The past and sickness has no hold over a conqueror who is in Christ
By Belinda K.“Why do I give my time, skills, talents and even finances to Twakutukuza Trust and what has being in the choir meant for me? This is my Twa Story.
I joined Twa choir after I’d heard a lot about it from a relative. I was looking to join a non-church choir for two reasons; One – to continue the lifestyle I have had since I was in nursery singing Christmas’s chorales organized by school and so on until I got to university and couldn’t get any such choir to join; and Two – I wanted to be part of a choir that focusses on a societal issue/pain that I could give my limited time, and finances to.
The year 2013 came, and my newly-wed friend got diagnosed with a rare cancer. It broke my heart to see her go through it so bravely yet it was slowly taking away her gusto for life, and also deeply affecting her husband. 2013 was also the year I joined Twa. I plunged in fully as a way to cope with the everyday emotions that I sometimes could not deal with, and to be in a group that had a familiar drive to pray, hold onto each other. This created a space for me to observe and learn from cancer survivors, or warriors, as Twa refers to them, and understand how to go about the awkwardness of dealing with this unforeseen situation in my friends life. I learned a lot from Twa, and what struck me the most is that God takes the Centre stage of this movement including choice of songs you know…
I feel good that I joined the choir and found “good” ground that taught me how to face my friend, how to behave around her at a time that even tears were foreign to me, yet the fear and pain of watching her go through the treatments and surgery was beyond speech or comprehension. I was also able to deal with heavy load of anxiety by leaving it at the cross of Jesus as I sang my heart out during the concert weekend. I invited my friend to the concert but sadly she could not even make it out of the car as she was weakened by the radiotherapy sessions she had undergone. She instead chose to sit in the car and listen to the songs from there as her husband sat with her, and occasionally came into the auditorium to take part in the ongoing concert.
I ultimately found new strength, sang prayerfully and I’m glad now she is healed. The past and sickness has no hold over a conqueror who is in Christ. That is what Twa keeps reminding the warriors, their friends and their families.”
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If you are a Twa volunteer or have received support from us and would like to share your Twa story, please send it to info@twatrust.org for a review. We look forward to hearing from you!