As I get older, one of the common things I hear from friends and colleagues is "when I retire, I'll spend time doing charity work", and it's great to see so many people planning to put their time to helping the under-privileged. In fact, many friends don't even wait for retirement - they already get themselves regularly involved in social work.
When my wife and I were young parents, we decided we would try to let our kids, and indeed ourselves, see that age and timing were not reasons to delay helping others. We went on our first family mission trip when our kids were just 1 and 3, still in diapers and a pram! I remember our teammates were mostly younger than we were, not yet married and with no kids, and one of them told us, I never thought it would be possible to go on a mission trip with infants, but you guys showed me it could be done. Thanks!
Those encouraging words inspired me to continue bringing the kids with us on subsequent mission trips, knowing that if I could find the time and energy to do such work with 2 infants in tow, then surely I could do even more as they grew up. And so we did - upping the difficulty level each time! I must confess, that as the years passed, and the kids got more and more involved with school and so on, they accompany us less and less on these things. But I trust that they remember the life lesson - there's no time like the present to start blessing others, and there's no need to wait!
Just yesterday, we brought a group of friends to the rental block where we've been serving for the past several years with our bread distribution. Since it's Christmas time, we decided to bring Christmas presents, and spend a bit more time with those families which we have grown to know better over the years.
As I've said before on this blog, we're not just distributing food - we're really distributing time and love! One of the families we often visit has our photographs proudly displayed on their wall, right alongside their family photos. This round, I was really touched when I visited a recently widowed lady, and I saw that a photo of my wife and me with her and her husband was also on her wall. It really made the time we have spent building relations all worth it.
Many of these residents have tough lives - and small things can really make a big difference. One of the residents is not very mobile, so he's stuck at home a lot, so we brought him a whole bunch of DVDs, and he was really happy! For those of us lucky enough to have Singtel Mio or Starhub or Netflix, having TV content is a given, but for him, it's a big deal! Another resident was feeling the blues over his nephew who had been living with him and recently passed away after an accident, and I was glad to be there to give a big long hug and a prayer to let him know everything was going to be OK.
The end-of-year period sees many people, including myself, going off on holidays, often with family. I am reminded that not everyone has the privilege of doing so, and that I can do something about that. So - a loaf of bread, some old DVDs, a simple hug and simply, some of my time - these are things that anyone can do. And that I can do now, without waiting for retirement!
My wife recently told me about an old friend of hers, who has 5 kids (five!!), and deliberately chooses to serve her church and community above and beyond what she and her family can do. They do ask themselves - surely God can use a family that has only 4 kids, or 3, or 2, or 1, or maybe a young couple with more time and energy, or even an older couple whose kids have grown up and are independent. Why us? But they choose to take up the privilege of serving, to their credit and their great reward.
May my family and I learn to have this attitude of service! If, as part of your 2019 resolutions, you'd like to join me on this journey, just drop me a line :) A very blessed Christmas to you and your loved ones!
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Matthew 9:37-38
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