*Taken from a journal entry written on 5/14:
This month we are working in a charity shop in an expat village that sort of resembles the States. We fold clothes, sort books, and act as Santa’s elves doing quality control checks of the games and toys that are donated. While wholly effective in itself, the shop is also an epicenter for tangible love that is spread throughout the country and beyond.
We have been able to be a part of some of those as well- from packing warm clothes for victims of the earthquake in Nepal, to visiting foster homes and “baby homes” (literally homes full of babies with medical conditions and no families that are cared for and nursed back to health) that the shop supports, to witnessing a woman spend all day on a train to come to the shop to thank everyone personally for paying for an operation that saved her grandson’s life (in this country, you pay up front for medical care…if you can’t pay, you don’t receive care). It’s humbling to witness. Everyone who works at and volunteers at the shop are people who are constantly looking for the next way to help. It’s incredible.
Last Saturday, the shop held an event. About 20 different charities and organizations came and had a sort of boutique in the courtyard of the charity shop. In this country, philanthropy is a newer concept. Traditionally, it’s all about the family. You take care of them. Period. But many don’t have the luxury of a caring family. So, there in the courtyard, were 20 different groups of people who are living counter-culturally. 20 groups of people dedicated to helping others. There they were with their tables lined with brochures, information, and products. There were soaps made by adults with Down syndrome, bakeries with (delicious) baked goods baked by children with disabilities and people with mental disorders (cleverly called “Crazy Bakes”) that give these people living in a society that tries to shove them out of sight a way to make it in the world. There were handicapped people selling incredible art and a Tibetan woman who chose not to sell her son, but to make jewelry to support him instead (and show other women that it can be done). Selfless, wonderful, incredible people.
There was even a presentation done by kids from the local hospital. Here these kids were, battling leukemia and they were doing a singing presentation to raise money for their friend who had been in a terrible accident and needed help. Others. Helping others. Everyone looking to help everyone else. It was a beautiful picture.
As I was walking around trying to capture the picture with a camera for the shop, it hit me: Everyone here is better than me.
I know, I know, not really better. I know we are all equal in God’s eyes and all that, but I was radically humbled in that moment, surrounded by so many people who are dedicated to other people. That’s love. And that’s what we’re supposed to look like. Outward, not inward.
It was also a good reminder as I’m beginning to gear up for home. I find my thoughts wandering to myself often. My present, my situation, my people, my future. That day was a reminder that, even at home, it’s not about me.
Life will look a lot different than it did this past year, but just because you’re not on foreign soil doesn’t mean you’re not part of humanity. There’s a responsibility we have- especially us Christians- to practice what we preach, to operate in a state of “otherness”. Yes, you are very, very important. But so is the guy sitting next to you.
Your life can impact and change the world. Or it can’t. To quote Gandalf, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” So what do you do? Do you hoard it and keep it all to yourself? Or do you share it?
I hope to remember this when my feet hit American soil. When all the advertisements trick me into thinking that it’s all about me because I’m so great and I deserve the best. I hope to remember that, at a charity shop in a country that puts literal chains on people who preach the word of God, there is a group of ordinary people living their lives extraordinarily for the “least of these”. It’s all kinds of inspiring.
No matter who you are or what you do, there is always someone who needs you. And when you are focused outward and on others, your eyes will be opened to see them. You have purpose and you have power. Use it wisely. Gandalf’s conclusion is also mine when he says that, “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
I love and miss you all and am grateful for all of the kindness, love, and support you have given me this past year. Like Bilbo, I am weary from the quest (dragon slaying is tired business) and excited to get back to the Shire, but I am a changed hobbit because of the journey. Thank you, once again, for being an integral part of it.
Love,
