Volunteering

Hanna Raus, Online Editor|December 14, 2017

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“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject, and your verb agrees to serve….You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” These are the wise words of Martin Luther King Jr. and are valid. When you can serve and open your eyes to so much more in this world, your life is changed by love. My love for serving and volunteering started in Haiti. My dad had asked me if I wanted to go down to his mission base in Haiti for a week. I wasn’t sure what this would consist of or what I should expect, but I was excited about a new experience. Little did I know that trip would change my life.
When I stepped off the plane in Haiti, you could immediately see the destruction all around. There were piles of trash stacked up all around the streets as high as the remaining buildings. In 2010, there was a catastrophic earthquake that ruined Haiti. Haiti has still not been able to recover, and it is heartbreaking. From the airport, it was about a four-hour ride to the mission base we’d be staying. On the trip over I could see how vibrant this culture was. There were not many places for the Haitians to live, so they were all on the streets with each other: Some dancing, others selling fruits and vegetables. I was amazed at the destruction of everything around them, but how they weren’t letting this affect them or their lives. During this trip, we went to a jail, worked around the base, and did home visits. Home visits are one of the things that hit me hard on this trip. We would fill our backpacks with rice and beans and go out and knock on someone’s hut and ask to talk with them. We brought them food, but more importantly, showed them love in such a simple way. When you got to a person’s home, they would instantly hop up and find all the chairs around possible so that you had somewhere to sit. They have the absolute biggest hearts, and it was such a beautiful thing to see. These Haitians, who have absolutely nothing, have a twinkle in their eyes filled with joy. They get the point of life. I quickly realized on this trip that I put so much of my happiness into the wrong things, and I’d never be fulfilled in life doing that.

When I got home from this trip, I knew I had to make a change in my life. I was always one of those people that saw the sad commercials or people on the street and said I wanted to help, but I never got to that step of actually doing anything. I decided to reach out to a lady at church to whom I was close. She told me so many different things we could do where we live. I had no idea how easy it could be. Talking with her a while, we decided we would go to a homeless shelter once a week. For the past three years, I have been going to The Gardens Shelter and bringing some love and joy to these mothers and kids in the shelter. My heart has completely changed since I started volunteering. There is a whole new level of happy that I didn’t know was possible.
I think so many people over think what it means to volunteer and serve. It can be a big mission trip, but it doesn’t have to be. You can start with little things. There are so many volunteering opportunities all around that can completely change your life as it changed mine. Serving can begin with something as simple as throwing away your friend’s trash at lunch or maybe just holding the door for someone. Service comes from a heart full of love and makes the world such a better place. Being able to experience this service can open your eyes to a whole new world. I realized how much I had taken for granted, from a warm shower to an education. I have become much more thankful for simple things, like a bed without a bug net over it, throughout all of my experiences.