This mentorship has definitely helped me to know myself, which is something I struggled with a lot.
My name is Cassandra Tchakoute and here is my story. First of all, I am tremendously grateful to God and PTA and the ministry of House of Praise for this amazing opportunity. I’ve been an active member of HOP for 5 years now, and I have always admired PTA. This is no flattery, but really, I just admired how strong she appeared. She is really confident about who she is, unapologetic and to me it’s just fascinating because it’s different. I don’t usually see that amongst African and colored women, especially women in ministry. Usually women in those scenarios always seem so shy and “tamed”. But she’s respectfully and boldly her, so I definitely wanted to know her secret. Thank you for teaching me to be that unapologetic “Jesus girl”. This mentorship has definitely helped me to know myself, which is something I struggled with a lot. People always had something to say about me. From what I should do or study, how I look or what I should look like, even how I should even talk… It was a lot. Over time, these things, plus other personal experiences, started to affect me. They influenced what I did and say, how I reacted to certain situations, and even my belief system.
This mentorship program has helped me re-evaluate myself. I got to look at my worldview and what shaped it, and how to reshape. It helped me re-define my worldview and mental maps, or at least be intentional about reframing them. I still remember just taking time after every class to digest what had been discussed because every piece of knowledge was just mind blowing. What I loved the most is that it wasn’t complex, but it just wasn’t unraveled to me before. You know when you read a bible verse over and over again, until that day when God peels off the layers from it and you’re like “WOAH! It’s been there all this while?” That’s how the mentorship program was for me. It was really a season of learning, unlearning, and relearning.
One major takeaway from the mentorship is my value system. Honestly, that has changed the game for me. In terms of how I interact with others and myself. The same way we ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?”, now I do life asking myself “What would the new Cassie do?” What would Cassie, based off these new values based on the Word of God, do that the old Cassie wouldn’t have done (and vice versa). As simple as that sounds, it made my life so much easier because it made my vision so much clearer. My value system is like a filter. It filters everything that comes in and goes out, so anything (or anyone) not in line with it has to go. It has made me so much more confident about who God made me to be.
Another major takeaway, out of many, was the revived desire to fulfill destiny. Listen, I am going to fulfill destiny and that’s on PERIOD. I have recently felt a different and new surge of confidence in who God is (first of all), and who I am because of who He is. This has given me a new desire to know Him even more and because of that I just want to please Him. Sounds cliché maybe, but I really do want to make God proud. I want to make myself proud and other people too, yes, but really my main audience is God. Now taking in this new-found zeal and mixing it with some solid values, I feel unstoppable. I am not willing to, and I will definitely not take anything less than God’s standard for my life. This includes every areas of my life: finances, relationships, career, etc. Even I won’t allow myself to be sub-par. There’s no pressure now, but just a strong desire to be and do better.
Since the mentorship, I have had so many conversations that seem tough with many people around me, but it has been so liberating. I just wanted my circle and environment to know that I feel new. Sounds weird to say, but I’ve been able to breathe again. Before the mentorship, I felt like I was existing and not living. And I was too shy to live my Christian baby girl life, always so worried of what people would say. But now, I’m me men! I’m intentionally becoming who God called me to be, not what the world or an aunty think I should be. It’s so freeing because it is such a breath of fresh air. My biggest battle is me in mind, and the mentorship was truly a wind from heaven to blow away so many strongholds and mindsets. I am still in the process of getting better but I’m so glad and excited about what I know now.
It’s been almost a month now and I still go over my notes. They are still so relevant and I’m constantly learning from them. I can’t wait for the next available mentorship program. Thank you PTA for letting God use you this way. I am very grateful, and I pray that God will increase your territory and your cup will never run dry. I appreciate and love you very much, God bless you!
