I would like to be honest for a minute... seriously, if you know me well, you will know that I can only be honest. That is what some love about me and others...
I have been on leave for almost two weeks and gearing myself up to go back to work on Monday. I am very blessed, I do not have to work to hard to gear myself up, because I really love my work. I am looking forward the last term of the year. I am going to take leave at this time every year from now on while my children are at school. I also think we will go camping every Spring Break too and probably will go to Beverlac for many years. The flowers, waterfalls, incredible walks... amazing memories.
What I really want to take some time talking about today is a shift in my perspective over the past few weeks. If you have read some of my previous posts this past few months, you will know that I have had to bang my head a few times in my life to realise that I am on a journey and that things will not always work out as I want them too. I have had to have my heart broken a few times to realise that my journey as been a time for discipleship and preparation for something bigger than what I had thought of originally. I had to get to a place in my life, where I really relinquished control and gave my whole life over to my Creator and let Him orchestrate and guide me in His Paths of RIGHTEOUSNESS. It has been quite a journey and I know I am still on it for the rest of my life...
Over the last 12 years that Holger and I have been back in South Africa, I have not always been sure that we could get ourselves and our mission here together. We had a dream when we came back in 2000, to support individuals or organsisations that work with orphans and vulnerable children. This started with a 3 year time of serving at Beautiful Gate Ministries Crossroads. In 2005 we started MercyAIDS after we realised that our dream at the time could not be worked out in YWAM. BUT this transition out of YWAM was not an easy one... 10 years in an organisation we loved.
We have been involved in a number of projects in the past few years. We started work in Fisantekraal and Philippi's OVC in 2005, in 2006 we worked with Regina and helped her establish Regina's Hope in Mfuleni, in 2008 we started working with Patricia at Zusahke in Du Noon and we helped transform Philippi Trust's OVC into Resilient Kids program in 2009. Last year we helped Geneva Crisis in Eersteriver. This year I have been involved with the Thando Trust's, "We Have Hope" project. All amazing projects that are very close to my heart... and all this while I work as a Mission Co-ordinator of The Father's House Christian Fellowship.
The common thread in all of these different projects was that we came to serve and empower these projects to the next level. BUT, this is where the paradigm shift happened for me recently, because I never really understood what the mandate of MercyAIDS was. I never realised that we would only serve for a short season in some projects and longer season in others... I never realised that we were coming along side people and organisations to help, till we were no longer needed... in most of the projects mentioned above we are still involved in some capacity... but our roles have changed dramatically over the years
.“What you are, and who you are should provide greater clarity about where you have been and where you are headed. Although one distinguishes spiritual from physical nature, the ultimate unification of the two is the consequence of the struggle for internal, external and eternal – peace.”
~ T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with "The Divine Presence"
Over the last few months we have felt that it is time to take MercyAIDS to whole new level. We are going to get a website, we now have facebook page and we now will be more aware of our mission as we carry on being an aid to those who serve orphans and vulnerable children and their children too :) We are excited about the opportunities on the table right now... let us see how long this next season of service will last. It was important that we understood who we are before we could fully do what we do...
Being honest, this is a huge paradigm shift...
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