Sewn Together

Ryan Roff, co-owner of BoldSocks, is living the dream. BoldSocks sells funky, novelty socks online and in their storefront shop on Division Avenue in Grand Rapids. His business, like his faith in Christ, has grown through willingness to take the next faithful step.

As he has worked to announce the Kingdom of God in his own life and make measureable change for the most vulnerable in our world, Ryan and his business partner connected their entrepreneurial efforts to help supply clean water to people in Rwanda through 20 Liters. By giving a portion of the proceeds from their line of custom socks, named Statement Sockwear, BoldSocks has provided almost 4 million days of clean water—one pair of socks at a time.

As he works to support one group of vulnerable people, however, Ryan wanted to ensure that he wasn’t exploiting another group of people in the process. So he decided he needed to take a trip to Colombia, where Statement Sockwear is produced, to make sure this enterprise was blessing and not oppressing those who worked for them.

The process of examining this part of his life was not without risk. Examining our way of living and ourselves can sometimes lead to difficult discoveries. However, it can also lead to reconciliation with the way of Jesus. So he bought a ticket, boarded an airplane, and set off to Colombia.

This is a five part Lent series for Mars Hill Bible Church discovering the discovering the importance of social enterprise, having an ethical supply chain, and being ethical consumers.

To learn more visit: measurablechange.org / boldsocks.com