Today’s testimonial is from Royalty Tenuke Doyley. This young lady is making such an amazing impact and must be highlighted. I had the privilege to serve with her on her Sistah’s United Project where she provided mentorship to the young ladies at the Mary’s Child Girls Home. She not only cater for their emotional and spiritual needs but also their physically needs, where she got contribution of baby supplies, women supplies and even got the girls Bridgette Sandals to show them they are true royalties and they are worthy of everything the King gives them. Her testimony is so powerful from being homeless, teenage pregnancy, living in Girl’s home to traveling all over the world singing and now completing her Bachelors degree.
Let me share a bit in her own words:
“My name Tenuke – means ‘blessed from the womb’ and that isn’t a mistake, because my life has been more than a miracle. I was born in Trench Town, Jamaica on Second Street to be exact. Growing up in Trench Town was very difficult; I lived in a yard that didn’t have the basic amenities so I would have to go somewhere else to use these amenities. All my life my mother was a domestic helper. My mother didn’t go to school, but she was quiet exposed because of the people she worked for. When you saw me you wonder if I was from ‘uptown’ because I had to speak proper English at all times or I would be in big trouble with mom. I have my days of hunger and suffocation but mommy made it so easy to go through it because she was there. Mom fell into some hard times and we moved from Trench Town. Mommy didn’t have it figured out and I didn’t want to be without her so we started sleeping in class room at a primary school in Portmore, St. Catherine on a white door covered with a green frilly sheet and my pillow were three plastic bags with clothes. We could only enter the school after the principal had left and that would be at about 6pm and we would have to be out of the school in the mornings by about 6am. And I remember mommy use to get my uniform washed and she would wring the uniform in a big red towel until it was almost dry then she would go get it ironed. . There was point when we use to sleep at Portmore mall for a few years – Mommy would sit up while I slept in her lap. Those days were hard, so hard but we got through it. God took us through it. After a while started to look and we got a place in Independent City, where we lived for a while. Until the house was burnt out and mommy suffered 1st degree burns and she spent 2 years in the hospital. Doctors said that she wouldn’t walk again. But of course God had a different plan. She can more than walk, she’s well. While she was in the hospital I was here, there and everywhere… things just spiral out of control BUT GOD…. Honestly, I would have to write a book about my journey but looking back on my life I still can’t imagine how I’ve been able to get through all that I have been through and still be so whole. It has been a quite a journey and still is. I have had moments where I have been so broken, but God put me back together again. And it made me realize that nothing I go through is by chance – trials are meant to break us but to make us stronger.
My mantra is – I am exactly where I am supposed to be and I am exactly who I am supposed to be… So no matter how dismal our situation is we have to learn to accept before we can change. All our life’s experiences are there to either make us win or learn.