“Ministering at Hands at Work has brought the scripture from Isaiah 58 alive in my life, which was prophesied over me when I was 19 and getting baptised. The verse is about spending yourself on behalf of the hungry and, if you do, that your light will rise like the noon day and will be like a well-watered garden. I’ve realised over the years that not only is the well-watered garden good for other people to feed from, receive nourishment and point to who God is, but it’s good for me to. It’s that mysterious truth that we read about in the Bible about how, when you give your life away, you gain life – and it doesn’t make sense because it’s a very upside-down principle. God has shown me that spending my life on behalf of others is the best thing I can do. A poet named Mary Oliver had this famous quote where she asked the question, ‘what do you plan to do with this one wild and precious life you’ve been given?’ That’s the question that I’ve always asked myself. I’ve got one life and one opportunity to spend myself. Am I going to do it for my own good, to store up riches for myself on this side of heaven, or am I going to spend it on behalf of others and make a difference in this very fractured world? My ministry through Hands at Work, through what God has done in my life, is that He has taught me that I can live a life that matters, a life that makes a difference, and I can be like that picture of a well-watered garden. He has given me purpose, passion, a reason to wake up every morning and an understanding that my life matters. I can’t think of a greater privilege.”
MY LIFE: CATHERINE CLARKSON, INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER (UK)