This time last year I was getting ready for my first Missions Trip. I was heading south to Argentina where I would be working in a very unfamiliar environment - a poor town run by an order of nuns and priests, comprised of orphans, and mentally and physically handicapped men and women. I was digging out my t-shirts and shorts, doing laundry, and feverishly trying to figure out how to prepare myself for my trip.
This year, I am sitting and remembering everyone I met and how much they touched me. I am thinking of how all the little kids are preparing for, and getting excited about, Christmas, New Years Eve and 3 Kings Day. I can’t help getting lost in all my memories from my time with this community and feeling a little sad that I am not returning. These thoughts bring me back to their needs and the poverty that surrounds them - poverty you can’t turn a blind eye to. It is from this contemplation that an idea strikes me.
I realize that I have been looking for ways to help give back this holiday season and here is a community I am capable of assisting. And added bonus, it's a community I have a personal connection to. I don’t have to go on this year’s trip and be physically present for these people to receive my love and support. I can help them from home by donating clothes I no longer wear, old jewelry I don’t use anymore, and purchasing some first-aid products.
This year, I am sitting and remembering everyone I met and how much they touched me. I am thinking of how all the little kids are preparing for, and getting excited about, Christmas, New Years Eve and 3 Kings Day. I can’t help getting lost in all my memories from my time with this community and feeling a little sad that I am not returning. These thoughts bring me back to their needs and the poverty that surrounds them - poverty you can’t turn a blind eye to. It is from this contemplation that an idea strikes me.
I realize that I have been looking for ways to help give back this holiday season and here is a community I am capable of assisting. And added bonus, it's a community I have a personal connection to. I don’t have to go on this year’s trip and be physically present for these people to receive my love and support. I can help them from home by donating clothes I no longer wear, old jewelry I don’t use anymore, and purchasing some first-aid products.
It is such a simple gesture to give away items you own and no longer use, but to the person(s) receiving these gifts, it can mean the world! And it is from these simple gestures that we can receive the greatest pleasures.
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