Unpacking the term “Channel of Hope”

As you have probably already read elsewhere CABSA conducted our first ever mentor workshop in February. During this workshop we had the privilege of putting more heads together in reflecting and planning together towards CABSA’s mentor plan.

We are most grateful to all the participants for sacrificing their valuable family and personal time to contribute towards this process and are excited to share some of the outcomes with you. We also feel very excited and blessed because of the buy-in and positive responses we received from the participants.

Seven of the participants consequently have committed themselves as CABSA regional representatives for our mentor programme. This makes a huge impact on our capacity to have more comprehensive contact with you as facilitators.

One very important discussion we had was about being a channel of hope. We were in agreement that if we as CABSA facilitators are called to be channels of hope and we wish to encourage one another to be a channel of hope, then it is also important that we unpack this term further.

In our discussion about what the term “Channels of Hope” means the following ideas were shared:
• To be a channel of hope is about bringing and/or reviving hope.
• This hope is defined as hope in our living and resurrected Christ.
• Hope is the evidence of our faith.
• Hope is about life with meaning.
• It is about facilitating and being hope, doing hope and bringing hope.
• Channels are associated with water and water is again a symbol for life.
• It refers to something we need to carry with us – love and compassion – in order to bring hope and reconciliation.
• I am an instrument through which others can access hope.
• A channel connects (and reconciles?) people.
• A channel is manmade – structured and planned with the specific purpose of connecting point A with point B.
• The channel makes hope accessible and tangible.
• A channel is not the owner of the water or hope it carries; it is just the tool or vehicle that moves the water.
• It is about a specific presence – experiencing God’s presence and about representing God’s presence, being ambassadors.

You may have other associations with the term “channels of hope” and are most welcome to share that with us.

I am thus inviting you to please take a few moments and reflect on what it means for you to be a channel of hope within your present community and church. Let us encourage one another to remain committed or recommit ourselves to live a life that brings living and tangible hope to a world confronted with HIV.

Aneleh