“When I first came to Hands with my husband in 2009, I was just coming back to the Lord. I grew up in a Christian home but fell away for many years. It wasn't until I arrived in the Hands community that I really started the journey of coming to know Jesus in a personal and intimate way. Thirteen years later, I look back with such amazement at how God used Africa and this beautiful community of people (whom I have come to call my family) to bring about a deep healing and transformation that I had never before experienced. The road was rocky, no doubt, but I wouldn’t give up any of those hard times for anything! For it was through those moments that I came to better understand God’s incredible grace, love and plan for my life. It was through Hands at Work that I learned the power of vulnerability and the gift being vulnerable has been to both me and others. Finally, I knew what Paul meant in 2 Corinthians 12:9, when he said, “My [God’s] grace is sufficient for you, for my [God’s] power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.””
MY LIFE: ALICIA RALPH, INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER (CANADA)