In 1994, Kathy Gillard, who was serving South Dakota as the first field assistant in Aglow, had a vision of a quilt. The quilt had a huge star in the middle. The red center of the star represented the blood of Jesus. Each point - one yellow, one brown, one white, one black, and one red represented each of the global races. When Kathy shared the vision with her Regional Director, Sande Lofberg, Sande called Bobbye Byerly who served as the U.S. National President.
When Bobbye Byerly heard about the vision for the quilt, she felt that it would be displayed or used at the upcoming Aglow National Conference in Nashville, TN which happens to be known as the City of Quilts. The Red Star Quilt was created and displayed on the stage at the conference where several Native American women were on the platform. As Francine Chick, part of the Conference department, sang “Father, Make Us One”, Sande Lofberg stood with Vi Medicine Eagle, President of the first Aglow Lighthouse on an Indian Reservation, and held hands. The quilt was then presented to Bobbye Byerly.
Several years passed before Bobbye presented the quilt back to the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain region for being pioneers in establishing Aglow Lighthouses on Reservations.
In 2014, Sande then presented the quilt to Dianne Davis who was the Regional Director of the Southwest Region, in honor of the work they were doing amongst the native people.
In 2023, Lenda Curtis, the current Regional Director of the Southwest Region, returned the quilt to the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Region from whence it came. The quilt had been full circle, a vision that began almost 30 years earlier fulfilled; however, this was not to be the resting place of the quilt.
Monae Johnson was the former President of South Dakota and was recently elected as the Secretary of State in South Dakota. Monae asked if it would be possible to display the quilt in her office in the Capitol as a catalyst to build relationships with all nine reservations in South Dakota. Quincy Good Star, a Lakota Pastor and national speaker, was in agreement to be part of the restoration process.
This special quilt, first seen in a vision, has become a symbol of the Father’s desire that we be one as He and the Son are One. It is His blood that makes us one body, one race, a Kingdom family.