No, I don’t have an unexpected windfall from a game show to share with you, but I do have a touching story from teaching.
One of the classes we teach the most is an ESL Conversation class for the Pre-College and First Year students at ITCS. We have covered a variety of “getting to know you” questions, from number of siblings and favorite colors to plans for the future and parents’ jobs.
Yesterday in class, we split the students up into groups of three and gave them four questions to discuss amongst themselves. Two of my teammates and I would pop in and join the conversations. The last two groups I chatted with had already finished talking about the questions we have written for them, so I decided to think of a new one for them.
With both, I asked, “What would you buy if you had $1 million?”
Without fail, each student replied with a variation of, “I would sponsor poor families by giving them food and sending their children to school. Maybe I would buy a house where they could live. I would also help the church and my family.”
As my teammate Kelsey said when I told her this, how many Americans would have said the same thing?
Even I, having recently visited some of the poorest countries in the world, first thought of the Beauty and the Beast style library that I would be able to build. (To save face, I said I would open the house containing this library to anyone who needed a place to stay, but I didn’t come up with that idea on my own.)
But these sweet students, despite not having “enough” in comparison to Western standards, didn’t think about themselves. They thought only about the people they could help if they had the ability.
Having just had Veteran’s Day/Armistice Day at home, a day set aside for remembrance and gratitude, I invite you to consider how you are using the blessings God has given you. Is there something you’ve been considering doing for another person, but haven’t acted on? Have you ever thought about sponsoring a child or funding a micro-loan? Is there some cause you’ve been thinking about supporting, financially or otherwise? (I’m fundraising til the end of the year, if you need a suggestion!)
Whatever it may be: Go for it! You may not be a millionaire, but you can still make a huge difference in someone’s life.
(And here’s a picture of Angkor Wat, because it’s stunning. We spent hours there our second day in the country and yet it was not nearly long enough!)
