A Vision Renewed

When my initial plans for a lay counseling course did not come to fruition, and the teaching position at Aizawl Theological College landed neatly in my lap, I started to believe nothing would come of my desire to train lay counsellors. I started to think that maybe God had just put that hope on my heart to get me here, since I didn’t know anything about ATC, or their new counseling course. And, being on holiday from teaching, I’ve been getting a bit lazy and, once again, have been questioning why I’m here. (As an aside, I am learning just how fickle my emotions are, and how much I tend to let them control me)

Yet again I’m reminded that God is weaving a beautiful tapestry, and I am only seeing the loose strings on the back.

Last night one of Omte’s cousins, Lalrin, came over to meet me.  It turns out that Lalrin and another cousin have a desire to start a ministry to train counsellors and provide counseling for people with mental illnesses and provide support to their families.

As we spoke, we found that we share a common vision of holistic care within the Church body, which is the core of Mizo society, but in a way that is not intimidating or judgmental to those seeking help. We talked about the need for cultural changes in the way mental illness is viewed and for levels of training, with plenty of people who are equipped with basic counseling skills and others who are qualified for professional counseling, and others who are able to take what they learn to the villages, where help is most needed.

We have these big ideas that seem like they might be impossible in our own power, but it also seems clear that these ideas have come directly from God.

One of the most interesting things about this encounter is that Lalrin is not in the mental health field at all – she is a lawyer. But, God has put it on her heart to form this ministry, and I think she’s just the right person.  I don’t have an entrepreneurial bone in my body, and although I am well-organized in the ways I need to be, I lack the detail-oriented type of organization needed to take on a project like this. I’ve always said I just want to be someone’s employee and have them tell me what to do. But Lalrin clearly has a gift for administration. Imagine my delight today when I received a detailed email from Lalrin this afternoon with a review of what we discussed last night and an action plan for the month of October. Wow!  What an example of differing gifts working together!

God is doing something big here. I can’t wait to see what’s next.