2 Corinthians 9:11 (NLT)
11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.
The Heart of Heartland
A few months ago, I was reading a delightful book called ‘Dear Mrs Bird’. It was a quirky novel, set in England during the second world war. During those days, life was far from perfect. Their days would be spent mostly indoors and their nights confined to block-out homes or bunkers beneath the earth. Each night they would hear the squealing of the bombs as they soured overhead before plummeting to the earth in an explosive eruption, often not far from where they were.
BUT, for the adventurous, life still went on. They still gathered with friends or went out for a fun night of dancing. They would not let the war stop them from living.
And that is what got me thinking. It’s so easy for us to get into the rut of thinking that it’s too dangerous to go hiking in the mountains and too dangerous to leave our homes at night and eventually our worlds become so small and we are too afraid to do anything.
There is sadly an enormous percentage of our population in SA whose lives literally are so dangerous that they absolutely cannot leave their dwellings at night.
We have a great guy who works in our warehouse and he tells us that he literally has to peak his head out his ‘house’ in the mornings to make sure that there are a lot of people out and about, before he can venture out – otherwise it is just not safe.
Imagine living like that.
This same guy was one day doing a delivery with my husband and on the way back to the warehouse, they made a detour so that they could collect some sleeping bags and mattresses that we would be using for our upcoming camping trip.
This guy way absolutely astounded that we would choose to leave the comfort of our home and rather go and stay in a tent, sleep on comparatively thin mattresses and cook on gas or a wood fire.
It does sound crazy if you put it like that but my heart really went out to him. He never has an escape from the craziness of city life. We choose to get out into nature so that we can leave all chaos behind us for a bit and gain perspective on what really counts in life.
Anyway, few days later, while I was on a run, I believe God showed me how he would like me to spend my portion from Heartland that I had committed to give to Him. He would like me to bless others by sending them on an outdoor adventure of their own, to a place that is safe and rustic. A place that would enable them to experience the true beauty of our country.
We would provide their travel, accommodation and food for the duration of their time away. How exciting. My heart sang with joy. What a wonderful gift to give.
And so the vision was born! Heartland Adventure will use a percentage of the profits gained from each Adventure Program to offer an escape, first to our employee and then to people that you recommend. Our hearts desire is that this initiative will eventually grow and that others will be encouraged to do the same for their staff, even if it’s just once a term or once a year.
For that person, it may the experience of a lifetime. An experience that will change their life and give them a greater hope for the future.
God is so kind. It is His desire that the blessings that we so generously receive are passed on to others, so that His love can touch those around us too.
Please could you send an email to linda@heartlandadventure.co.za with the name and number of someone that you would like to see blessed in this way. Someone who does not have the means of their own to pay for a ‘weekend away’
Please could you include in your email a brief description of who they are and why you would love to see them blessed and they may be the one selected for this wonderful opportunity.
Because it’s So Good to Give.