So at the end of my last post I said I would blog as soon as I received my congratulations letter. That did not happen, however you had to be hiding under a rock to not hear the great news. I told everyone I know. Which means that all of you beautiful people are already well aware. But, for blogging's sake (and simply because I love the way it sounds) let me repeat: I, Brittanie Richardson, am a recipient of the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust Grant. Now, im sure anyone who was to recieve this grant would be ecstatic, however I have to steal a few lines of this post to explain why in the world this means so much to me.
You see the last time I was in South Africa God and I had a little talk. It was the day that I went to the school for the first time and saw the vision of myself and all the kids around me and heard a voice from inside of me say "this is what you are supposed to be doing". That night I went home to the guest house I was staying at and I prayed. I prayed one of those conversation prayers though, you know the ones where you just really level with God and talk to him like he's your best friend? Well, yeah, I prayed one of those. I told Him how much I loved the work I did that day at the school. I thanked Him for the vision I recieved and told Him that I would absolutely love to see it come to pass. I said that I understood that He was calling me back to this particular country to work at this particular school with these particular kids. I commited myself to that calling and promised do all I could to make it come to pass. Above all of that though, my prayer was a prayer of surrender. I confessed to God that although I wanted so badly for this to come to pass I had no idea what to do to make it happen. How in the world could I afford to come back to South Africa alone and create a theatre program?!? I couldnt. So I surrendered it all to God. I said "Lord, if this is your will please provide for me". I put all my trust in God to make my dream come true. For the first time in my life ever I totally surrendered to God. I had absolute faith in this matter, unshakable faith that God would make a way for me. So I started saying to people "Im moving to South Africa to do drama work with children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS". I moved from my apartment in Philly and sold all of my furniture and most of my other belongings to prepare for my move to South Africa. I moved back home to Atlanta so I could live with my grandfather for free as I payed off bills to prepare for my move to South Africa. I set a date and secured a plane ticket to prepare for my move to South Africa. I had made my mind up, I was moving to South Africa.
But, if you took a look at my bank account it didnt look as if I was moving to South Africa. It looked like I was barely staying above water right where I was. I started a fundraising campaign with my dear friend Justin called "Art for Africa". The first fundraiser was held in Philly and I was sure that I would raise the bulk of the money then. The week of the event I did a 3 day fast where I prayed to God for $10,000 from this fundraiser. I invited loads of popular, and more importantly RICH Philadelphians. I invited the presidents of all the local universities, chairmen on every arts counsil around, the board members from all the local theatres, all of my college professors and UARTS connections, EVERYONE! But on the night of the event the room was filled with homeless people from the shelter I worked at (I told them they could come for free for obvious reasons) and my friends who had come to support me. Other than that there were only 2 other women there who had actually come because they had recieved an invitation. At first glance I thought the night was going to be a bust. How the hell was I gunna raise $10,000 from a room full of homeless people and college students?! But that night turned out to be one of the best, if not the best, nights of my life. All of the performers whom were all performing for free put their whole heart into their performances. They were all so incredibly beautiful! The love in the room that night was almost tangible. Two of my kids from the shelter made a speech and they did such an amazing job. The food was great, the people were great, the atmosphere was great, the art was beyond great. By the end of the night there was not a dry eye in the room. Everyone was so moved and inspired. It was absolutely perfect. So at the end of the night I realized that maybe the reason for that event wasnt to make $10,000 after all. Maybe it was simply a night for some people who really needed it to get together and experience God's love. The same thing happened at every other "Art for Africa" fundraiser I had. I never raised that $10,000, but every event was absolutely beautiful and people left feeling loved, inspired and full of joy.
So even after the last fundraiser and even as I was packing my bags to come here I never lost the faith. I never got discouraged. I kept believeing that God's word was true and that He keeps His promises so I believed that I would be getting that $10,000. Three months later not only did He bless me with ten, He blessed me with $20,000! Its just really a testiment of His faithfulness in my life. The grant writers said that because I've never written for a grant before I needed to write ten proposals in order to recieve one. I wrote one and got it. They also said that the grant makers would only give me half of what I asked for so I asked for $20,000 hoping to recieve $10,000. I recieved every penny of the $20,000 I asked for. That is called favor! God absolutely granted me favor with that Board of Trustees. There is no other way to explain it. He was in that room. He made the decision and it came to pass. So this whole thing just proves to me that when I actually just surrender to God and believe him to be everything that He says He is, He will protect, love and provide for me. That is such a comforting thing to know! The love I feel and the absolute faith that I now feel is just so much greater than what I have previously experienced. And the great thign is that even though this money will eventually go away, eventually be all used up, God never will be! No matter what counrty im in or what im doing He stays the same and will still love, protect and provide for me as long as I believe. Now this my friends, is humbling, conforting, exciting, awe-inspiring news so I just wanted to share it with you.
This was supposed to be a much longer blog about many mroe things but Hazel wants her computer back now so I gotta go.
Love and Light,
Nonceba
