A week has flown by in the blink of an eye and the first chapter of 2015 is over. The months of preparation have culminated in a three and a half day seminar that seemed to go by quicker than it took to prepare the materials.
As I prepared for the first day, I was so full of anxiety and trepidation. Would they be willing to accept our ideas? Would they be willing to put in the effort? Would they be willing to change?
The ideas and concepts of community development have been well absorbed across the Philippines but as expected, execution takes years. This was also my first time to be teaching this all on my own, what if I couldn't get the concepts across?
Amidst the storms of my own thoughts, God brought me back into the eye of the storm. That quiet place deep inside me where only He is, nothing else. And he said, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind can know what God has prepared for those who love him.' True enough, the insights of those who I taught far exceeded my thoughts or expectations. These people could be some of the first to be taught about true community development and in them I saw the future of what could be, the number of people they could train and the future of their community and country. Now I know how Joshua and Caleb must have felt looking at the promise of claiming the promised land.
As I looked back on my previous trips, I already had experienced an abundance of God's amazing grace. How he enabled me to raise funds for the refugees or to see 200 patients a day was definitely not by my strength alone. But nothing could compare to the experience of teaching community development, to empower people to bring change from within.
My sleep was replaced by endless dreams of projects we could do in the near future and each day I found myself more and more energised with the hope of tomorrow.
I believe with all my heart that greater things are still to be done in Kyenjojo. Bring on 2015!
