2017 what's next!

Hi guys!

Its been a while! Jeeez  it feels like every blog now always starts like that lol.  But yet since November where we last left off ( if you have been keeping up with the blogs)........... 

I wrote to you sharing how it has been  travelling back and forth from Zim to SA to Zim to SA and also its was our reporting season and budgets were due. It was busy busy busy!  Its always the last little stretch of the year which i find the longest lol dont we all sometimes hey!  So as you can expect i was pretty shattered and very much in need of some chill time and Christmas was coming yay! So  this year i decided to not come home(to the UK)  and instead spend some time here just being and really to be honest putting my feet up!  But let me tell you i missed my family and friends terribly it was my first Christmas away from home.  I did however get an incredible opportunity to spend my holiday with one my close friends Prudence! ( hey you made on the blog ...inside jjoke haha) .  Prudence and her family who live in Zim took me in and we had the best time! In many ways they are much like my family and that was really beautiful . So thank you to my family in a different world for being such a blessing and making me feel at home. Many times i have thought how do i thank this beautiful people but God knows and will reward them for me :).  So that was Christmas  and then came the new year!

On my way back from Zim i got a chance to see my Brother David in Kenya as my flight had a super long lay over in Nairobi! Yaay.  And can i just say major congratulations to this young man for  finding us a gorgeous sister for us to call family in the near future( although you already are Charlene!) so if you haven't figured out they ARE ENGAGED!!!!! YAAAAY. very exciting times ahead as our family gets bigger.   After all that excitement it was time to head back to SA and get back to the swing of things which i was very excited for and really praying God was is the new year going to be like for me? where do you want me?  What must i be part of?  Being a new year there are always lots of changes lots of moving pieces and as exciting as that is that can also be daunting.   So part of the big change for me will be to hopefully move more longer term to Zim for the year . We are busy applying for visas so please pray for that. Our work in Zim and Moz is growing and a priority for us as Hands is to send more people to live on the ground to be able to support that. So very exciting as some of us are sent to be part of that growth!

So in that at the beginning of the year i always ask God what is my scripture for the year.  What is the promise that i as Grace must hold on to this year.  And to be honest for the first time in a very long time at the beginning of the year i was blank , i just didn't feel i was getting anything. And i asked the Lord what is going on what am i missing, but i kept pressing and telling myself Lord i will not let this January come and go and yet i have not heard you.  And then in that time i happen to be listening to Bethel worship services and in that the Pastor preaching stopped the worship and read a scripture Isaiah 41.10 (NASB)

'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

 And right there as i was sat on my bed on my lunch time my spirit jumped up and i knew that was the scripture for me! I was so relieved and so encouraged and knew it was exactly what God was saying to me.  Because as i entered the year though excited about what lay ahead somehow i had let myself run with incorrect thoughts that made me very anxious. My thoughts were wondering wildly. Knowing what we had planned  to achieve as a team by the end of the year i started asking Lord are you sure its me who needs to go, you know part of the year this person will be here the other people will be there? will we manage?, Zim is also very expensive will my finances which already are at a dip get me through? will the transition work well for me? all of this questions which in all honesty do have some logic to but it did not have spiritual logic in it. What do i mean by that, of course we are called to be wise but also we are called to trust. we are called to a life where in every question we ask where is Gods hand?  and that was my mistake i had taken matters in my on hand in my head i may not have walked it out but it was there alive and well.   And i remember very vividly on a Monday morning so special for us at Hands where we just worshiped together as a community and in that the holy spirit was so strong and so present. And as i sang out Gods promises in those songs will all my mind and heart i was met with Gods very real presence that challenged my anxiety which was rooted in focusing on what was around me than focusing on him . That morning he called me to total submission to let go of my 'said plans' and to completely and utterly depend on him!  He shared with me that like when i was a child and my mother set out my clothes and ironed my clothes for church . God himself will set out all i need for the time ahead. My Job was to 'wake and just wear what he had set out for me '   It was encouraging to know that God has equipped us for every good work (Hebrews 13:21) and also he has good plans for us to give us a hope and a future ( Jeremiah 29.11) .  So the more i dwelt on Gods truth  and God command to not ' anxiously look about '   God gave my spirit a unique peace resting in the fact that Gods righteous hands has continued to strengthen me when i need it and help me in time of need.  

And with this i am assured of the future and all that is in store and now praying continually God help me to be continually totally and utterly submitted to you and your will.  I am now filled with so much Joy! so much confidence and excitement to be in Zim for the next little while! Honestly if visas came today i would be on that flight tomorrow! Not because all the details are worked out but because now  God is showing me how to find joy in it all , how to see life with him can be truly exciting.  I read a scripture the other day that really sums up my hearts desire right now  psalms 16:11 

"You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."

I really am saying God let my heart at every step know that you will lead me to the path of life and that there is nothing out there more pleasurable than all your presence offers.! 

May this be your prayer too! 

Love you all and thank God for you. 

Until next time.....

Grace xxxx

Seasons in Africa

Hi Guys,

Its been a minute or two since I've written to you guys it has been incredibly busy and lots have happened. Where do i start....  Over the last few months i have been in and out of Zimbabwe hosting teams, supporting our local office and also got the privilege to attend a Brother and also long term volunteer wedding in Zim. It was such a joy to be in Zim , a place that has now become my new home! Its no longer strange to hear Shona (local language) all the time, to use dollars in stores, to buy avocados for 50cts at the taxi rank(bus stop) or enter a taxi( mini van) that quite frankly you wonder whether you will make it to your destination due to the condition of the vechle.

In all of that I have fallen in love with the people of Zimbabwe, i have loved the most vulnerable children we serve and the gogos whom they live with. I have come to laugh with them, cry with them, enjoy the awkward silence and best of all talk the little local language i know with them, I have learnt to be content in the Chaos, to love the drama and still feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Why you ask sometimes you sleep on the floor, sometimes you share someone's home for weeks at a time , you have to bath with cold water often, I feel lucky in fact blessed because i get to spend time with some of Gods favorite people. I have spent time looking through the 4 gospels ( Matthew, Mark,Luke and John) to try and understand what was important to my Jesus. How did he live his life , how can I live a life like his. And each time I see Jesus was often with the people most unpopular I mean look at the woman with the issue of blood for 12yrs, look at the Mary Magdalene, the Man troubled by legions of demons, each one of these people were rejected but each time God ran towards them. Most of the families we walk alongside are despised in their own community for being poor for being unwell at times but yet God allows us to walk alongside these precious ones, Its a privilege that he would entrust us in their presence and each day am grateful to God that despite my faults He calls me to visit those He cares about to those crying out for His help , He allows me to be part of His Will and His miracles and He ministers to them and me.

But in spite of all this, lest you think am perfect am not life happens, Life brings you on a high but it also bring you on a low but one thing that stays constant is who you are in Christ and who God is through it all. Why do i share this a few weeks ago i got tragic news from home a friend i had known for a few months had passed away. I remember that day like it was yesterday my mum said to me so and so passed away , i asked my mum to repeat the statement several times. I couldn't believe it , i didnt want to believe , How can God allow someone who i knew to love God, to pursue justice and actively fight for the vulnerable in his actions and word. How could that be. Not too mention he was a huge blessing to me and advocated for what we did here at Hands and was a huge encouragement to me when i was home earlier in the year. I struggled to understand to comprehend Gods plans in this. But i sought God and continue to pursue God I heard him say this to me that 'I am God, I am Sovereign'  This individual i didn't realise left and impact in my life. Though the acquaintance was short the impact was large. As God reminded me who he was he also reminded me that 'its not about what you have but about what you do with what you have' , This person truly didnt concern himself with what he could get with what he had but he concerned himself with what would the Lord have him use it for. That challenges me to the core, where are my concerns, i pray desperately to God that i would never lose sight of what is means to walk with God to be guided by him to be used by him and what impact that lives behind. Indeed my Friends life was a testament to that.

As I struggled through the grief and seeing how God reassured me of who God is in my life  I was soon hit by the reality of what it meant not to have the monthly support of my friend not only in prayers but also in finances. I felt God challenge me again how do we conduct ourselves when we are at the mountain top should not differ from how we conduct ourselves a the bottom of the mountain. What do i mean by that, God challenged me hard to keep my eyes focused on what He has called me to do here in Africa and not waiver whether the finances add up or not but in fact to dig deeper, further into What God has destined for me to be doing. This is a hard challenge some days i looked and wondered and other days i saw God really provide in ways i couldn't even imagine. I am seeing God in all this and trusting God with all I am. Am continuing to seek God and cry out that may i continue to be desperate for God. May i have no rest when i become complacent in where i am , May God also raise up my spirit to another standard to a deeper knowledge of Who he is.

So am in that place when i am speaking to myself Grace dig deep, when you feel at the bottom of the mountain know God sees beyond and above it and His working in you as you climb that mountain. I am loving the Challenge but clinging to God tighter than i ever have.

I invite you to join me, don't allow yourself to get complacent and when you are, shake yourself,  and cry to the most high till that longing for God and God alone rises again in you.

Until next time

Lots of Love

Grace

Am Back in Africa....

AM BACK............

Hey guys so its been a minute since i last wrote a blog. Oh my goodness lots and lots have happened!!! So the last official post i think was the big Announcement that i will be extending my time with Hands till  end of 2017. ( If you haven't seen it check out my Facebook for the video update).  That was a huge step for me to make that video and commit to what i felt God was calling me into. But it wasn't that easy to make that a reality we had my sisters wedding in April which we praise God was a huge success and we needed to refocus soon after as a family to see the way forward for me. It was really important for me that my Church and My family not only supported me as person they knew and loved but understood a bit more about Hands at Work and the impact we have on the ground and how it changed the children's lives and the communities we served in.

This was quite a task how do you share with people in a space of 5-10minutes about that type of impact! How do you summarise 14 months of living in Southern Africa?? How do you help people understand that you trust God that he will provide for you as you go out serving the most vulnerable?? How do you share how you have learnt how to practically live out James 1.27 True religion is caring for the widows and orphans? How do you share your struggles in that and your growth in that?  So I prayed everyday every moment that God will guide my words in the few minutes i had with people that i would be a vessel and God will water the seed. Over the 2 months i was home I SAW GOD. I remember explaining to a friend when he asked what was the biggest change over the last year being in Africa and i responded " its like i was watching God on video before Africa but now being in Africa i see God Live". I have had incredible experiences where i have seen people healed in front of me, where i have seen people receive Christ and their countenance becomes brighter, I have seen Kids stories when i met them were in a much worse situation and seeing them now i can see their story changing for the better. I have seen grandmas who have an alcohol problem slowly start being sober due to the support of our Care workers and our service center visiting and praying and encouraging them. I could go on......

But being home one thing i remember speaking to my mentor last christmas when i last visited and she said "Grace the God you see in Africa is the same God here allow God to work in the same way when you are home" though i knew that in my heart and desired that a part of me restricted "great God moments " more in Africa. But that was my Prayer that in my April-May visit 2016 that God of wonders will accompany me in all i did and oh how he did! I saw God change lives , change mindsets , set a people on fire for the most Vulnerable and the orphaned. I saw God bring people on board to pray for the poorest of the poor whom we serve, i saw people sponsor children , i saw people come forward to support me to continue to be a missionary here in Africa. My church family, My friends  and family you have been my rock, my support , my prayer warriors THANK YOU, THANK YOU , THANK YOU. I pray for you and i love you. May we continue to Journey together as we partner with what God is doing here in Africa.

SO that's me at home. I then came back to Hands early July. I have been back for 2 months now. It  has been great to be back in the hands community to be back on the ground. I feel incredibly at home and settled here. I feel ready for the next chapter. But i have to be honest it was a tough re-entry. Not because of doubting where i am but because it becomes very real and i miss all my people at home. But also in terms of work, you may not know this by southern Africa has been facing a drought for the last few months and it hasn't come up on the news in west at all!!! That's a discussion for another time. But as a result as Hands at work we have had to respond to this. So in some of our most affected communities we have started feeding Breakfasts and added the number of children we feed as many will not make it to the end of the year if we do not help. To find out more about this visit ( http://www.handsatwork.org/droughtrelief ). So that meant for me as project support for Zim and Moz which are hit hardest alongside Swaziland my tasks i would usually do had altered quite a lot as we had drought relief programs as a priority. So learning where we are and reconnecting with our team meant it took a while to get up to speed. But very grateful to our team for stepping up and supporting and filling the gaps while i tried to readjust. It times like this my heart is filled with Gratitude for the hands community for the team am part of in times like this we rally around and support each other and carry the burden to ensure we are all supported.

So what now, I am currently in Zimbabwe i arrived last week to support our local office to prepare for a team arriving Today. It has been great to be back and see the team and work face to face with them . Very excited for us to be hosting our International Team and thanking God in advance for how he will show his heart to us as we visit the most vulnerable kids in their homes and God breaks our hearts for what breaks his, So pray for us its a busy time.

So that is the current update of the last few months. Continue praying for me as i pray for you .

Thank you for reading,

Trust God and let GO.


Grace

Day 18 #40daysofblogging

Hey guys,
Can you believe it's already day 18! Crazy  praise God he kept me on this blogging journey and had reminded me everyday to blog and given me something to share each time.....and today am praying the same.

Literally as am writing this am asking God what do I write about , what should my blog content involve and if  am honest a few things are running through my mind.
However today hasn't been particularly eventful.  I went to church this morning  (couldn't go to my normal one coz wasn't able to get transport it's like 40 mins from where I am driving.  Yes I don't have my license yet lol but usually there's away). Anyway back to my Sunday visited a friends church which okay the worship was good the word was good but gotta say I drifted in and out lol . It happens sometimes (*gasps* Christian drifting in a sermon , it's happens sometimes welcome to normal lol)

Every Sunday we do our grocery shopping coz it's the only time of the week I can get transport out. So we did that came home ate lunch watched shows on my laptop then just kinda hang out waiting for the team(p.s am hosting a mission team for the next week or so :)).  But in the midst of all that very normal not so exciting stuff I seemed to drift a bit in my thoughts starting thinking about home , my friends , what relationships I've built here some very great ones and some I'm still figuring out. And that put a downer on my afternoon I realised my emotions were taking me on a path I didn't  like.  Anyway whilst in that state I searched out the net for some missionary stories etc and guess what it happens to lots of people. Some days are really  great and some days are really tough. This afternoon was one of them for me.
It got me feeling disillusioned for a hour or so and I really spent time crying out to God to reaffirms me to get hold  of me once again.  And many of those who are from family church will recognise freedom in christ. I went back to my book I read out loud the who am I in christ chapter. And guess what as I read it out Scripture changed something in me in the atmosphere.  It evened out my emotions my irrational thinking.  I needed that I still need that..Sometimes we lose focus on what makes significant, secure and accepted.  But truth is only God can restore that reaffirms that deep in your spirit. But we must ask we must fall back on our knees and as ask the Lord to subdue our flesh. 

But sometimes we need a push a sign to get started on that journey back to God and for  me today it was opening my cupboard to a plate of cookies signed from the Rebros my American family :). A little assurance that God's got you,  he's surrounded you with love and people who love you now come to me (God) and let me overshadow you with my love and peace. And that's exactly what I did. Does it end there nope! I have to hold firm to God's truth and keep speaking it over myself everyday and asking God to continue shifting it from my head to my heart.

I choose to write this post as it is and hope it's an encouragement but most of all an honest write up of what life in Africa can look like. 

Thanks guys I always appreciate you prayers and your support.

Lots of love

Grace 

Day 4 #40daysofblogging

Day 3 #40days of blogging

#DAY 3

Hi guys,

As some of you may know I have decided for lent this year instead of giving up something I'll take up something.  So my something for lent is 40days of blogging.  Why because I would love to share my everyday journey with my friends and family  and strangers alike.

So how is it going. Video blogging is not easy got to think about lighting, what to say what app to use oh my lots. Definitely taking me longer than expected lol. I'm not techy haha. But that said I'm loving it. I'm loving being able to communicate in person.  Sometimes writing doesn't cut it.

Somethings I've learnt along the way
1 . vision is caught not taught!

What I mean is for someone to understand your vision and action it they need to understand the heart behind the vision. So I would love for you to understand the heart behind what I do so video is the next best thing as I can't  physically be there with you.

2. Second thing am learning is that being out here is a unique privilege but one that comes with a responsibility to advocate for those in need. And more so to help us (family and friends) have an avenue to do your bit whether that's supporting  me or sponsoring a child.  This is our world and we've been blessed to be a blessing. 

3. Third thing is God gives but we must be willing to receive.  Our watch word this year as Hands At Work  is Romans 15.5 says may the God who gives endurance and encourage give us a spirit of unity among ourselves as we follow Christ.
It is God who gives me endurance to be out here  news flash it's tough! I love it don't get me wrong and I have a deep peace being here but it costs my family and friends are forced to leave a life without me and I without them. It is God who encourages me when all I want is to be at home in my living and hearing our home full with family and friends. It is God who keeps me United with  my church my family my friends even when am far away  and it's God alone who keeps me from falling away  from  my faith. 

So in conclusion I pray to God give me those things but give me a strength to receive  them and in turn share with others how you share with me.

Love you all. Keep going deeper with Christ. It's worth it!

If you'd love to financially support me you can do so via my account.
Miss Grace w Kariuki
Account :81388438
Sort code :60-09-50

The penny dropped

So last Friday  was what we call community  prayer in Siathathuka (This is a community that is close to my heart. I'll soon share  why in a different post :)). What this means is that us as Hands family  everyone  who volunteers here at the hub we go and join  hands with our family in the a specific community for a prayer morning.  We share the word ,worship and prayer together then do holy home visits  to Carewokers, primary  caregivers  and kids  homes. There is nothing  more beautiful than seeing so many different nationalities  come together  to worship God in different languages.  For me it's a piece of what heaven  will look like.  Scripture  talks about this in Revelation.

This week the word shared was that we should  not live in fear.  What fear  does is that it holds you in captivity  and can make you live like your biggest  fear is happening.  In a community like there are many people practicing witchcraft and worshipping ancestors and rape and alcohol abuse is common.  Many people here are unemployed and rely on growing crops which don't always grow well. It's a dry area and sandy in some parts. It's easy to see why a community like this could leave in fear but it's also in this community that having a care point for vulnerable orphans is essential.  It's at this care point where the kids can learn about God and how much he loves them and it's here they are provided with opportunity to go to school  and basic health care.

This can only happen by our volunteers from our local church who cook and visit the children.  However it's not always that easy. It is here that I got the opportunity to visit some caregivers  who had shown interest in being part of the CBO caring for their own children and their friends. However fear was holding them back. Fear of commitment,  fear of potential struggle and fear of working with others. Although there was more to this and I could completely relate It's hear I realised that it's difficult to overcome your fears if you don't have encouragement and support throughout the journey.  It's here I saw the absolute necessity for our Service center members who visit the community regularly and build these relationship.  It's here I saw the necessity for us hands at work being here to support the service center and the CBO.  As I sat in this home visits  I realised  you can give all the money and resources and children could still go hungry and not cared for because their is no one to provide this.  As  I sat there I remember having to ask ourselves if the kids came home that day and asked mum why didn't I eat why didn't I go to school  and she responded I was afraid to receive the gift of those things  the child would struggle to understand that.

So what am I saying Fear is real, fear can hold out on our very blessing.  But encouragement and support can help us out of fear. God's truth that he has not given us a spirt of fear but that of power love and a sound mind 2 Timothy 1.7 is our only defence against fear.

During that home visit we were able to bring hope and support and praise be to God they caregivers are now part of the CBO caring for their kids. We can overcome all things through Christ who strengthens us.

If you fear anything draw closer to God and sorround yourself with people who can encourage you and support you and defeat fear!

Lots of love

Grace

If you'd love to financially support me you can do so via my account.
Miss Grace w Kariuki
Account :81388438
Sort code :60-09-50