In the year 2000, several of us at Ancient Path had the privilege to meet a very special woman in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa – a petite woman with a huge dream in her heart. Gail Trollip was obviously a visionary and a compassionate medical professional with a desire to help the most destitute – specifically those infected and affected by the AIDS pandemic.
One day, Gail took us to a large abandoned building and told us about her dream to establish a facility that would care for the chronically and terminally ill in their community. A facility that would be open to all people regardless of race, creed, class or financial standing and a place that would promote healing of the whole person – spiritual, emotional, mental and physical. It was a huge dream, but as Gail spoke the picture formed before our eyes and we could see it becoming a reality.
We felt God’s presence so strongly that day as He broke our hearts with the things that broke His heart. Suddenly AP founder Patt Wadenpfuhl began to sing a song in that place – a song that had been written for our original musical entitled Cries of the City. That’s why we were in Pietermaritzburg that year – to stage Cries with a blended South African & American cast and crew.
As Patt began to sing Moment of Hope it became obvious that this song was written for and belonged to this place and this ministry. We were standing on holy ground and it was a holy moment…one that we’ve never forgotten. In 2004, Gail’s dream came to pass when the Hope Centre opened its doors. Orphaned and abandoned children ranging from birth to 6 years of age live at the Hope Centre, most solely reliant on Tabitha Ministries. But their work is so far beyond what we can tell here. Read all about Tabitha Ministries and the miraculous and life-giving work they do day in and day out on their website – and make sure you sign up for their newsletter. You can also listen to Moment of Hope, the song Patt spontaneously sang that day – also on Tabitha’s website. It’s a live track from the stage show we presented in Pietermaritzburg in September of that year, but the words are the same:
If the only home I hope for is the grave
If life denies the dignities I crave
If all of my tomorrows point to misery and sorrow
This is what I need
A moment of hope in a lifetime of suffering
A moment of joy in a life full of pain
Hope for the future tell me living this life’s not in vain
When desperation causes me to doubt
Why I’m here and what life’s all about
When I’m feeling worthless, unaccepted worn and useless
This is what I need
A Moment of Hope