Quick catch up...

 Well I thought I'd share some photos from the past few weeks. Life is getting increasingly busy and we are loving it. The boys are thriving at school. Thanks to God's provision they are both now in great schools and both are loving every moment. The above photo is of Joe going to to school dressed as his favorite literary character for Literacy week.

 A new family has moved onto the farm. I met Karina over a year ago and we connected right away. About 5 weeks ago she moved into one of the cottages with her family. They have 4 children and my boys have become firm friends with them. Here is Joe and Jesse with Nemi. Nemi calls them his African brothers.

 Both of my kids are off school with chicken pox at the moment. Jesse has been hit pretty hard.

 This is our little cottage. From a distance it looks cozy. Close up however we have no hot water, walls are crumbling, bathroom is out of order, roof leaks and has terrible damp. We are praying that this year God provides us with a home that causes a little less stress ;-)  

 We have chicks coming out of our ears! They are super cute though so its ok.

I just had to share this photo of Joe in his school uniform! Now tell me how cute is this kid?

I am now on Instagram. You can follow me @vashtidowns

An Angel in our midst.

Sometimes God throws us a curve ball and our recent curve ball came in the shape of a little bundle of joy filled cuteness. Her name is Angel and that is just what she is.

We met Angel last year and she has stayed with us on and off since then. We have had her with us for a full week and she went back to her carer yesterday. We really miss her but we KNOW that God has amazing plans for her life. We don't know what those plans are so we are just trusting Him. We know in our hearts how we feel about this little darling but it is a matter of trusting Him. Its hard for me. Its really hard. So please pray with us and for her. Pray that HIS will be done in this child's life. And please pray for my heart right now its really sore and feels like it is missing an Angel shaped piece. 

Totally un-related.....

This post has really no relevance to anything in particular. It is just a collection of photos from my life this week. 

First up..... I'm crocheting a queen size blanket in different hues of blue, yellow, red and green. Its taking ages but that's OK.

Secondly... We are farming big fat giant meal worms for the chickens. They are super wiggly and wormy but my girls LOVE them and go slightly nuts every time I bring the tub outside to feed them. They are the ULTIMATE chicken treat.

Thirdly... My sweet bug is still not road worthy. She sits in the yard looking very sad and every so often a cheeky chicken lays an egg in her.

Fourthly...Rosie hatched a couple of chicks. 

And finally... we have been without power for 2 days, so are back to campfire cooking. I'm hanging in there... for now!

Have a wonderful weekend. x

A life that never was.

Durban beach front a place of beauty, fun, holiday makers and brutal gang rape. 

Just over 2 years ago a young woman called Priscilla (Smithy) was walking the beach front trying to raise money for her shelter rent. She was begging and asking tourists to help her get a roof over her head for the night. Not managing to raise the R18 needed for the night she ended up spending the night on the beach. At some point during the night a gang of 8 men came upon her. She remembered seeing them earlier in the evening and was very aware that these men were not here to help her. She spent then next couple of hours being raped over and over by each of the men. They beat her badly and left her to die in the blood soaked sand. No one came to her rescue. No knight in shining armor, no police officer, no kind member of the public. She was close to Addington Hospital and so when she came around she dragged herself there, where they patched her up and sent her on her way.

9 months later she gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy.

Smithy is just 1 of thousands of girls through out this country who is victim of "corrective"rape. Smithy is a lesbian. This is something that she really battled with as a child, being a lesbian growing up in the townships is not an easy road. There is a great amount of prejudice and violence shown towards any one who is homosexual. People see it as a 'disease" or a "problem" that needs to be "fixed" and due to this many people keep the fact that they are homosexual secret. They live in fear. They try and live a heterosexual lifestyle in order to keep themselves safe and to keep shame away from their family. This is how Smithy lived much of her life. 

The abuse started when she was 4. Her mother was a sever alcoholic and had a number of "uncles" coming to the house on a daily basis. Smithy and her siblings were used to fulfill these men's sexual needs while their mother got drunk in the next room. This went on until Smithy was 7 years old at which point the children were taken into care and by which point the damage had been done. For the rest of their childhood the 4 children were handed from home to home, separated and abused in each home. 

Smithy finally ran away to the streets when she was 14 years old. Separated from her brothers and sister and alone she had no way to fend for herself other than prostitution. Some nights getting enough money for the shelter other nights not so lucky and sleeping on the streets. For the next 20 years this was her existence. 

I met Smithy 5 years ago when I started spending time in the shelter building relationships with the girls. When I first met her I will say I was slightly terrified of her. She was wild to say the least! She had had a partner for a couple of years and their relationship was volatile. One night they got into a fight and her partner stabbed Smithy in the eye. By the time I met Smithy her eye had turned white and she was totally blind in that eye. She was covered in scars and the majority of the time she was drunk or high or both. First impressions are a funny thing. I took one look at this woman and I recoiled. She was hard to look at. I know that that is a horrible thing to say, but it is the truth. The years of abuse had taken their toll on her outward appearance as well as her inner person. BUT the second she opened her mouth and started to talk everything changed. She had the softest voice. Was very gentle and incredibly loving. 

I totally fell in love with this woman. She is funny and cheeky. Has an amazing sense of justice and wants only good things for others. When she was raped she conceived her son. Knowing that there was no way that she could provide for him she placed him into the care of a family friend who lives in the township. Then along came my friend Jane. And to cut a long story short she took the baby in with her and her family and now we have found a family to adopt the little guy. The love and sacrifice that Jane has shown to this baby is amazing, she has literally saved this child's life.  

Taking a wash in the dog bowl! Such a sweet funny boy. Just like his mother.

Although this beautiful child came out of such a horrific situation his life is FOREVER changed by the love of others. He has a future and a hope. He is going to change the lives of others. 

After the rape Smithy turned even more to drugs in order to cope. Smoking cocaine and sugars to take away the emotional pain, getting addicted and then taking them in order to maintain the numbness. She tried to stop but when she did the emotional and physical pain was just too much for her.  It broke my heart to sit and watch her disappear before my eyes. All I could do was pray. Many times I sat on her bed in the shelter and just held her hand and prayed for her while she slipped into a drug induced sleep. The drugs were making her irrational and many times she didn't know where she was or what was going on. There was no helping her. She didn't want to go to rehab, she didn't want help. She just wanted to be numb and the only way that she could do that was to continue with the drugs. It has been a while since I have been able to hold a conversation with her, she was slurring and confused. 3 days ago she collapsed in the shelter and when the ambulance failed to turn up the girls from the shelter physically carried her to the hospital. When I got there she struggled to recognize me. When she finally remembered me all she could say was "help me", over and over she said this, my heart broke into pieces it was like I could physically feel it shattering inside my chest. I knew she was going. I knew in my heart that she wasn't coming out of it this time. I prayed with her, Jane prayed over her and as we were leaving Smithy said to me "Vash please don't throw me away." Those words were the last ones that she said to me. Those words in that moment changed me. It was a defining moment in my life.  

I received a phone call at 5am today to tell me that Smithy has passed away. 

Smithy died alone, no family to hold her hand, no family to take her body and give her a funeral, no family to mourn for her. But there is me. And today I am mourning for a life that never was. Never was loved, never was celebrated, never was given a chance to walk into its full potential and destiny. A life that was snatched and destroyed before it was even given a chance to flourish. A beautiful woman who was crushed physically, emotionally and spiritually, over and over. I will mourn for my friend. A woman who I loved. A woman who I never stopped believing in. A woman who gave birth to the most beautiful and amazing child. A son who will grow up knowing that his mother loved him beyond everything else. A son who will break the cycle of abuse and drug addiction, poverty and destitution that has been the norm in his family for generations.

Smithy died with the peace and reassurance that her son is going to spend the rest of his life being loved and cared for. 

I will never forget my friend. I will never forget her laugh, that deep belly laugh she would get when she really found something funny. I will never forget how she took her handful of coins that she had made begging and bought her and I a cup of tea each and a bread roll and we sat on the curb and spent time together. I will never forget the look of longing that she would give her son, knowing that she loved him with every ounce of her being but not able to be the mother that she needed to be. 

Smithy my dear friend I PROMISE that I will NEVER forget you and I will mourn the fact that you are no longer in my life. Your life was not in vein. Your story will change the lives of thousands. 

I PROMISE that I will tell your story. I will let them know of your life. 

Good bye my friend. 

In our garden.

We LOVE living in Africa.

Not the right kind of orphan? ... Rural vs Urban.

Those who know me well know that it is virtually impossible to offend me. You can call me names, talk bad about me behind my back or even to my face for that matter, and I will not be offended. It might hurt my heart but I will not hold a grudge. I'm like the proverbial duck's back when the water hits it. Its just how I've learnt to deal with life. But there is one thing that does offend me. One thing that makes me rise up and fight. One thing that I can not tolerate.
When someone diminishes, trivializes, makes light of the plight of the one's to which God has called me an anger stirs in the very core of who I am. Most of the time I manage to control this anger. Most of the time I bite my tongue and give it to God and ask Him to deal with it. But today I'm going to share. I'm going to be open, frank and to the point about this issue that I'm dealing with. I ask that you all hear my heart. I am not accusing, I'm not holding a grudge, I'm not pointing fingers. I'm just going to share my heart.

9 years ago Mart and I packed our 8 suit cases and moved to South Africa. Our heart was to minister to children and families who were infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. He bought us the 1000 Hills in KZN and we decided to call it home. We had a number of people, churches and family commit to help us in the venture. It was amazing to have the support of people, people loving us and praying for us and financially supporting us. With out them we would not have made it 9 years and counting in this place.
Over the years financial support has dwindled, like I stated in my post below. There have been various reasons for this. Some have simply not been able to afford to keep supporting, some have had other financial commitments come to light that have caused them to stop funding our work. Some were supporting the ministry some were supporting us as a family. Every time supporters have pulled out we have felt the impact in a profound way. Our funders have literally been a life line for us here in the work that we have been doing.  And we have been so thankful for each of them and the support that they have been to us and the ministry.

Although when someone pulls out of funding us it hurts, we totally understand and we know that God will pick up where they have had to move on. We are not offended because we know that God loves us and He wants His ministry to continue and He will provide.
The thing however that really hurts me and makes that anger rise up is when people use the excuse "you are not working with orphans any more so we can not fund you"

It makes me angry because it is not true. I DO work with orphans. Every trip to the Shelter, every time I walk Point Road praying for the street children, every time I rush a street child to hospital and sit by his hospital bed, every time I go scouring the streets for a young girl who went out to "work" and hasn't come been seen for 4 days. I am working with orphans. My street children are orphans of the most desperate kind. Just because they are not the wide eyed, innocent, distended bellied, fly covered children that we all love to sponsor and support, doesn't mean that they are not in desperate need.
People love to sponsor the rural African child. We NEVER had any problem finding sponsors and support for our little guys who live in the valley. Man I love those little ones. They are beautiful, innocent, in need of cuddles and I always want to bring at least 10 home with me every time we go to the valley.

 I mean look at these babies. Who wouldn't want to love them? I look at these girls and my heart melts. And I'm sure that as you are reading this a part of you wants to pick them up and love them and give them only good things. Each of these girls have lost their mothers. NO child show grow up with out the love of a mother, not one. BUT these girls have been taken in by their amazing Grandmothers. These Gogo's adore their grandbabies. Will do what it takes to care for them. To feed them. To educated them. These girls will not starve. They will never be alone. They will always have the support of the adults around them because that is how it works in the Rural communities. Extended family is strong and those little ones who loose their parents will be taken care of by those around them. It is amazing and we have learnt alot from spending time with these people in their communities.
I'm not saying that these families do not need help, they really really do. I'm just helping people to understand the difference between the Rural kiddies that we work with and the Urban children who I minister to.

What I am finding is that because we have had to put the Rural side of ministry on hold for a period, people now think that we are no longer working with orphans and children who are infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. This is not true.
I feel that the orphans that I am working with, loving on and ministering to are not the "right kind"of orphans for people to support. They are not cute. They are not cuddly. They will sooner pick your pocket than give you a hug. But they are orphans just the same. I have NEVER in my life known a group of people who are more in need of support.
These children are sharp edged, all bones, skin and shoulder blades. With glue crazed eyes and sore covered skin. They are dirty and hungry and unloved. They are forgotten and ignored. They are guilty of crime and drug addiction. They lie and they steal. They are infected with STD's and HIV/AIDS.  They do not trust and can not be trusted. But they are orphans all the same. They are DESPERATE to be loved but when that loves comes they can not give or receive it. They do not know what it is like to trust an adult.
The adults in their lives hurt them. They use them. Them rape them. They control them with drugs and money. The use them to deliver drugs to clients. They use them as sex slaves to make a great profit that the child never sees.
These children have no place to call home. They spend their nights hiding in darkened doorways, sleeping in abandoned lots under cars so that the police and other predators do not find them. They are the prey of the horrors that come out to play at night.
They get picked up by men who make them promises of a better life. They are held against their will and raped over and over. NO ONE is on their side. NO ONE supports them. NO ONE stands in the gap for them. Until God sends a willing heart to fight in their corner. Until someone answers the call and will sit by their bedside in hospital. Until someone will find out when their birthday is and bake them a cake and throw a spontaneous birthday party for them, the first and probably the last that they will ever have.
These children will never be the "right kind" of orphan for people to put on their fridges at home. Never be the "right kind" of orphan for Sunday schools to sponsor. But they are orphans all the same.
They deserve love. They deserve unconditional support. They deserve to be safe. They deserve a life where they do not have to sell their bodies for a couple of slices of bread. They deserve a life where they don't have to hide from the bad guys, where they have loving arms out stretched for them to run to when ever they are afraid. They deserve to have some one tell them that they are beautiful and amazing. They deserve to have some one tell them that they have a Father who they can trust, who loves them and who wants to be close to them. How this Father will not sell them to the highest bidder. How this Father will break the drug addictions. How this Father wants only good things for them.

MY orphans deserve ALL of this. In fact MY orphans deserve even more than this. These are MY kind of orphans. And I will do what it takes to stand up for them, to speak for them and to help them. Even if I do not have the support from others I KNOW that I have the support of my Father, their Father. And our Father owns the cattle on a Thousand Hills. And even though MY orphans might not live in the Thousand Hills, they are orphans all the same. And they deserve better. Thats all.

Transformers...

Things change. I'm not great with change. I'm working on it. He's helping me. I fight it. He gently guides me. It's going to be OK. Its going to be great. Life is amazing. He is in control. And breathe........

This has been my internal dialogue for the past few months. Things have transformed, grown, and down right changed over the past few months. I can pin point the catalyst for this personal and family movement to the day when we listened to God and stepped out in obedience and changed churches. It was a big move for us. The church that we were members of was awesome, we loved it, but we knew that God was on the move. We were at a point in our marriage, ministry, family and personal lives where we needed to move or die. Yes it really was that desperate. Some thing HAD to give or we had to return to the UK (which was not an option as far as we were concerned).

For years we had been alone. We had no support system here in South Africa. No family, no strong friendships, no accountability. Just us and the ministry. And it wasn't going well. We were tired, burnt out and in need of a good kick in the butt. And that kick came. We had zero money! When I say ZERO I literally mean ZERO. I remember one day sitting on my bed in tears crying out to God asking Him to provide food for dinner. We had 4 eggs (thank God for my hens) and nothing else. Martin had left the house to walk the 9km to an ATM on the off chance that someone had put some money in our account. We had no car, no money for a Zulu taxi and so he decided to walk. I had no way of even contacting my parents as my phone had run out of credit to even send a text message. So I sat on my bed literally begging God for some money to buy bread for my children.
I felt like a failure, what kind of mother was I? Why had it gotten to this point? We KNEW that God had called us here so what was this wall that we were facing?

We had had amazing supporters and the ministry with the orphans was going so well and then out of nowhere we hit this wall..... or rather the wall hit us. It was the most sever, painful and obvious attack we had ever been through and it was coming from all sides. Our supporters started to pull out, telling us that they could no longer afford to support us, the more people pulled out the smaller the ministry became until one day we realized that there was no actual way that we could continue. My heart broke as the reality of it all kicked in. Over 100 orphans and their extended families were no longer going to be fed or educated due to the demise of Project O. My heart is still so heavy as I sit here and think about it. Yet again I felt like a failure, what kind of "missionary" was I?  Why had it gotten to this point? We KNEW that God had called us here so what was this wall that we were facing?

Life looked NOTHING like it did in our dreams. It was a nightmare of epic proportions. And I just wanted to wake up. But I didn't know how. Something had to change. At first I didn't know what. Was it Mart? Did he have to change? He was the head of the household after all. Was it where we were? Was our time in SA up? Were we supposed to move to another country? Back to NYC maybe? Was it the ministry? Were we supposed to be reaching out to some other people group? On and on went this internal dialogue, it wouldn't stop and I was going nuts.

As I sat on the edge of my bed waiting for Mart to come back with or with out bread, I asked God what needed to change. His answer was one that I 100% did not want to hear. What needed to change? ME. I had to change. I had to stop being the victim in my story and stand up and become the heroine. And only I could take that step. OH POO!( I actually used a less acceptable word but as my mother reads my blog I wont use it now ;-)

So with out talking to any one, not even Mart, I decided to work on myself. After all that is the only person who I could change. I started to speak words of encouragement in all situations. I started thanking God in advance for what He was going to do in our family and in the ministry. I thanked Him for our health, for providing my children with a great education (at that point we had no money for school fees and was homeschooling) I thanked Him for the friends and South African family that He was going to give us and I thanked Him for the new church family that He was going to put us in.

I knew that He was moving us to a new church. We just had to be obedient and take the step. The moment we did our life radically changed. In an instant. Now I'm not saying that our new church is the answer to all our problems, not at all. It was the act of obedience and faith that we walked in that caused God to move. It wasn't an easy step, we really loved our other church. We loved the leaders. But we KNEW that we had to do this. So we did. And He started to move.
The very first service that we attended we KNEW that we belonged, that we had come home. With in a week we had a whole new support group rallying around us. Lifting us up. Loving us and cheering us on. It was AMAZING! God knew exactly what we needed and He started lavishing it on us in the way that only a Father can.
Miracle after miracle started to happen. Money and provision came in from places that we still don't know. He provided school placements for both boys in the schools that we had dreamed of putting them in. Even though they hadn't been on the waiting list. Things were transforming and it was so cool.
It hasn't all been easy, remember I don't do well with change, but it has been necessary.

This is a journey. Its a continuous renewing and transforming and I'm embracing it. He is giving me the strength and encouragement that I need to keep going and not settle. This post has to come to an end for now, otherwise it will just keep going and going. I will post again soon about what else He has done.... you wont believe it!!!

Romans 12:2 says...
² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I want his perfect will for my life, for my marriage, for my family, for the ministry. In all that I do and say and am. His perfect will, His perfect plan. So I will let myself be pliable, transformable. ALL for His glory, ALL for His will, ALL for His kingdom.

Changing gears in Cape Town.

Last weekend I took a trip to Cape Town with my SA bestie, Melis. Both Melis and I have 2 very busy children, she has a boy and a girl and I have my 2 boys. We were both at the point where we NEEDED a break. Just to get away from parenthood, the responsibilities of being a wife and a mother, running the home… you know all that stuff that comes with the territory of little kids and husbands.

What we needed was a girl’s weekend. And we decided to take that weekend.  And boy what a weekend it was.

I had never been to Cape Town. So Melis decided that that was where we needed to go to switch off and have some fun.

My part of the trip was totally provided for and what a great blessing that was….. You know who you are!

Melis’ mum put us up in a beautiful hotel for the weekend and we were so excited about having this time away.

We flew to CT on the Friday afternoon and arrived in the early evening.  Our friend Jamie picked us up from the airport as she was joining us for our break.

As we were trying to find our hotel we took an unplanned detour through a very rough area of town.

I’m used to the rough areas of Durban and so it didn’t phase me too much. Melis and Jamie however were slightly worried…. To say the least ;-)

What I found as we were driving to our 5 star hotel, through a squatter camp community, was that I was feeling over whelmed with guilt and a burning desire to get out of the car and help.  At that point there was literally NOTHING I could have done that would have been of any help to anyone, I would have probably gotten mugged or worse and it was a stupid desire, but I couldn’t help it.

Some days I wonder if the life that I have lived thus far has ruined me forever. Will I EVER be “normal”?

Will I ever be able to see a need and not have a desperate desire to try and fill it? I know that the majority of the time it is not my job to fix the needs around me.  I KNOW what God has called me to do, and whom he has called me to help. I know what He requires of me. And yet…

Even when I am with my best friend away in a beautiful city for the soul purpose to switch off I STILL find it so very hard. While searching for our hotel I made a conscious decision to “switch off”. I had to if I was going to enjoy the weekend.

After making that decision I had an amazing weekend. On Saturday morning we went to the wonderful Charly’s Bakery where we went NUTS!!!!! We came away with cheesecake, cupcakes, brownies, petit fours, wicked chocolate cake, as I said we went NUTS!!!

We then took a walk along Long Street, which reminded me a lot of San Fran. Really lovely, lots of coffee shops.

(above pic just cause I'm an unrepentant fangirl and a mother of boys!)                                       

 Then we hit up a market. (You know how I love my markets!)

Jamie took us to a fantastic Mexican place for supper and then we went back to the hotel and were in bed by 8:30pm! Talk about old ladies! We were just so tired from all the walking and the late night on Friday.

Saturday we went to Muzinburg beach market, it was a great experience and I got to try dried Snoek for the first time. It was yummy. Melis and Jamie thought I was nuts… but that’s OK.

Then off to Kalk Bay for fish and chips, seal watching and a drive around the coast. 

Finishing off the night with Sushi with our lovely friend Adi.

We had such a fantastic time, if anything it wasn’t long enough! Could have done with about 2 extra days.

Spending time with my best friend, eating cake and going to markets…. Who could ask for more?

Some times its OK to change gear shut down and relax. I’m thinking that I should do it more often ;-)

LOOK WHAT WE GOT!!!!

So as most of you know we have been without a car for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time now. We have been trusting God and praying and asking others to pray for us and on and on and on..........

Well God and family and friends came through and as of Saturday look what we are driving!
Its amazing. It drives well and its a VW!

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who made this possible. I'm off to the Homeless Shelter in it this afternoon and I'm hyper to see my girls and the babies. I will blog soon on whats going on with the ministry side of things.

Vash xx

Missing them.

Missing this lot very much.

Proud owner of 2 6 year olds! Happy Birthday Jesse!

Today is September 12th. I was going to blog yesterday about my 9/11 experience but even 11 years later it is still too raw. So I'm blogging today instead.
Today is a VERY important day. 6 years ago on September 12th a little baby boy was born.
This little boy was born into this world in a way that was less than perfect, and yet God had a perfect plan for his life.
Jesse Benjamin, today you are 6 years old. You are my little Spider Monkey, always climbing trees, always jumping and running. Always giggling, always ready for a snuggle.
You are joy in human form.
We love you. We thank God for you. He knew before He formed you that you belonged to us and we find complete delight in you.

We love you Jika maJika, Always.
Mummy xxxx

P.S Joe is still 6 for another 6 weeks! so i have 2 6 year olds at the same time. Magical. x

HIS calling, MY Arbonne, YOUR opportunity.

I'm a firm believer of 'Calling' and destiny and all that good stuff. I can not see that ours lives are purely given to us that we might be born, grow up,  get a job, get married, have kids and then die. What would be the point of that? I believe that God has pre-destined our lives. He has set aside a calling, a job for each of us. Philippians 3: 12-14 says press on to the goal, press on so that I can take hold of that which He has for me.  That calling has been fashioned and honed to our gifts, talents and passions. Over the past few years He has really been unveiling my purpose to me. Its both terrifying and exciting all at the same time. Its terrifying due to the size and enormity, there is NO way that I can do it alone. And it is exciting because I know that He has placed me here for such a time as this.

For those of you who know me and follow my blog I think you have  a sense of what my calling might be! For those who dont let me give you an idea of my heart and His calling.......

4 years ago I started to help out in a homeless shelter in the Point Road area of Durban. Over the years I have spent my time building relationships with the sex workers who are living in the shelter. Helping them with hospital appointments, jobs, getting home to family and various other tasks that no one else will help them with. (like giving birth!!)

A couple of weeks ago I met with a Natalie from an organization called Red Light. This organization works to fight Human and sex trafficking in the Durban area. Nat asked me to share what I felt God had put on my heart. When I had finished we realized that God had bought us together for a reason. Our callings and passions are almost identical and each of us are bringing different gifts and talents and experience to the table to make this calling a reality and a success.We are so excited about this new relationship and we KNOW that God has put us together.
There are a number of things that need to happen in my life before I can fully step into what God has put out in front of me. For example, I need a vehicle. The Red Light offices are miles away and so is the Shelter and various other places where we are planning to reach into. For me to really make a go of this I need a car. And I need a monthly income in order to pay for gas and insurance. I also need an income to help support my family.

That's where the 'MY Arbonne' part of my post title comes in to play..........
Do you guys know about Arbonne? Are you buying their products? No? Well let me just help you out in rectifying that for you!
Arbonne is a FANTASTIC company that sells great life changing products. From Anti-Aging products to Cosmetics. Men's products to baby products. Health products to Body and Skin care, Arbonne has it all.

You might be wondering "whats so amazing about Arbonne?" Well one question I have is "whats NOT amazing about Arbonne?"
Arbonne products are not only skin and body friendly, they are earth and animal friendly. They are made with only pure and safe ingredients. No mineral oils, no petroleum, no parabens. All Arbonne products are botanically based.  Arbonne products are free from.......
*Animal products or animal by-products
*Parabens
*Formaldehyde donating preservatives
*The following petroleum based ingredients:Benzene,Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, Phthalates, Toluene
*PABA
Very few companies can honestly claim this. Even well known Baby companies are using these toxins and damaging ingredients in their ranges. For those of you with babies I really urge you to swop to Arbonne baby products immediately, for the sake of your baby's skin.
 If you want to know more about Arbonnes ingredient policy please go HERE

I have join Arbonne as an Independent Consultant. There are a number of reasons why I have joined this company. Firstly I totally believe in their products, I love how they are builders of individuals, they WANT ME to succeed. I am part of an AMAZING team of women who are building their Arbonne businesses together, loving each other and empowering each other. Another reason is that I can work from home, in my own time, in my PJ's if I want ;-).  I can financially support my family and His calling on my life through my Arbonne business..... and this is my plan.

So What is the "YOUR opportunity" part of my title?

Well I'm here handing you an amazing opportunity to change YOUR life, the lives of those around you, the life of my family and the lives of the women that I work with here in South Africa. How is that possible? How can little ol' you change and impact So many lives? By joining Arbonne, that's how!
Its so easy and the chance to change so many lives is so great. You have the opportunity to change 100's of lives! Right now, starting today.

You could start with one small step of going to the Arbonne website and buying a few products via me, your Independent Consultant.
Or you could take a larger step by signing up to become a preferred client and get some cracking bonus'.
OR you could take a big life changing leap and become an Independent Consultant like myself and start your own Arbonne business.
I know that as you are reading this some of you have a tugging on your heart. Listen to that voice. Is it telling you its your moment for change? If it is then I recommend you do just that, right now.
Make a step to a healthier, happier more complete you.
There are so many wonderful women who are on their Arbonne journey. Many of them are fully supporting their families, to the point where their husbands have been able to stop working!
They are funding amazing over seas projects and missions. Building schools in Africa. Funding church missions trips to 3rd world countries.
They are able to pay off their mortgages and car payments and get themselves and their family out of debt, just by starting their own Arbonne business and going for it. Believing in their calling and fulfilling their desire to change the world that they living.
You can check out Cecilia's story here. And Anne Marie's story of how she has become a missionary thanks to her Arbonne business.

I am going to be using my Arbonne income to support my family and to fund my work with Red Light and the Homeless Shelter.
I am going to aim to put 25% of my income into my calling, and as my business grows and my income becomes larger I will up the %.

SO....... Want to join in the fun? Want to change the world? YES?? Its really easy. If you are in the UK you can go to https://www.arbonneinternational.co.uk/shop_online/shopOnline.asp
If you are in the States you can go to http://arbonne.com/
Are you in Canada? Then the site you are looking for is http://www.arbonne.ca/

Go on a life changing shopping spree, sign up to become a Preferred Client or change your future by becoming a Independent Consultant. You can email me at vashti.downs@gmail.com where I can help you with that intital purchase by giving you my consultant info. Every time you use me as your consultant you automatically give to my family and the women that I work with.
So in advance I want to thank you for your custom and your desire to change lives.

Together we really can change the world. Empower others and make a difference in this world. Wont you join me on this mission?
Email me...... I'm waiting for YOU!

You strike a woman, you strike a rock.

In August 1956 20,000 women marched and protested against the Urban Areas Act in South Africa. The act said that all non-white people in South Africa had to carry a pass in order to be able to travel to various areas around their cities and towns. They took a stand and stood for their rights as humans and they made a difference. Their slogan, for want of a better word, was "Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo!" translated "Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock!" 54 years later and this phrase has changed slightly to "You strike a woman, you strike a rock!" Its some what of a challenge, "you mess with us and you gonna see what happens, we will not be moved." I LOVE this phrase. So I was thinking of this while I spent time with my ladies in the Homeless Shelter this Thursday, Women's Day. My question was "What is it to be a woman?"

This is Precious and her baby Lungelo. " I do not even feel like a woman any more. I have had every part of me taken away. I am an empty shell. I am dying from a virus that I didn't ask for and I gave that virus to my son, now tell me what kind of woman does that? I am nothing."

Belinda is 48. "As a women I don't want to be living the life that I am living. Who I am is not who I really am. I gave up everything because I fell in love with the wrong man. He was an addict and I finally caved in and started to use as well. I am now addicted to heroine and I have to sell myself to be able to survive. I know that God has me in His hand. I pray every time I go looking for a client, I pray that the man that picks me up is not a crazy person, I pray for protection. I pray for forgiveness. I can not go to work without getting strung out on heroine, its the only way that I can cope. Being a woman with no job and no money no home and no family, I do what I have to do to survive."

Mary mother of 4. "It is not easy being a woman in this place. This is not what I dreamed for my life. When I was little I dreamed of living on a farm, somewhere safe where my children could run and play. To live a life where I could send my children to school, so that they could have a better life than me. But here I am, living in hell. Last night a rat climbed over our bed. There are roaches everywhere and I am struggling to provide for my children. My husband is a cocaine addict and uses all our money on his drugs. My prayer is that God provides a better life for my children, because I can not."

Chantelle and her 5 year old daughter Judelle. "God gives me strength to keep living here, with out Him I could not cope. Every day is stressful and my heart aches for a better life, but that life is out of my reach. I try and look cheerful on the outside but my heart and mind is crying out. I would just like to have one day when I am happy and peaceful."

Ronelle 27. "Women's Day has never meant anything to me. Being a woman in this country is hard. There is no respect for us. Why should there only be one day set aside to treat women right? We need to teach our sons to respect all women. If there is only one thing that I teach my son it will be to treat women with respect."