Think global and act local….. I remember those words as part of my environmental politics class, green politics as they call it hahahah…… saving the universe by thinking of the impact of your actions to the globe and acting locally. Little did I know that this would soon apply to me.
A year after global and I’m still alive in this big world I finally realised I am ystervrou material. I must say this year has been quite a ride. There were times in my mind I lived in three countries at the same time, I sometimes could hear the kids singing at the 6 am prayers, while I tasted the kaya bread. Sometimes I wanted to just pack my bags and call the North bounders to assemble and off we’d go to pick some zatoons hahahahahah. Sometimes I just needed a debrief session haahhah and of cause the snacks that came with that. Sometimes I needed someone to confront me straight-forward like the times I took long in the shower hahahahah I missed the openness, the transparency, the love and the ability to correct, discipline in love. I missed the late night walks and the laughter hahahahahah, I missed the trams and the trains…. I missed so much… I missed the stares or the people asking to touch my hair nobody does that here it’s kind of hard to adapt to that hahahahahahahahah……
I missed so much yet life continued, I could relive all of this in my mind and in times of loneliness I found comfort and company in these thoughts, but life continued…. As much as I wanted to get on Eithad haahahah the taxi’s in Orkney awaited hahahahah. A mine waited, a community waited, 2013 waited, waited to be lived….. loved, embraced and celebrated… the only way to do that was to combine both worlds. While my mind dwelled in foreign affairs my body was on the national cause hahahahahaha. I had to marry the two and the only way of successfully achieving that was by living here as though I was there… Thinking globally and acting locally…
I would use my Shamar statement if I had to…. I was after all a community development intern that is body builder – ish ….right… I found that many of the teachings and experiences in global were a preparation for what lied ahead. I needed to embrace change but use the principles I based my life on last year as guidance. I must say in the absence of a ministry schedule one can easily sit back and never reach out.
Truth be told the luxury of having a team that shares the same vision and heart was missed. Yet I found family in the hearts of miners, a home in the community of Tswana’s. Though I didn’t understand the language at first it was ok cause I had learnt to speak love without using any words. I learnt a lot about people by understanding the mining sector. As an intern in the mining industry I discovered and learnt a lot about what I refer to as human gold. While majority of the workforce concentrated on gold production I found that the same principles that apply to mining gold apply to me in the community development field. Many people find value in the end product but in mining the rock that hosts the gold is of great value and this is my approach to community development. Many times we value people who have something or are something but the value of man lies in the fact that he is regardless of what he has or what he is.
I knew that for this time and place GOD had taken me to a different route, and I needed to grow in that. I learnt that ministry is not about the location, position or occupation but about obedience where you are at. I learnt that we need to be grounded in the market place and living the same simplistic life you lived in Global.
There were challenges for sure. As someone who had a salary for the first time suddenly things looked a bit different hahahah it sure didn’t help renting a room 500m from KFC but by the grace of GOD simplicity became a culture, giving a norm. When it comes to this area I realised that if we choose to live simple because of circumstances like team budget constraints or lack of finances and not because of the principle it can prove to be a challenge. Suddenly one has many problems when one has resources but I remembered the words of a wise man during training who said many are the problems but we ought to respond to the SPIRIT and respond according to that. the sessions at debrief about money really played a critical role in my life, like praying before choosing insurance hahahahah I think the next debrief should include tips for passing your learners test. hahahahahahahah…….
I thank the LORD for the chance of being part of global that I may be equipped to help build a nation one person at a time. I thank the LORD for training in the word but also for social skills, for the opportunity of working with people with different backgrounds, for the opportunity to see the world that I may appreciate the beauty of our nation. I thank the LORD for the love for the EAST and how that has rolled out in the communities I work in. I thank the LORD for the plans HE has over me. The master plan of 2012 being followed by 2013. I thank the LORD for believing in me and for placing people in my who looked at a rock and saw GOLD and decided it was worth mining.
Now I celebrate my life, I celebrate CHRIST in me the hope of all glory. I CELEBRATE the opportunities HE gave me, I celebrate HIS love, and I celebrate HIM.