of the children they have provided clothing for, we’re then encouraging businesses to display the photos in a visible place so that it not only boosts the Social responsibility of the company but we believe it will brighten up the work environment!

GET INVOLVED! If your part of an organization or know one that would like to have a conversation about how they can support and be involved please email us info@pvbs.com.au

Thank You all in advance and look forward to a great 2012 ahead of us!

Eric and the A team!

Rebranded!

ekagyeman — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:54:22 +0000

Many of you may have followed PVBS since it’s launch in November 2009. For those who have no idea, PVBS stands for ‘Proverbs’ was an apparel brand established to not only produce phresh inspiring designs but also more importantly to become a vehicle to give back to charity.

18 months in, it was time for CHANGE, our dear brother Wes, whom I started the business with and also one of our designers felt ready to move on to other dreams they wanted to pursue. It was a hard season for the brand and the team , but what made the CHANGE and transition a smooth one, was that, it was a healthy mutual decision for all parties involved!

So I’d like to personally thank Wes and Rachel for everything they’ve invested into the PVBS, honestly, it wouldn’t be where it is today without your talents, passion and time! Wishing you both success and happiness in the next seasons of your lives.

We’re all still family, a beautifully multi cultured family and I’m sure in the future you’ll see their names/faces pop up with PVBS!

Moving forward, we have a few new faces on board the team and also a few that were already in. You’ll get to find out more about them in the coming weeks. We have re-branded and changed our tag line ‘Inspired Apparel’ to ‘Clothing The Nakid’. We believe the name compliments the new direction and vision perfectly. So now with every PVBS apparel YOU purchase, YOU fully clothe a kid in need! In July this year we were able to clothe an entire village in Cambodia, our next trip is in Feb 2012, we’re so pumped! It’s an honour to give hope to these precious kid’s in Cambodia.

Make sure you come to our 2 year bday fundraiser for Cambodia, it’s on december 3rd. For more info check out our fan page. also check out our new website www.pvbs.com.au

Lastly, I wanna say a very BIG thank you to YOU, our customer and supporter! We look forward to serving you better and hopefully see you all in person soon too!

Blessings
Eric-Founder and Owner -PVBS-Clothing The Nakid

‘As A Man Thinks, So Is He’

ekagyeman — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:03:31 +0000

Today I woke up with a scripture on my mind, Proverbs 23:7 ‘As a man thinks so is he.’ As I repeated the scripture over and over, I could sense my mind and spirit beginning to dream, it was like someone was preaching to me directly! A few key lines that really hit me and had me saying amen were ‘If you can dream it, you can achieve it! ‘Nothing is too hard for the Lord!’ ‘The just shall live by Faith!’ ‘there are no limits!!’
It wasn’t long before I recognised the voice was the Holy Spirit. And so I continued dreaming after hearing the voice. In my mind I had envisioned PVBS, expansion, increase, doors of opportunity, greater impact in Cambodia, all those thoughts were running through my mind, and then I was reminded again of the scripture that triggered all of this ‘Proverbs 23:7 ‘As a man thinks, so is he!’

I decided to do something after my dream sesh, put my faith into action! I decided to go and ‘knock on some doors’ and ‘seek some opportunites’ because I remembered reading somewhere in the bible that ‘those who knock, the door shall be opened to them and those who seek shall find!
I went to an institution (which I will name later, after everything has been finalised) and simply asked someone there, ‘Can I please speak to the manager?’ She happened to be the manager, so I nervously did a quick 2 minute talk on PVBS and our social concept and requested if we could sit down and talk further. She agreed (otherwise, it woulda been an awkward moment right there!)

I told her more about the brand as she navigated through our website, I then pretty much cut to the chase and said ‘how can your company support us make a difference and at the same time, improve your company’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)??

Now to be honest, I did not know what to expect, and I didn’t have a fancy business plan or anything, all I had was a strong belief in the PVBS brand and faith in the God that opens doors that no man can shut. Well the outcome of the meeting…..I can’t say too much now, because it’s in progress, at this stage, it’s looking very positive and I hear back from them next week!
Now even if nothing happened out of that meeting, today’s adventure taught me a lesson or two about life in general.

1) If you have a dream, great start, it will come to pass, when you put it into ACTION!
2) Don’t be afraid of rejections or a no! ‘Cos what about if you get a yes!
3) Be bold, be confident, be courageous!
4) Thank God for open doors, no matter how small it is, He tends to open even greater doors for those that are thankful for small blessings!
5) All things are possible!
6) Think possibilities! Think Positive!

I’m so pumped for the journey and the adventures ahead! One step at a time, walking by faith, I know without a shadow of a doubt that God has a plan for PVBS and our mission of providing clothing for kids in 3rd world countries!

This week we also turn 2 years! make sure you go to http://www.pvbs.com.au/ for your Christmas shopping! buy yourself a rad Tee and make a kid smile too!

bless

‘Mini Mo Quo’ (Mini Motivational Quotes) App Is Out!

ekagyeman — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 09:19:37 +0000

About 2 and a half years ago, i challenged myself to declaring the word of God over my life every morning before i left the house, what started out as a random challenge to grow myself in prayer and the word soon began shaping my life. I kept going because i could see the tangible effects of the faith declarations i was making out of God’s word!

Then i thought why not share this idea to others and really encourage them that the same words (word of God) that shaped the heavens and the earth, those same words can shape our future and our destiny if we SPEAK them out!

What i find is that many people will read the word of God, they will hear the word of God, but the enemy will do anything to stop us from SPEAKING the word of God! why because the enemy knows that life and death lies in the power of words.

So my motivation for bringing out an app is to give people an accessibility to be encouraged and SPEAK life into their day and their future!!

Majority of the quotes are scriptures i’ve put together in a way you can DECLARE your victory!

DOWNLOAD/Gift the app to a friend who could do with daily inspiration! http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/minimoquo/id449413441?mt=8

Spread the word, spread the love, spread the motivation!

Peace
p.s When you download it, please take a minute and leave a review. Thanks in advance.

Camps….

ekagyeman — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:43:50 +0000

The last few months has been amazing! I was blessed with the opportunity to speak at Freedom Christian Church youth camp over at Phillip Island, and two weeks later at Lighthouse Church youth/young adults camp at Forest Edge!

These were the first camps i’ve ever done and so it was a exciting challenge and step of faith.

I spoke different messages at both camps but similar themes encouraging the young people to become all that God had for their lives!

As youth, distractions and wrong crowds can lead us astray, i am a tesimony of this, and so i shared with them that a sense of destiny and purpose can keep you on the right track and instead of conforming to the environments around us they can instead transform their environments!

There was fun and games (To all the Freedom Christian peeps reading this….BANG!! *inside joke!*) some other highlights of both camps were the testimonies i heard at end of lives being changed, decisions made for Christ, recommitments, people’s passions re-ignited, identity.
To God be all the glory!! below are a few pics from the camps.

Bless

NEVER ALONE…

ekagyeman — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:26:11 +0000

Isaiah 58:11 “The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

The Lord will guide you always!! I don’t know about you, but as a believer we are never alone in life! Yes there may be moments when we do feel alone, but feelings doesnt change the word of God! And the word is that He will never leave nor forsake us, that He will be with us until the end of time!!

It’s amazing how in real life, you can be right next to somebody and yet feel their absence, at times you can be in a room full of people yet feel like your the only one there!

That’s how we sometimes see God, even though He’s right there with us, we can feel like we’re alone.

The bible verse said in Isaiah that ‘The Lord will guide you ALWAYS! Not sometimes, not when He’s got some free time, but ALWAYS!!

ALWAYS! Means no matter the situation, and no matter what your going through, He is there with you, guiding you!

In the midst of my confusion he’s there, in the midst of my valley times he’s there!! To keep me going and keep me moving!

Have you ever been through a situation and just wanted to give up yet something whispered to you, “don’t quit, there’s more” have you ever been on the edge and said it is over and before you could “you heard someone tell you “your best is yet to come!” I know i’ve been in those situations at times in my journey.

Today i want to remind you, the fact that your alive is evidence and proof that God has been with you! That He didn’t leave you nor forsake you!! The truth is if God had left us even for a moment by ourselves, the enemy would of had us give up on your dreams, give up the friendship/relationship, give up on the church, give up on the business, give up on your education. But God didn’t!

No matter where you are in life right now, God is right there with you, even if doesnt feel like it; Have faith, keep believing Him, He’s a good God!

Bless!