My journey in MiXchange started in June 2020. I was in my final year of high school and I was very clear about how the rest of my life would look… well, that was until the I Will Take The Children messages began. After many months of huge confrontation and me fighting the Holy Spirit, I made the decision to get out of the boat and walk on the water towards Jesus. If you want to hear more about my ‘before MiXchange’ journey, you can go over to my testimony.
16 January 2021, MiXchange began. Coming to MiXchange and moving to Witbank was a huge step for me. I was the definition of a typical Joburg girl and I was very comfortable being in that position but God had other plans for me. Writing this, I am now in my third year of MiXchange and I can’t image myself being in any other position.
If I have to look back at my time in MiXchange, I would break it up into 4 parts; The combat zone, the confrontation, the relationship build, and the responsibility. So let’s get right into it.
The combat zone:
I can’t think of a better way to describe my first year of MiXchange. We were the first fruits. The messages of I Will Take The Children came and we made the choice to follow God’s plan for our lives. It was new but this is where the foundation of MiXchange was built.
Our days in the first year were filled with prayer with the Team Leaders, sessions with Ps Sharon, Bible School recordings with Ps John and Ps Sharon, sessions with Ps G that usually involved answering questions like ‘What does the love of God look like?’, and so much more.
In the first year, there was no hiding. Everything in you was brought to the surface for you to deal with; the things you liked and the things you tried to bury. For example (I remember this day like it happened yesterday): on an average tuesday morning, all of the MiXchangers were called into the studio because Ps Sharon wanted to see us. Now, if you have never seen the studio before, it is a small room with no windows and a lot of camera equipment so there really is no space to hide anywhere. To accommodate for the MiXchangers, we placed chairs into a semi-circle, all facing one chair that was allocated for Ps Sharon. We all took our seats and waited about 10 minutes when Ps Sharon walked in, in full military attire; Combat boots, Camoflauge pants, and a gunmetal green puffer jacket… She was on a mission. This started a chain of sessions with Ps Sharon where we were taught about what our ‘yes’ meant and what it is going to mean for the future. They were moments where we really had to decide whether we were all in or if we were going to pack our things and walk out the door. That was the most challenging part of my life, yet the most liberating. I had to make the choice that from then on; it was going to be me and God.
Year one was the combat zone.
The confrontation:
After the first year of MiXchange, we were all very close. We had all seriously bonded, especially after Footsteps to Destiny 2021… but then the chaos started. On the 24th of January, the new ‘intake’ arrived. Immediately they doubled the size of the original group and let’s just say, they came in with some big personalities, as I’m sure we did as well but we all refused to acknowledge that at the time.
Now the flow that was originally created was completely interrupted but we were determined to stick close as the original group, keeping the standard where it was set the previous year. Yes, we did have our draw backs where we let our humanity get the better of us a few times but as much as it was a growing experience for the news guys, it was a growing experience for us.
The next sector of the confrontation was the conditioning activation… to be honest, I think this is still a confrontational sector in my life.
We were activated in February 2022 to start morning conditioning, from 7-8 in the morning at the Nature Reserve. Looking at it now, it’s really not bad at all but in the moment, you could have sworn that something terrible had happened in the office. Most people said it wouldn’t last two weeks… well, here we are a year and a half later and it is still full steam ahead!
The conditioning activation went hand-in-hand with the conditioning goals. Ps John wanted us to work towards something so that we could have our eyes and dedication set on something. This was when Race to the Sun and Ultra was introduced. (go check out my conditioning page to read about them.)
Conditioning brought a new discipline into my life that was seriously lacking and without the confrontation and breaking out of my comfort zone, I wouldn’t be able to grow like I have and like I am.
The confrontation is something that doesn’t stop, it is just expressed in different ways in our lives. It’s a beautiful thing but you have to make the choice to see it as that.
The relationship build:
This is a truly amazing sector and it’s also something, like the confrontation, that never really ends.
First, I am building my relationship with the Lord. He is the reason I am here; I am here because I love Him and He loves me. My relationship with God is the most important thing in my life, He is my first priority.
Being in MiXchange, I have learnt how to have a deep and meaningful relationship with the Lord and it’s part of the journey I am on. I am on a journey to new discoveries in Him.
Through the relationship I have with the Father, I am able to build the relationships I have. It’s been amazing to see how my relationships inside and outside of MiXchange have morphed and changed.
Here’s an example: Caitlin and I have always been closer than your regular sisters. However, when she moved to Cape Town and I was becoming more involved in the social aspects of high school, we drew apart… Don’t get me wrong, we still acted like best of friends to everyone else but there was nothing friendly there at all. In 2020 when she moved to Witbank, there was more tension that usual because we were both trying to deal with our own confrontations without addressing the elephant in the room; am I going to join her.
When I made my decision, that tension subsided a bit… but it came right back when it was time for us to live together. It was the first time in three years that we were living under the same roof, but this time we didn’t have the referees of our parents to resolve our conflicts like we had when we were younger. However, as our relationships with the Lord grew personally, our relationship with each other grew. Now, we are on a sweet journey with one another that has absolutely minimal conflict. She really is my best friend. Praise God for that!
The responsibility:
This describes my 2023 pretty accurately so far. Let’s just say that my responsibility has shot up in the last year and I am so grateful for that. Recently, Ps John has been preaching on capacity and energy (Money with a Mission) and how when we dedicate our capacity and energy to the Lord, we will have no empty hours. The Lord has seriously been working with me that my work is my worship. If I view my work as worship, it just removes the ‘me’ aspect of it and changes my focus.
This year, my responsibilities have shifted in ways I never thought was possible.
I’m not going to go in detail about what my responsibilities are specifically because it actually doesn’t matter what they are, it matters how I do it and where my heart is while doing it.
The Holy Spirit is helping me so beautifully in this and I know He will continue to help me as I go on my journey with Him.