Hey MDY3ers,
This week has been crazy personally for me and for those who do everything and the kitchen sink, you understand. The week started with best intentions and somewhere by Sunday afternoon, it went into crisis mode and stayed there.
And for doing everything for MDY3 from my kitchen table to the virtual world to MDY3 staffers’ kitchen tables, well, the pile only got higher and deeper – and the rest of the world stuff was on top of it…. so very early this morning (Saturday) I started attacking the piles and that leads us here…
Our guest bloggers for this week are Sonja and Mike. They live in Venezuela and they are some of the kindest people I know. They did what many can only dream of, they made caring their life work. By walking away from the legal and construction fields to start a lifetime of caring for kids in a different country. They learned more of a new language & made family and financial sacrifices all in the pursuit to care a bit deep and to love stronger – to give forward.
Please read and enjoy and then do something….. 🙂
Create Ripples. I Double-Dog Dare You!
If there is anyone more renowned than Mother Teresa for their personal sacrifice to help others, their name escapes me. She once said “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” The “Missionaries of Charity” began with a small band of 12 nuns in 1950 and grew to over 4, 500 operating orphanages in 133 countries around the world. There’s no way to count (or at least no public record) of the number of volunteers who are working diligently on a daily basis or those who might visit for shorter periods of time. But I think it’s safe to say, there are literally millions of people involved with this organization.
Okay, so maybe living a life of avowed poverty on the dirty streets of Calcutta isn’t for everyone. I get that. We have lives. Families. Hobbies. You don’t have to have a passport to make a difference. But you do have to a purpose–a reason, a resolve and an intention.
When my step-son was in middle school and then high school, he was required to complete several hours of community service in order to graduate. Now, as any good parent would do, we asked Jon where he’d like to volunteer his time. His top two choices were the Humane Society and Habit for Humanity. Excellent. But both of those organizations required–you guessed it–parental supervision!
Kitty Kuddlers and Dog Walkers unite!
With school, homework, sports, our jobs, lots of family and myriad of other activities it was difficult to find the time. But we made it work, and we had fun doing it. When the hours were completed, we tried other things. Like volunteering to serve Thanksgiving dinners at a local rescue mission or helping a single-moms ministry. There were lots of opportunities to help others in the community.
Eventually, my husband got to go on a short term missions trip to Prague. A team member couldn’t go at the last minute, and Mike was asked to replace him. It was a great experience and one that he enjoyed so much, when the next trip was announced to El Salvador, he didn’t hesitate to sign up! After he returned, he encouraged me to join a medical team that was going to the same area. That started our love affair with missions that landed us in Venezuela full time working at a children’s home called Samuel’s House!
Some of the kids here come from atrocious circumstances. One boy’s head was essentially used as a “dart board”, only they were sharpened pencils thrown at him. Others were permitted to be raped in exchange for drugs or other things. But this stuff is not limited to Venezuela or other developing countries.
The US Department of State estimates between 14,500-17,500 people (mainly women and children) are trafficked to the US. There are over 100,000 children in the foster care system waiting to be adopted and every year, more than 20,000 “age out” of the system. One-forth of our nations children grow up without learning to read. And this directly relates to high juvenile crime, welfare, and teen-age pregnancy rates.
Hunger. Juvenile delinquency. Teen pregnancy. Eating disorders. Alcohol abuse and binge drinking. Texting while driving. Environmental issues. Animal rights. For just about every problem, there is a “cause” purporting to have the solution. “The greatness of a society is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” I believe people were not intended to live in isolation. We were meant to live in community. To me, this implies shared responsibility. Responsibility not only for the mess we’re in, but also responsibility to clean up after ourselves.
You can’t do it all, but you can do something. Pick up a stone and wing it. Cause some ripples. You could start at your local library. Or maybe a nearby senior center. We are an aging society and many of our elderly are left without friends and family. Feeding centers or food banks; a local rescue mission; a nearby school. Make an investment of your time, your expertise. You can reap great rewards.
Moving Difference 