Hello blog! Can't believe I haven't posted anything for more than a year! Unacceptable...
Here's a recent blog I wrote for Viva. Maybe this is a good place to restart again...
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Howard Thurman/John Eldredge
It was this quote, and a series of events, that led me to leave my job as a corporate lawyer in the city of London five years ago. I had little idea what the next job would look like, or how my new life would be; all I knew was that I wanted to devote most of my energies to poverty and justice issues.
Whilst training as a lawyer I had my first brief encounter with poverty. I still remember the scene of scores of children playing in huge puddles of muddy water after heavy rainfall in a shanty town in Cebu, Philippines and the adults sitting around outside the shacks where they lived, with looks of resignation on their faces. And I remember the feeling of helplessness and near emotional paralysis. “How should any child be in a situation like this, where they may die of diarrhea and dehydration tomorrow?” I asked myself, “But what can I, an individual, possibly do to help?”
These thoughts troubled and stirred me, so I started exploring what I should do. I went back to visit the project I knew in the Philippines; I started supporting charities that helped the poor; I read up on development issues. But I continued to wrestle with God and the feeling that I wasn’t doing enough. Deep inside, I feared He might tell me to leave everything and go live in an African village forever. In addition, I felt confused. I loved spending time with children, but my skills as a lawyer did not seem to fit well with that. I was also disheartened by how, through my research of the development sector, no one seemed to agree on a way to combat poverty and injustice, and everyone was pushing their own agenda.
Whilst I was wrestling with these things I met Rob, who later became my husband. Through Rob (who was cycling from Siberia back to the UK to raise funds and awareness for Viva) I learned about Viva’s work with children. As our knowledge of Viva’s approach to transforming children’s lives deepened, both Rob and I came to love what Viva does. We love how Viva does not compete with the world but builds effective local networks of churches and organisations through which people work together and bring about long-lasting transformation to children’s lives. For me, this was it; I found a mission that kindled my excitement.
In 2010 we relocated to Hong Kong, where I am from, and set up an office to raise funds and awareness of Viva’s work with children in Asia. Interestingly, I now use on a daily basis skills of an ex-corporate lawyer, and in our visits to the networks I get to meet and spend time with children and the dedicated caregivers who give so much of themselves to protect and care for children.
The way God has answered my prayers has blown me away. If I had not taken the risk to leave the corporate world, I would not be where I am now, with a new-found motivation and new perspectives and skills. I now know how much a red pepper should cost in the shop (I was rather reckless with my money before); how to have conversations beyond law and finance at a dinner party (I previously had a narrow repertoire of topics); the importance of child protection; book-keeping; how to create a Facebook page for expeditions; how to invite people on a journey with Viva through giving and praying. Most importantly I learned how, in order to make a difference, I don’t have to leave everything and go live in a rural village. I can join what God is already doing through his people, and what better way to start than by working together for children with Viva.
Inside Viva is a blog series that shares the stories of Viva staff members and their views on different topics. The opinions expressed in these articles are the authors’ own.
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Here's a recent blog I wrote for Viva. Maybe this is a good place to restart again...
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Howard Thurman/John Eldredge
It was this quote, and a series of events, that led me to leave my job as a corporate lawyer in the city of London five years ago. I had little idea what the next job would look like, or how my new life would be; all I knew was that I wanted to devote most of my energies to poverty and justice issues.
Whilst training as a lawyer I had my first brief encounter with poverty. I still remember the scene of scores of children playing in huge puddles of muddy water after heavy rainfall in a shanty town in Cebu, Philippines and the adults sitting around outside the shacks where they lived, with looks of resignation on their faces. And I remember the feeling of helplessness and near emotional paralysis. “How should any child be in a situation like this, where they may die of diarrhea and dehydration tomorrow?” I asked myself, “But what can I, an individual, possibly do to help?”
These thoughts troubled and stirred me, so I started exploring what I should do. I went back to visit the project I knew in the Philippines; I started supporting charities that helped the poor; I read up on development issues. But I continued to wrestle with God and the feeling that I wasn’t doing enough. Deep inside, I feared He might tell me to leave everything and go live in an African village forever. In addition, I felt confused. I loved spending time with children, but my skills as a lawyer did not seem to fit well with that. I was also disheartened by how, through my research of the development sector, no one seemed to agree on a way to combat poverty and injustice, and everyone was pushing their own agenda.
Whilst I was wrestling with these things I met Rob, who later became my husband. Through Rob (who was cycling from Siberia back to the UK to raise funds and awareness for Viva) I learned about Viva’s work with children. As our knowledge of Viva’s approach to transforming children’s lives deepened, both Rob and I came to love what Viva does. We love how Viva does not compete with the world but builds effective local networks of churches and organisations through which people work together and bring about long-lasting transformation to children’s lives. For me, this was it; I found a mission that kindled my excitement.
In 2010 we relocated to Hong Kong, where I am from, and set up an office to raise funds and awareness of Viva’s work with children in Asia. Interestingly, I now use on a daily basis skills of an ex-corporate lawyer, and in our visits to the networks I get to meet and spend time with children and the dedicated caregivers who give so much of themselves to protect and care for children.
The way God has answered my prayers has blown me away. If I had not taken the risk to leave the corporate world, I would not be where I am now, with a new-found motivation and new perspectives and skills. I now know how much a red pepper should cost in the shop (I was rather reckless with my money before); how to have conversations beyond law and finance at a dinner party (I previously had a narrow repertoire of topics); the importance of child protection; book-keeping; how to create a Facebook page for expeditions; how to invite people on a journey with Viva through giving and praying. Most importantly I learned how, in order to make a difference, I don’t have to leave everything and go live in a rural village. I can join what God is already doing through his people, and what better way to start than by working together for children with Viva.
Inside Viva is a blog series that shares the stories of Viva staff members and their views on different topics. The opinions expressed in these articles are the authors’ own.
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