Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick and Yvonne Zacharko.
Hi Rick and Yvonne, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Thank you for this opportunity to share our story. Funny story, we met later in life (in our mid 40’s) during the online dating time. Yes, we are an online dating success story. We have 9 kids between the two of us. It was a huge transition. We were also starting or restarting our walk with God. It was the best but most trying time for us as a family. Right before we got married, Rick lost his job which turned into a 2-year search for a new one. We lost everything. We were on our way to being homeless if it wasn’t for the family opening her house to us. It was at this time that we truly surrendered our lives to God. In the hard times, He provided for us. We saw His grace and mercy through everything that was unfolding. It was about a year and a half into the job search, we had been going out and showing love to the homeless community in Orlando with some amazing friends. Then Covid hit and we stopped going out during the lockdown. This is when God gave us the idea for our business. We had worn a “Jesus Matters” shirt one day while going out to pick up groceries and the response to that shirt was incredible. People said they liked our shirt, replied “AMEN” and gave, what we thought were smiles, behind the masks. There was hope in their eyes. During a time when we couldn’t really interact with each other the way we wanted, God showed us that there were more ways to spread seeds in the fields. That putting God’s word on a shirt can communicate His love, truth, hope and joy to anyone that wears or reads it. We believe the love of Jesus can still be spread from person to person through each shirt. Our shirts could and are conversation starters with people and each one plants a seed when a person wears them. Our prayer is that each shirt glorifies God, brings love, hope, peace, strength, and encouragement that are found in the Bible to not only the one wearing it but everyone who reads it as well.
After lots of prayers and the love, encouragement of family and by the grace of God, we were able to step into this vision; we officially became New Creation Kingdom Apparel in late October 2020. The road has not been easy, it has been hours and hours of research, mistakes, trials, and errors but nothing worthwhile ever is. Our reward is seeing the customer’s faces sometimes with tears of joy, who sees the shirt with a message or verse that spoke so deeply to them come to life. That experience is something that we had never dreamed of and we have been truly blessed to be a part of each story.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
When we first began, there were many bumps in the road as we were completely new to this industry. Every step along the way was a learning moment. We had zero experience, so when we say hours and hours of research it is not an exaggeration. The difference we realized is that as our relationship with Jesus grew, so did the understanding that when we just trusted the Lord, he would take care of those trials and struggles. So with every failure we saw God’s grace. It’s how we look at and respond to these failures, do we focus on the failures, or do we keep our focus on God? That is where our success comes from.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We know the market is saturated with t-shirt companies. What sets our company apart from others is that we are a faith based apparel and home goods. We put God’s living word on every day items because we believe God should be in our every day. We specialize in custom-made-to-order designs. Part of what we do is partnering with other ministries and businesses to bring their vision to reality. What we are most proud of is that our clothing glorifies God. Our shirts can speak and can touch everyone’s heart. This may sound corny but each shirt we make is a walking billboard for God. We are not a large operation so each shirt is made by us personally and we wouldn’t want any other way.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
God is still in control. Fear is a liar and even a virus cannot stop hope and love. When it seems darkest is when that tiny bit of light shines through. We don’t have to live in fear but enjoy each day and make the most out of it.
Contact Info:
- Email: newcreationkingdomapparel@gmail.com
- Website: https://newcreationkingdomapparel.square.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newcreationkingdomapparel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCKapparel/
