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Settling in or what?

2013 started with the publishing of the MercyAids website.  We had big dreams and  we felt clear of what it was we were called to.  Resilient Kids goes on and this year we have seen a stirring of movement of renewed life... even after it looked like we had had to lay it down a year ago.

At the same time I had taken on a role with the Connect Network to help them expand their network goal of  safer communities for children in the Western Cape.   I felt this role was/is an important stepping stone to the unfolding of dream to see communities supported to effectively care for the OVC.  I had things in my hands I could bring to this dream... like two fish and five loaves.

However, although clearer in our heads of what it is we have in our hands and what it is we are meant to be doing... the challenges and difficulties to keep doing it like we have been doing it has become extremely confusing in the last few months.

I guess that greatest challenge has been that although we have developed a community model that we believe in and we think works... we do not have the means to sustain ourselves as a family in this work.

Holger has a trust in Germany that pays his salary and over the years this trust carried by our friends has been an incredible support.  The trust however was limited by the constitution and the busy lives of the board to adequately fund raise for our needs as a family. This small trust can no longer support him with all he needs for his family.  I started earning a salary and on my own personal blog I have mentioned before how the support of our church in South Africa has allowed us over the years to grow in our work.

Our children all have special learning needs.  This requires interventions and support... not without cost in South Africa.  Our family has health needs and over the years we have with great challenge addressed these things.  However in the months of May and June this year, these challenges have been more than what we are able to bear alone and the crisis has highlighted for us again that we do not have adequate finance to meet our need as a family, never mind our desires...

We stand at a crossroads, because although we love what we do and we still dreaming of great things to come... we can not naively keep going in this direction.

Here we stand, with some things in our hands... interventions we really believe work but we have such great challenges against our basic needs being met that we find ourselves questioning our entire call.



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