Today, one orange. This is the phrase I say about a thousand times a day while working in the food distribution location. I have been working with an organization called Praxsis. I have become a certified orange giver. I have the job of deciding which oranges to give out and which ones need to be thrown away due to mold or soft spots.
The sorting part is not the hard part. The handing out the food part is where it sometimes gets hard. Many times there are children who are skipping in the line and will come right in front of me and hold up the line as I am trying to serve the people and children who have patiently waited for their turn. I have seen grown men skip the line and expect that if they wink at me and give me their best smile that I will give in and give them an orange, but that does not work or they will demand an orange and if that does not work then they will try to grab the orange out of my crate. I sometimes will give into the children because they are children and I see the example that some of the adults are giving, so I can understand their behavior a lot more.
I have had people yell at me for not being able to give them more than one orange. I have had a teenage boy grab a big rock and hold it in his hand while standing in front of me determined to hold up the entire line because he was mad that I would not give him a second orange when he demanded me to. (Through moments like that, God has still given me a peace while working and I have not felt threatened by these people including in that situation.)
REGARDLESS
I love working with Praxsis and being able to distribute food to these people. There are always going to be people that want to go against the rules and push the limits, but there are so many more that are thankful for the food and are willing to wait in line over and over again to get food for everyone in their family. I have people telling me “thank you.” I have little children that wait in line and are happy to receive the one orange that I can give to them. It’s beautiful. I am able to show Jesus’ love by being the hands of Him as I pass out these oranges with a smile on my face and kindness in my voice. I am able to be His feet as I stand for multiple hours in the same spot handing out orange after orange.
One of my favorite things is when one of the people in line says shukraan (thank you in Arabic) to me after I hand them an orange and then they hear me say in reply afwan (welcome in Arabic). I do not think that they expect me to want to learn Arabic. Little do they know that I have always wanted to learn Arabic.
I always enjoy seeing the surprise on their face when I speak back in their language. I realized that many times I hear thank you more than shukraan and I was a little sad because I wanted them to say “shukraan”, so I could say “awfon.” But I realized they are trying to surprise me as much as I am trying to surprise them. They think I don’t expect them to know English, so I instantly smile when I hear them say “thank you” and I reply with “awfon.” It’s beautiful because we are simply two humans longing to make a connection.
Jesus is showing me so much, while working at Praxsis. I may not get opportunities to speak about Jesus to these people, but I hope that through my actions they are able to see Jesus in me. I hope that Jesus is able to move in their lives in a mighty way. I could easily have been in this same situation and have to rely on others to serve me food. I am blessed beyond measure and because of that Jesus specifically states in the Bible “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required;…” Luke 12:48. I refuse to let my requirement go unfulfilled.
