It was a rough day at Pan de Vida on Thursday. There was a program hosted for Venezuelans and all staffs and volunteers were busy running around all day.
There are many refugees coming from Venezuela to Ecuador due to the economic corruption that occurred a couple of years ago. This program is to welcome the Venezuelans into the country and provide clothes, food, and information about legal documentations.
My main assignment was to clean and organize the basement full of clothes. The donated clothes needed to be organized by gender, categories, and sizes.
It took five of us to complete the task for two and a half days. On Thursday, we were excited as we lined all the items on the outside table for the Venezuelans. Once the door opened, people started to find what will fit them and there were smiles on kids’ faces. Seeing the joy that they had picking clothes made us feel accomplished.
Once the program ended, there were still many clothes left. We were told by a staff that they need to be re-organize and placed back in the basement. If I’m honest, I was frustrated. It took us so long to organize the clothes, they are now all mixed up, and we have to put it back nicely again.
My team and I were feeling exhausted. Since it was a hectic day, it was difficult to be patient. When we were asked to leave later, our faces said “no” but we had no reason not to stay for an extra help.
Coming back that day, there were many emotions and thoughts running through our minds. For me, I knew I needed to re-evaluate my attitude and purpose towards serving.
My team and I are here in Pan de Vida to serve the Lord. We went in thinking we’ll play with kids, pour into families, and build relationship. But what we’re asked to do is sweep the floors, clean the bathrooms, and brush the walls. Yes, it was frustrating at first, but the experience serving at Pan de Vida has taught me a lesson.
Serving isn’t easy and it may not be fun all the time.
Some days we clean and do things that people won’t even notice. It may seem pointless especially when we flew from a different country “just” to sweep the floor. But as I’m spending time with the Lord to go over the purpose of this trip, I realized there’s much more to that.
We serve to show God’s love. We serve to show people that they are worthy.
I cannot image the amount of time I’ve disappointed Jesus in my poorly made decisions. He wants the best for me yet I get distracted by earthly things. But He will never ever abandon me. He gives me grace that I don’t deserve. He lighten my path when I feel stuck. The reason I serve is to show others this love that we all can’t comprehend.
What an opportunity it is to show love by cleaning and organizing. I want to be a servant who is willing to sacrifice time and selfishness to show others their worth, because God has done so for me first.
