The face behind New Testament
Hi! You may be curious about the person behind New Testament and what my motivations are for this brand... In this blog I will therefore tell you who I am, why I do what I do and to what purpose.
Who am I?
My name is Sander Jongsma, I am 26 years old and currently living with my dog 'Mees' in a small village near Dokkum (Friesland, The Netherlands) called Broeksterwoude. My hobbies are playing football, singing, playing the piano/keyboard, hiking in the nature (with my dog), watching historical/biblical documentaries and series, being surrounded by my girlfriend, family and friends and of course shopping / fashion.
Christian background
I grew up in Damwoude, together with my twin brother Jeroen and was raised by my parents in a warm and loving Christian family. Almost every Sunday morning we went to the reformed church, which I generally didn't like that much... So if we didn't have to go now and then, I wouldn't feel pity at all... However, later in life I always found the meetings very interesting. Talking about faith with fellow believers I found, and still find, very interesting. In addition, I liked to listen to a pastor who could answer the questions I was having. Faith has generally always been close to me and I've never actually had a period in life when I didn't believe. At the moment, faith (read Jesus) is really the common thread in my life and I try to live for Him as much as possible in my daily life. I am still looking for a right church to attend though.
Why Christian Clothing?
Around the age of 18, the idea arose to start my own Christian clothing brand because of my passion for fashion and my love for Jesus. At that time I was really looking for what kind of study I wanted to do and besides that my faith in God was getting stronger. I was more often occupied with reading the Bible and praying. I also wanted to know much more about Jesus and therefore wanted to really mean something in my faith. However, my christian clothing brand did not see daylight at that time because I had no money to start something and was too afraid of what others would think of it. In addition, it was of course not entirely unwise to start a study, because then I would at least have received my certificate.
Five years later, again several courses and jobs further, I ended up sitting at home with no job or studies to follow and Covid-19 also came into play. I still didn't know what I wanted to do, still didn't have a certificate other than my drivers license and partly because of Corona I really didn't know how to proceed in life. During this period I prayed a lot and asked a lot for God to show me what to do. What are my Talents? What makes me happy? And how do I honor you in doing so? Finally, the idea of a Christian clothing brand came back to me. Now I had the money and the time and I also cared less about what others would think of me… I wanted to do something that was close to me as a person. My passion for fashion in combination with my love for Jesus eventually and finally led to the creation of my clothing brand New Testament.
Why New Testament?
I chose the brandname 'New Testament' and the cross icon because they both refer to the second part of the bible in which the gospel of Jesus is the common thread. They are important and recognizable elements for a Christian, making it clear that the brand is of Christian origin. Furthermore, the gospel and the love of Jesus teaches us wise lessons and can be inspiring for everyone.
Fair and sustainable clothing
It was important to me that the clothing had to be produced in a high-quality, fair and sustainable way because In my opinion it's important from the Christian point of view to live out of love for everything and everyone. Fair and sustainable clothing means that the clothing is made under fair working conditions and that it's being made from strong organic and recycled fabrics. This process is better for the people, better for the world and better for the clothing itself. In the end I found a supplier that is 'leader' of the Fair Wear Foundation, which means that they are in the top of the world in terms of a high focus on fair and sustainably produced clothing. I am very glad that I found them because the clothing really is of the highest and most comfortable quality.
The purpose of my Christian Clothing Brand
The goal is to ultimately inspire as many Christians as possible to share the love and gospel of Jesus through my modern, sustainable Christian clothing. This is possible with subtle designs, but also with the more 'into your face' designs, just what you feel most comfortable with. I also hope to form unity with New Testament, I want to create a real family feeling. After all, we are all children of God, aren't we? Furthermore, we want to commit ourselves to support socially responsible projects in the future and we want to raise awareness of the importance of fair and sustainable fashion to make the world a better place wherever we can. Moreover, I hope that my brand will touch and inspire non-believers.
Are we on the same page? :-)