I bruise easily

“Sticks and bones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. Yeah right! I am sure many of us used to sing that rhyme when we were young but how true is it? Whether we like to admit it or not, insults, mean and nasty words hurt. So does the remembrance of a traumatic experience we went through, a disappointment, a rejection and the list goes on.

Many of us have been left with scars and bruises as a result of what we have heard or gone through. We are not robots, we have feelings. However, we cannot allow the past to dictate our future. What others say or have said about us does not have to become our reality! We can surpass all the negativity we have endured! We have to pick ourselves up, dust off the negative words and keep pressing towards our goals!

From experience I can say that time does heal the wounds and that is why we have to be patient with ourselves and with others.

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Are you healing on the Sabbath?

And He (Jesus) entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they (The Pharisees) watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. Mark 4:1-4

Just as Jesus received criticism for healing on the Sabbath, which was against the Jewish tradition, we too face the same criticism when we come out of our shell and do what others are not doing. That could be acting on initiative and start reaching out more to people in need, being around people society have rejected, or simply standing up for what you believe in, that could be the opposite to what everyone else around you believes. The moment we decide to make a difference, we gain enemies. People rise against us, misjudge and criticize us.
There is a price to pay when you decide to be different, however, we cannot be discouraged and allow what others say and do to stop us. If you have the faith to do something and inside of you, you know it is what God has inspired you to do then go ahead.

We have to do what God requires us to do and that at times may upset and anger people. But as Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” John 4:34

So, do you heal on the Sabbath? If so, keep going. There is a price you will pay for it, but keep strong and focused on your goal because the reward is greater.

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Israel: Day four continued

More of day four in Israel

"Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him". John 9:1-3

There are problems we go through in life, that at first we may think we have sinned and caused it to happen. But this is not always the case. God allows us to go through certain situations so we can have an experience with Him and at the end of it glorify His name with our testimony. I believe God’s power is best at work in times of weakness and through difficult moments. We are also best equipped to help people when we have faced trials and overcome them. When helping people, we will not pass on knowledge to them but life and spirit, because we know what it is like to go through a hard moment and we also know how to overcome it.

I remember when I was a leader in Victory Youth Group (VYG) a few years back and I was kicked out of my mother’s house. I was homeless and placed in a youth hostel where I lived for 7 months. At that time it seemed like the worst time of my life and a great shame for me as I was at law school, living in a hostel with ex-prisoners, drug addicts, gang members and young people who were not doing anything with their lives, apart from smoking weed every day. It was not nice to begin with but within time (when I got over myself) I started to understand young people in a different way. I really saw how lost these youth were and for some of them, that was the only lifestyle they knew. Through this experience I learned a lot about myself and about other people. It even toughened me up and caused me to depend on God. I was able to even practice what Iwould teach the youths in my tribe. I remember there was a guy who seemed to be popular in the hostel. He was a show off and in front of people, he invited me to his room one night. The girls were egging me on to go but I did not go because I feared God more than him. The next morning, he was so embarrassed he suggested in front of everyone that I must be a lesbian because I rejected him. He laughed at me and so did many others but I did not care because I was not about to follow the crowd nor deny my faith for anyone or anything.

As I was different from the others and started to befriend some of them, I was able to introduce them to the youth group. I look back and I see God had placed me there for me to learn and grow and also bring people to him. He even used me to bring one of the support workers and her friend to the church. Had I not gone through this, I would still be dependent on my mother, immature as a person and narrow minded when it comes to young people and the issues they face. Since then, I have been able to help youth who are going through what I went through and I even worked as a Youth Support Worker for a while and volunteered as a Housing Advisor to give to others what I had learned and gained through my personal experience.

To be continued

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Day two in Israel

Sunday 8 January,

On the way to Joppa, our guide, Renait, spoke about the children of Israel and the struggles they faced. The people of God were always surrounded by enemies and this was because the blessing of God was upon them. They were the chosen nation of God. I started to look at my own life and was reminded of certain battles I have faced and how difficult they had been. In fact, I noticed that I was facing one battle after the other. Every time I overcome something, I face an ever tougher battle. But why? Because I have an enemy who hates me very much, as I decided to leave his ways and follow the ways of God. Of course he is not happy with this and tries all he can to bring me down. However, I know he can not overcome me but I will overcome him because God has not given me a weak or shy spirit but a spirit of power and sound mind.

If the devil is always attacking us, it is because we are a threat to him. We have access to the presence of God which he will never have access to. We should not look at the battles we face as a reason to give up or question whether God is with us or not, but rejoice because we belong to God and with Him we have the victory.
What we go through, is nothing compared to what the children of Israel went through and are still going through today. Many times we think our lives are so bad when in truth, others are going through much worse than us.

God promised the children of Israel that He would never leave them, but He did allow them to go through pain. I believe that sometimes we must go through hard moments for us to mature and grow closer to God. When things are well, do we really pray as much as we do when things are not so well? Do we really seek the strength of God and meditate on His word in times of happiness, as we do in times of distress? I can honestly say I don't and it is sad because it shouldn't be like this. That is why I see hard moments as a time to for me to learn, change and above all grow closer to God. And I am learning to always be close to my God and separate time for Him, even when things are not so tough.

Remember a life of a Christian is a constant battle. We will always be in a war until we die or until Jesus comes back. However, the harder our fight, the greater is our victory.

"My grace is sufficent for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". 2 Corinthians 12:9

On the motorway


My roomate and I, on the way to Joppa


We arrive :)

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Worth fighting against

Have you ever wondered why things are always hard for you? How it’s a real fight for you to get what you want, even the things that comes much easily for others? The road is never smooth for you. There’s always someone or something that comes against you to bring you down. You even face persecution from people you least expect and your adversaries seem to multiply daily!

I recently came to learn that our enemies believe in us. They are afraid of us because they know our worth and potential and don’t want us to reach it. Why else would they do all that they can to put us down and stop us from moving forward? No one puts all their strength into stopping someone succeed unless they see them as a threat.

So friends, if the devil or even people have been coming against you strong, trying by all means to impede you from moving forward, it’s because they are afraid of you. They are afraid of what you will become, which is someone great in life, someone who will make a difference.

God has a great plan for our lives and our enemies know this! Don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing you down. Though the fight is hard and at times tiresome, keep going. Rise above all the negativity you see and hear and look ahead at your goal.
The harder the fight, the greater the victory!

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Until when...

Until when are you going to stop blaming others for your failures and take responsibility for your mistakes?

Until when are you going to stop looking at the past and begin working on your present, for a better future?

Until when are you going to realise you are not perfect so why demand perfection from others?

Until when are you going to see that the amount of makeup you were, the night outs with friends, the boys you effortlessly seek to give you a few moments of pleasure and the amount of alcohol you drown yourself with, cannot remove the emptiness you feel inside?

Until when will you learn that you can only overcome your fears by facing them, not running away from them?

Until when will you become independent and take charge of your own life, instead of depending on people all the time?

Until when will you realise that you weren’t born to fit in but to stand out and make a difference?

Until when will you stop putting yourself down and start believing in yourself and your existence?

And until when will you see that there is something inside of you so great, so unique and precious that it can bring into existence what does not exist and change your life and your destiny, completely. It is called faith!

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Choosing to forget!

"We forget what we choose to forget", is something that has been on my mind for the past week. When I look to the person I am now and the person I was, say one year ago, I see how true this statement is. For such a long time, I held on to a childhood trauma that molded me into a very insecure and paranoid person. Day by day, I become fearful of history repeating itself so I did not trust anyone, not even myself. Wrapped up in guilt about the countless mistakes I had made and constantly reminding myself about them, I avoided certain places and even people so I wouldn't relive the shame or embarrassment. The disappointment I felt towards a trusted friend or family member who let me down, created feelings of resentment and distrust, making me to ignore them and vowing never to let anyone hurt me again. Regularly reliving these events in my mind or burdening a friend with my compliments made me into a bitter person and impeded me or my life from moving forward. I was allowing these things to hold me back and even drag me down.

Only when I decided one day to forget the past, forget what he/she said or did to me and move on, could I finally be free and begin to change within. After this decision, the past many times tried to throw itself back in my face and make me weak, but I decided not to allow it to affect me anymore or influence how I am towards people or how I choose to live my life. I decided to forget the mistakes I made, the moments of shame and embarrassment, the hurt and disappointment, the traumas and everything that was making me into such a negative and pessimistic person. It was not easy at first, and I really had to work on my thoughts and program my mind to reject the negative thoughts, but through using my faith and the help of God, I overcame and I am still overcome every time the past tries to come against me.

Today, I am a genuinely happy person. I look forward to each day God gives me and I am not longer afraid. I have been able to re-build friendships that were once torn, I have a clear conscience and most importantly, at peace with myself and God.

So, if you feel stuck or you life is not moving forward, look deep within you and see if you are holding on to something, maybe a negative word someone said to you, complexes, fear, a grudge or a trauma from the past. If you no longer want to be held back by it, make a decision to leave the past where it belongs, in the past. Decide to become a different person and change your thoughts, only allowing yourself to remember the good memories of the past.

If you are finding it hard then seek help from the only One that can help you, which is God. Friends can have sympathy for you and TRY to understand but only God can remove the burden and sorrow inside and help you to overcome.

We really do forget what we choose to forget, remember that!

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No longer one more

So, people don’t like you because you are different? Well, people did not like Jesus either, but that did not stop Him from doing what He had to do here on earth. No matter what we do, there will be people who don’t like us! Even when we do well, and that’s a fact!

For many years, I tried to fit in with the crowd. I changed my attitude, the way I dressed and spoke to fit in, but inside I was never happy. I was trying to make people like me for who I wasn’t, instead of finding out who I was and finding friends who would accept me for who I truly was.

This façade ended the day I gave my life to God. When I found God, I found out the person I was meant to be. The mask came off and I finally was able to be comfortable in my own skin. I became my best self. Did people like it? No. Did I lose friends? Yes! Do I care? No! You see, I have come to learn that when you truly give your life to God, the world will come against you, because the world no longer accepts you. You no longer belong to world, but to God.

When people at work mock me because of my faith and the way I choose to live my life, it does not bother me anymore. In fact I rejoice because it shows who I truly belong to and that I am not one more among the crowd. I understand that the world is not supposed to like me because I am no longer friends with it.

The only place I fit in, is in the Kingdom of God and even here, I don’t accept to be one more, but one who makes a difference.

For us who have chosen to follow Christ, we have to be ready to face persecution, to be misjudged and criticized. Why? Because the Word of God says, “A disciple is not above His teacher, nor a servant above his master....If they called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household?” (Matthew 10:24-25).

Don’t make the mistake I made by seeking people’s approval. Embrace your uniqueness and think, why try fit in, when God called me to stand out?

By Sibon Phiri

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Reaching out

Stepping into unfamiliar territory can be daunting. Not knowing what to expect or how you will fit it creates anxiety. How do they live? What are they like? Were questions running through my mind. Such thoughts to suggest they were different species from another planet. But no, they weren’t. They are just like me and you. They are often forgotten about, considered a burden to some, despised and lonely. They are the elderly community.

Today I visited Churchfield Park care home and spent the morning with some of the residents there. I came across a mixture of elderly people but all had an interesting story to tell, experience and wisdom to pass on to me. Ronald, Ralph, Elouise and Jean are the ones I got on very well with and spoke with for quite a while.

Ronald had a very good sense of humour. He has served in the Army in Germany. He told me all about his hobbies and the places he has travelled. I really liked Ronald and he had so much to say. Ralph was quite reserved but we did speak for a while. He doesn’t like being in a retirement home, not because it is horrible but because there is nothing for him to do but watch TV and play board games every day. He misses the freedom he once had. He misses being able to go to different places and work. Elouise treated me like I was her granddaughter. She took my hand and sat me down. She showed me photos of her daughter, granddaughter and great grandson. She suffered a stroke 10 years ago and although she recovered physically (she can walk with a frame and move about) her communication skills, notably her speech were affected. When you speak to her, it takes a while to register to her brain and then for her to comment back. She was very frustrated because she could not say the words properly. I emphasized with her as I suffered with a speech problem since birth and trying to get your point across with delays can be frustrated. I see she is an intelligent woman and very bubbly. She wants me to come back and I will.


Then there was Jean. She is an intelligent woman who had a good job. She does not complain much because she is grateful to be alive. She is grateful for being in a home as she was struggling to take care of herself. She showed me photos of her granddaughter and her new great granddaughter who was born 3 months early. She was worried about her but I told her to believe and have faith that she will be ok. I made a prayer for her great granddaughter too.

All in all, I enjoyed my time at the home today. It was an overwhelming experience for me and I learned a lot. They were not particularly impressed that I had not yet got my driver’s licence as I should have one at my age. I see this is something for me to work on. From all of them, I learned the importance of making the most of my life whilst I am young and grabbing hold of opportunities that come my way. What I loved about them all was how gracious they were. They answered the care home workers as Ma’am or Sir, even though they were younger than them. They had manners and charisma that nowadays is rare to find in society.


I look forward to going back next week and every Tuesday from now one. I will also be helping with coming up with different activities for them to do throughout the day, to make their day more exciting and enjoyable. I am very grateful for this experience.

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