After being headquartered in Abilene for 17 years, international mission Eternal Threads will be moving to Omaha, NE.

The company’s mission is to aid women in parts of the world that have extreme poverty. Although the served nations are not geographically connected, the women share a common need of providing funds for their families to prevent their children from suffering from lack of basic necessities and possibility of being exploited.

In 2008, Eternal Threads sent a team to four countries including Nepal, Thailand, Madagascar and Afghanistan. In 2014, only six years later, the company had moved their mission into fifteen countries, offering handmade products by women in each.

Linda Engle, the founder of Eternal Threads, started her mission in 1988 when she travelled to south India and witnessed the extreme poverty women were living in. She is now moving back to Omaha, NE to be closer to family, but said she hopes that her work can still be prevalent in Abilene.

The company’s previous social media director, Emily Childers, said working at Eternal Threads made her more aware of the issues involving poverty and human trafficking.

“I spent a lot of time getting to know the mission of Eternal Threads that summer and never really could shake the things I learned there,” Childers said. “I’ve learned so much about human trafficking and working at Eternal Threads has really brought it home to me. Learning names of real women that went through this horrible things, but chose to learn a skill and move forward is so powerful.”

Each of the items is made using wool, silk, cotton, raffia, plastic twine or cording for jewelry and others. Their website offers clothing, jewelry, household items and gifts.

To purchase products or learn more about Eternal Threads, visit http://eternalthreads.org/.