Maybe this should not be titled “ON TOP OF THE WORLD (part 2)” but rather, “Back Down to Reality,” but I started off with that darn “part 1” and you can’t just leave people hanging like that.
So that is what this last week was more like, coming back down to reality. I am not depressed and angry but just a little discouraged. I know that every area has politics and there is always so much more to a situation then you think, and Thembeni Care Point is no exception. Like the whole idea that I am proposing is great, helping with businesses and writing things down, praying with people and giving hope: all good. It’s just I am coming into a town where I have no idea what the past issues have been. Issues of lost trust or family quarrels; I don’t know the community politics. So all these things effect the project enormously.
So now I am receiving a little more help from others who know how to encourage small businesses in developing countries; people who have done this before.
I am realizing that I can say that I am only asking questions, that I am not making promises, all I want. But in reality what they are seeing is hope for a better life and… money. They understand that I am not making promises but really they expect me to give them money at some point or another. Pastor Walter, who is in charge of many volunteers and Care Points, (community centres where there is orphan care and food distribution) says it best in this analogy,
“It’s like going to a person who is hungry and has no food. You ask him what food he wants and he will tell you exactly what he needs. Obviously he is expecting you to help him, you can’t just walk away saying that you are just asking questions and expect him to be satisfied with that answer…”
I’m still truckin’ through though. My heart is truly in this, I’m using my gifts and these small obstacles won’t drag me down. God has really been speaking to me about my agenda, about my plan for things, and laying it before Him.
“A man’s steps are directed by the LORD, How then can anyone understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24)
I don’t want to plan things and expect God to bless them, I want God to be the start, with it through out and the end…everything.
I am planning a workshop about business for all the care point volunteers, I will head it up with Pastor Walter and start giving them all basic training in how to plan, and save, hopefully increasing their chances of having successful businesses.
Prayer Requests
1. That God will give me strength to keep persevering
2. That I will gain respect from people in the communities and missionaries on the ground here
3. Ultimately, that people will be blessed from what I am doing here, without repercussions
Pictures Top to bottom (1) Sunrise at Thembeni (2) Where we’re staying, not to shabby! (3) A beautiful handmade mat by a lady in the community, I bought it! (4) Cool shot of the whole place at Thembeni
