“Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause
As I walk from earth into eternity”
My whole life, it has been on my heart to go out and serve people that are in great need in other countries. I heard the statistics that talk about how many people die of hunger (approximately 15 people every minute, in case you were wondering), I discovered the sobering reality that women today are still sold into slavery (sex slavery, to be exact), I’d see the commercials and videos through organizations like World Vision that show the extreme poverty and suffering that so many people in the world go through, and there was a voice whispering from within telling me to go and help.
Last year, I had my first real opportunity to do this, and as soon as I found out that the church I was a part of was taking a trip to the Philippines, I signed up. I left last November to go to Laoag, a city in the northern part of the Philippines, with a group of 6 other people.
While in the Philippines, God truly broke my heart for what breaks His. Never before have I seen poverty like I saw while in the Philippines. The normalcy of not having a proper bed to sleep in or running water to use. The regularity of using a slab of concrete as a toilet, or a bucket of water as a shower. The smallest things that we don’t even think to appreciate are a luxury to so many people in this world. And yet, I saw more generosity in two weeks of being in the Philippines than I’ve seen in my entire life. I saw what it looks like to give everything out of nothing, and I was in awe of the selfless hearts these people have. While there, I realized how much I could give out of the surplus that I am blessed with, not only monetarily, but, more importantly, by being generous in giving my time to serve others.
It’s so easy to turn a blind eye to the needs and sufferings in this world because it’s too confronting. It’s easier to put the responsibility on others and allow them to make the difference. How often do we choose to ignore that whisper from within saying to do something? Please don’t let that happen to you. I’d challenge you to start to listen to that voice telling you to reach out and help, whether that be donating to mission work like mine or offering to buy the homeless man you pass by on the street a meal and listen to his story. Whatever you do, don’t let your life go by without doing all you can to serve and bless others with the resources you have.
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