God's amazing grace

I was invited by a talent scout to meet for lunch. I was excited but a little nervous because she mentioned opportunities abroad. We met and had such a wonderful time chatting about my aspirations, my future and the opportunities she presented. I must have said something wrong because she never contacted me again and trying to get in contact with her proved futile. I will forever be grateful to that recruiter because she planted a seed in me. I had never considered working abroad. My company offered these opportunities but they didn't appeal to me at the time. And when I woke up to an abroad stint the economy collapse and the expats rules changed. So I parked the idea.

I got my first job straight out of University. I had promised myself to stay for a minimum of 5 years because I wanted good grounding. It also helped that my friends who had left the company still spoke of it with fond memories. I saw myself approaching year 7 and I really needed a change.  I sent my CV to all the agencies that had been knocking at my door with a specific requirement - marketing and I don’t mind a lateral move I but it has to be a different industry. All the jobs that came to me were similar to my current job. My job search went on for months. I remember calling my mom discouraged because I was tired. It felt like my prayers were not being answered. I was even considering something similar to my current job which I knew I didn't want. She calmed me down and asked me to pray about it. 

I prayed again. This time for God’s guidance – does he want me to take a similar industry is that why I am only getting those offers?  God answered. I remember that phone call so well because the lady on the other line asked if I wanted to work in Dubai. I said “Okay… tell me more”. She explained how she got my CV online and thought I would be perfect for the role. How does that happen? Getting someone’s CV randomly online and calling them up do an interview? It was God answering my prayers. She said the interview is this afternoon. I panicked. That is not enough time to prep for the job. She told me it’s more of a conversation and sent me their website to look at. She couldn’t fit me into their schedule that day so she moved me to the next morning. 

I got home and told mom (Mama) Nobe about the interview (She didn't give birth to me but married my dad and got me as part of the package). I asked her to keep it a secret. The company representatives were running late and I had another guy ahead of me for the interview. My nerves were getting the best of me. Eventually it was my turn. The interviewers asked me a lot of questions but two stood out for me “What would your current boss say about you?” and “What would your friends say about you”. I don’t remember my responses but thought what a marvellous way to talk about myself without feeling like I was. It was still the same industry but the opportunity abroad was exciting. I was offered the job right there and then! God's grace never ceases to amaze me. I called mama Nobe first, she was ecstatic and we talked about the possibilities a stint abroad presented. I then called my mama Phumla, she gave birth to me and she is my inspiration. She was excited especially since I called her a few weeks earlier discouraged about not finding a job. My dad (Baba) was speechless. UBaba is never speechless. He just said let’s chat later. The most difficult call I made was to Nkulu. My boyfriend was sad. I could hear it in his voice. But he was so supportive.

My friends were great. They were already planning their visits to Dubai! They threw the most beautiful farewell party. I really felt really special. Nkulu and I toured the country in the weeks leading up to my departure. We were on holiday with friends in Hermanus and tasted beautiful wines. We drove to my  mama Phumla in Newcastle to spend some time with her. It was the first time mama spent so much time with my boyfriend - I loved it. We then had a family thanksgiving with uBaba in Durban which included my farewell.  Then we drove to Johannesburg for the final leg of our trip before I packed to go to Dubai.

Surrounded by friends and family at my farewell

Nkulu and I at Domaine Des Dieux in Hermanus, South Africa

My family farewell at Embokodweni

I thank God for bringing me to Dubai. I can see that he continues to show me his favour. I found a spirit-lead church in City lights, I have God’s favour in my work, I am forming long-lasting friendships and my everyday blessings are too many to count. I got baptised on the 14 April 2013, to say I have been a new creature will be an understatement. I have joy in my soul. I know that Jesus loves me and nothing will change that. This is my every day fuel. This love from God has enabled me to eat, drink and ensure that what I do is for the Glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). It’s an amazing journey! 

The wonderful thing called giving

My pastor's wife had a birthday last week, as a church we wanted to give her something special. People were requested to contribute what they could towards her gift. The amount was totally up to you. There was so much money given that we were able to give her a wonderful gift. She personally thanked each person for contributing. I thought that was lovely.

This got me thinking about giving. How we each can make a difference to those who are less fortunate than we are. I thought of Beza and the hard work she is doing to alleviate the burden of the less fortunate. I thought of my friends Kaylene and Sisi who give up part of their Saturdays to teach high school children who are grappling with Maths and Science in South Africa. South Africa ranks the second lowest in the world on Maths and Science - it's a sad reality. I thought of Tshego who is feeding the homeless in the streets of South Africa, Johannesburg. You can read all about it here. I think of my family's Sithole Fund which is providing school fees and school uniforms for the children from the rural village of Embododweni in South Africa. The children are funded from grade 0 till grade 12 provided they pass each grade. And my sister Akhona, who is supporting school children with uniforms, books and looking after their overall well being through the Rockstarz foundation. Follow them on twitter to find out what they are up to at @RockstarzFound. And the millions who are raising money towards the "Save the Rhino" cause world-wide. I even bought a red rhino horn to show my support.  

Rockstarz Foundation giving marshmallow Easter eggs to school children

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” 
― John Bunyan

Children who are supported by the Sithole Fund at a Christmas lunch last year

Find a cause something you feel passionate about that you can give to. It will leave you feeling so blessed. I am passionate about giving to causes that benefit children especially girls. I have listed some that can look further into if you are interested:

1. Unicef does lot of causes around the world such as basic education and gender equality, child protection and prevention HIV/AIDS from transferring from mother to child. HIV/AIDs prevention was closest to my heart when I started donating. Check them out here.  

2.  I recently came across this video about gendercide. Girls are being aborted, abandoned or killed across India and China simply because of their gender. Check out the trailer, be warned this video is heartbreaking. The film's website continues to mention that 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this so called "gendercide".

3. Human trafficking, my friend was telling me that he met a girl who is a volunteer for human-trafficking. She says the new trend is to make the victims (usually women and girls) fall pregnant and then they start trafficking their child from the age of 5. Do you know how young a 5 year old is? And what future will this child have? It really saddens me. You can support this cause here.  

If you are already giving that is awesome. Please keep it up!  Please share with me some of the causes you support and what made you choose them. We can make this world a better place for all.

I will leave you with the words of Jesus in Acts 20:35

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

My prayer for South Africa

On Sunday 26 May, I saw a post on South African Mail and Guardian's online version. This man was responding to an opinion piece and the words that stood out for me in his rant were these "Solution: let each race manage its own country. Then blacks can't complain about whites exploiting them, and whites can't complain about blacks running their country into the ground. If there was a referendum today my bet would be that whites would vote in favor of it and blacks against it." I thought this is why I never read these things! How does one come to a conclusion that segregation not unity is the solution? It made me wonder how I could live in Dubai and be surrounded by so many nationalities, languages and races yet in my own country there is this constant racial tension. What is missing in my country that we look at each other as race "black", "white", "indian", “coloured” before you see an individual who happens to be a certain race? How can I be genuine friends with a white Afrikaans speaking South African in Dubai and this is foreign in South Africa? Is this what happens when we are a collective? When I have my own environment and realise that I might never need you? When I get to a foreign country I like the familiarity of home and embrace everything South African even the things I previously did not tolerate.

I pray for South Africa. I pray for churches that are on fire for God. Churches that believe in the same God that saved the Israelites from Egypt, the same God who made David defeat Goliath and the same God who spoke to bring the world into existence. I pray that the church can unite to pray for South Africa. Pray for the eradication of crime. Pray for the eradication of poverty. Pray for the eradication of corruption. Pray for the love for others especially other African nations. You see we have put God in a box - God of Sunday, God to make me feel good and God of prosperity. God wants us to be radical for his glory. We must not be lukewarm believing in certain things and not believing in others. He says if 3 or more agree then he will give there. Have we as a church prayed for change in South Africa and had faith that what we ask for has been done? Do we believe that God can change things? That we can live in a safe South Africa?

For now I pray that God can change me. That he can remove all the prejudice and negative attitude that I have against others. That I can love others as he commanded me to. I pray that he can bring unity and love to my family. So that we are more loving, believe the best of each other and are more supportive. I pray that he can extend this love to every environment where I am present be it church, work, friends or family. That I can be involved - encouraging the discouraged, grooming the next leaders in my work environment, giving my time to the poor and giving graciously to those in need. Then those in my church and those supported by my church will feel the love of God. And those around me will see my integrity, my diligence, how I care for others and want to know more about my saviour Jesus Christ. And if we each did this with in our own lives then we could slowly but surely change South Africa. Who knows we might even change the world!

Images from google images

I am a child of God

This is a beautiful love letter from God. It's a perfect way to start a my blog. I am a child of God.