FLOURISH CONNECTION April 2019 Edition

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THE POWER OF ONE VOICE   Did you know that as of April 2019, there are 7.7 billion people living on planet earth? We may think that in the vast sea of voices in this world, how one voice can make a difference. How can I make a difference? I am sure that there are some of you who feel like you are ONLY a drop in the ocean among many drops in the sea that is lost and can’t possibly be used to make a significant difference. BUT YOUR DROP in the place you are planted is significant. Mother Teresa quotes: "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." Just because we hear a name that becomes well known, that we associate with success, it doesn't mean it makes them more significant in what they do than what you or I am called to do. We cannot compare our lives to someone else's life, telling ourselves that their voice is more influential because they do this or that and I don't. Lizzie Velaquez was an unknown to the outside world, until one day she was found by someone who used their voice for destruction against Lizzie by posting on a YouTube clip 'The Ugliest Women in the World,' referring to Lizzie. The result of this unknown voice was 4,000,000 people visiting this site, one of them being Lizzie herself. A shock to Lizzie of course. That one voice made an impact, but Lizzie did not allow that one voice to rule her life. She chose to use her own voice to turn things around. By creating goals for her life such as becoming an activist for bullying, as well as a motivational speaker to share the message that you can live beyond your circumstances, writing 3 books to encourage others and much more, Lizzie became a household name. The voice that wanted to cause destruction was influential yes, however, we don't recall this person. Lizzie, on the other hand, rose above her difficulties and is now influencing many by using her voice for positive and it started with her one drop in the ocean. Being a household name is not the point, the point is, being responsible to use our voice for what we have been gifted to use it for, whether that be for the one or the many. Our voice counts! Jill from Wollongong, Australia shares a great report with us from a course one of her Flourish facilitators ran.   These girls loved Flourish and they told me that it helped them to understand their true value which had developed a sense of positive self-worth within them. Each of them had a different topic that they liked best but were very impacted by the session on influence. The girls said they had never realised they could have influence because of their circumstances, but after doing Flourish, they discovered that they did have influence and could use it to make school a better place.  Their facilitator told me that one of the girls when she started Flourish, used to hide behind her hair and would never show her face to the group. Since doing Flourish, she has developed strong friendships and feels so confident in who she is now that she never hides behind her hair. She is the girl on the right of this photo with her hair pulled up away from her face and with a huge smile. Flourish has brought freedom to these girls.  RACHEL is one of our newest Flourish Facilitators. I asked her to share with us what she thinks of Flourish. Q: What did you know about Flourish before coming to the Flourish Conference? Rachel: I’d known for some time that Flourish existed, only knowing it was a program for girls/women. It wasn’t until we moved to Hurstville in 2017 into a population that is Australia’s largest Chinese community that Flourish became of interest to me. I was looking for something that would speak into the unique community that I am aiming to reach. And so, I researched a little more about Flourish. Because of its diversity and the fact that it is already written into Chinese, Flourish suddenly became much more interesting. Q: Why did you want to train to become a Flourish facilitator? Rachel: Already passionate about the beautiful girls I had met so far while living in Hurstville, and after being personally impacted at the Flourish conference, it just made sense that I train to be a facilitator so that the women I knew could experience it also. Flourish made sense from a cross-cultural perspective, something that I had found lacking in other programs I had explored. Q: What impacted you the most personally when you were journeying the Flourish Course?  Rachel: With the little research I had done before going to the Flourish conference, as well as the opportunity to spend a week to myself in reflection, the personal impact arrived through the intentional focus on what was happening in me/my heart/my world. Often functioning busily running programs and assisting others, I discovered that I don’t often stop and reflect on my inner world as often as I should. Can I use the term ‘refreshingly confronting’? Q: Where do you hope to run Flourish? Rachel: Firstly, my area of passion is with young mums. However, the more I get to know all of our Chinese women closely, the more I am getting a picture of their deep needs, and my heart is drawn to provide something that will begin the process of healing hurts, bringing peace and freedom. Q: What do you hope to see, would love to see from the participants you run Flourish with? Rachel: From my own experience, I know that Flourish is not simply a ‘feel-good, positive-vibes’ kind of program. I am a very practical person. The theory is fun, but the reward is found in getting your hands ‘dirty’ and producing something amazing. And so, I am keen to see, encourage, support my girls to go through Flourish both courageously and intentionally, to see them come out ‘the other side’ with amazing testimonies.    Q: Would you recommend Flourish to others? Why? Rachel: I sure would. Why? It’s ‘real’, it makes sense, and on a practical level, it is cost-effective and simple to run. It is a catalyst for changed lives, definitely worth it.  To say we are over the moon with how flourishing Flourish is spreading is an understatement. Next month we will be training representatives of several more nations including Bolivia, Nepal, Fiji and more from other parts of Australia.  This truly has gone beyond what we could possibly have imagined in just 4 short years. It's because of teamwork. We are a team, a worldwide team and together, we are seeing girls and women from all walks of life and of all ages regain their personal self-worth. but much more than this, find themselves rediscovering their destined paths. Thank you for being part of our global network of Flourish friends. Click here to view our website Click here to find us on Flourish Global Facebook page Copyright © *FLOURISH*, All rights reserved. *CREATED TO THRIVE* Our email address is: flourish@keystoneintl.org Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*