RLabs Colourfully Illuminates Courageous Women
On 25 August we hosted a gala event at our DLabs premises, where we celebrated the wonder women who made, and continue to make this organisation the loving, inspiring, nurturing environment it is. From the red carpet to the sound and light show, from the game changing announcements, to the powerful performance by Juju Domingo, it’s been a while since we’ve been able to host a milestone event of this calibre.
For women’s month we decided that we are simply not going to confine our celebrations to August alone. Since we have the supermoms at IDM to thank for laying the foundations of our organisation, and the wonder women who run the organisation so innovatively and progressively, we will always have a reason to celebrate them. Every milestone we reach will involve a celebration of them and their absolute wealth of contribution toward it.
The night was momentous, as most of the staff have not dressed up to that extent for quite some time, so the occasion held an almost suspicious element of surprise. The fact that we have had some pretty major wins to celebrate this year, you could almost hear people thinking, “wait, what exactly are we celebrating?”
Staff from all tiers of the organisation attended to celebrate the women in the organisation. Our interns humbly and passionately served us beverages and dinner as though we were royalty. Our CEO, Rene Parker did a tribute to the Impact Direct Ministries women who prayed for us, provided the first space for our outreach and even acquired the land for our new DLab before RLabs was even an idea (Pastor Roger has an interesting story about this).
What ultimately makes RLabs what it is, are the particular elements of maternal femininity responsible for creating such a nurturing environment – like gentle accountability, open affection, an obsession with HOPE and the understanding that generously leading with LOVE makes people better people.
If anyone deserves the biggest celebration of the year, they are definitely strong contenders, since the entire culture that made RLabs so effective and brought us this far, was rooted in the love they showed the young people who are now the senior staff leading us so well.
Speaking of which, we also celebrated a particular young woman who has been leading RLabs so passionately for thee longest time, Christine Taphel. She has been with the organisation since the very early days and has not only served the organisation in her diligent, excellent, selfless service, but has especially led by her beautiful example. Her boundless love for everyone, her charismatic, infinite-game style of leadership, has contributed to and shaped the culture of RLabs as we know it.
She really had the spotlight on her. When she went up to address everyone, the audience was drowned in a lack of light, while she was literally shining, in the spotlight, emphasised for all to admire. She wore a shimmering chrome dress, and even the tears of appreciation in her eyes were glistening. This is the emphasis we place on our leading women, who champion the organisation’s cause year in and year out.
It is so important that we celebrate women, not just on Women’s Day or during Women’s Month, but every chance we get, throughout the year. So let’s all find a reason to see them for all they are, and everything they mean to us, and celebrate them as often as possible.
