Hi there! It’s so good to meet you on My Personal Source. I want to welcome you and introduce myself and tell you about how My Personal Source was created.
My name is Monique van ’t Zelfde, born in Rotterdam, 1969. I am a mom of Elisa (2003) and wife of Vincent. I also have a sponsor daughter Benedicte in Ghana who was born on the exact same birthday and year as my daughter Elisa! I was born and raised in The Netherlands in a loving family with normal family blessings and challenges. As a child I wondered if God was real? My mom would say: “If you believe it, then so it is”. What a great answer from a woman who doesn’t know Jesus!
During my childhood I grew up with many insecurities. Thinking back I have always felt different from my friends and I also felt alone and many times not accepted. I had no idea that God could help me and give me peace in challenging times, because nobody in my family and friends believes yet. Looking back at my childhood, I never felt really safe except when I was with my mom.
When I was 17, I finished school and I had no idea what I wanted to do in life. My parents came up with the idea to send me abroad to the USA for a year with a student exchange program. Leaving home, my friends, family and pony was exciting but also difficult. At that time there were only real letters and calling was very expensive. In that year I heard about Jesus. My boyfriend’s family believed in Jesus and sometimes I went to church with them. Again that question popped up in my heart? Is God real? Does he really exist? Time went by and I moved back to the Netherlands and started working as a maternity nurse helping moms and babies.
“Please God, give me a unique idea
so I can bear fruit all over the world”
I was working and living in Rotterdam. A city with 175 different nationalities. In 15 years working in homes taking care of moms and babies I got to meet many people from different backgrounds, countries and religions. Being truly interested in them and helping them in any way I could they gave me their trust in return.They would tell me all their troubles and life stories and I was touched and fascinated how they went about it. Everyone has a story to tell and it’s all valuable and precious because people are precious. Besides that, stories are great to listen to! One family I helped out invited me to their church. During the pregnancy they had been praying for a nurse who had an open heart to get to know Jesus.
Curious as I am, I took their invitation and went with them, week after week, I went and the question, is God real, was again in my mind. I talked to those 2 people about it and they said, start praying and God will make himself known to you at His time. And so it happened and God touched me in a way there was no doubt about it. Now, more than 30 years later, I live again in the USA. This time with my husband Vincent. My daughter has moved back to the Netherlands because of severe homesickness. My life has been a rollercoaster of challenges and blessings but that is what makes life so special and unique.
The idea
During the pandemic in 2020, I followed an online course for Christian women called Powervrouwen www.vrouwen-met-power.nl . They guide you through their program to live God’s purpose. To have a business with God behind the steering wheel. They kept talking about bearing fruit for God’s Kingdom. I ended this course with only one wish. Reaching out to people who don’t know Jesus and help people in need.
I started to pray and pray for weeks: “Please God, give me a unique idea so I can bear fruit all over the world”. I prayed with an intensity that could move me to tears. I was enormously force driven. God would wake me up at night and I would read, worship and pray and God came through and gave me the idea for My Personal Source. The name is a reference to my Source, Jesus Christ.
Joyce Meyer Ministries
I have learned by watching daily the teachings of Joyce Meyer for years and a process of growth and tests have taken place within me. I had to break with being critical and negative and switch my mind to be thankful and trust God no matter what. I noticed I started to really enjoy and love my life and I grew closer and closer to God. In my spirit I got a very strong desire to thank Joyce Meyer for all her teachings and her work helping the poor. I see her as my mom of faith. I have learned and changed so much from her practical teachings and live this in my daily life. When I was done creating My Personal Source, I decided to give it away as a gift to Joyce Meyer Ministries to thank her for what she has meant to me and all she has done for helping millions of people in need. This Source will give an increase for any ministry/company/foundation in the world who’s passion it is to do good in any shape or form.
I hope you will be inspired in giving and sharing! I wish that My Personal Source may bring you incredible joy, a deeper connection to friends and family. That it will bring healing to your soul by writing and reflecting on your life. That it may be a legacy of truth, love, understanding and hope for the future. When you are partnering with My Personal Source you are connected to something bigger than yourself. You are connected to people who want to do good. Who believe there is hope. Your support is changing lives!
Together we can create a movement of Love and Hope.