{"id":24009,"date":"2018-10-21T03:30:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-21T10:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=24009"},"modified":"2018-10-19T12:04:54","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T19:04:54","slug":"october-21-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2018\/10\/21\/october-21-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"October 21, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cBehold, God works all these things\u2026 to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Job 33:29-30<\/p>\n

Restoring Dignity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I read a blog post recently which reminded me: \u201cIn the story of the world, of the great battle between the kingdoms of Light and Darkness, the hero has already been introduced. Indeed, the hero has already won, and it is in the wake of His victory that we labor.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is not, \u2018What am I doing to change the world?\u2019 but \u2018What is God doing, and how can I join in?\u2019 Our labor is participatory: neither you nor I are the hero of this story, but we are called to get in on what the hero is doing.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

I would like to introduce you to one of our staff who chose, many years ago, to get in on what the hero is doing.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy name is Victoria Kitiabi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first learned about Living Room before it was Living Room. In 2008, Juli asked me to help care for two malnourished children from the community, Flovia and Felix. It was life changing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew Juli and Allison when they came to our church with Tumaini na Afya <\/em>outreach program to create awareness about HIV\/AIDS and offer free HIV counseling and testing after the church service. At that time, I had completed a short course in Bio-Intensive Agriculture; but after their visit, everything changed. Through Tumaini na <\/em>Afya, I attended a short course on Home Based Care and was trained as a VCT counselor for HIV testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Living Room officially began in 2011, I was among the first staff to be considered; I began working as a caregiver. I felt a deep burden to help people. I became so connected to the kids who came to Kimbilio Hospice. It became my passion to serve them. I felt a sense of accomplishment. Children would come when they were so malnourished and they would leave Kimbilio when they were healthy and happy, united again with their family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I continued serving as a caregiver, I started to develop a passion for counseling; in 2015, I joined a college to study counseling and psychology and that is what I\u2019m doing now. I am a counselor and also in charge of hospitality.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the hospitality coordinator, it has been a pleasure hosting visitors from abroad\u2014making them feel at home, introducing them to the ministry, teaching them about our food and also one or two words in Swahili. It makes me happy and it has been a pleasure serving in that department.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing with Living Room has influenced me personally. I\u2019ve had a sense of knowing Christ more through seeing people who suffer and they really need someone just to give them hope. Living Room has made me realize how to extend the love that I have been reading about in the Bible. Through sharing with these guests who visit us, I have known what the intense love of Christ really means to me as an individual.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have not yet experienced the ministry firsthand, I would like you to understand that at Living Room we give hope to people who have lost hope in life. We restore dignity to people who have been despised in their communities and in their homes. We help the family members to understand that even though a person is in bed and ailing, they still need their family to be there for them, to support them, to love them, and to show them a sense of care.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather, show us where we can help restore dignity. Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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