Upon informing my family and friends about my decision to come on this trip, I recieved many surprised and questioning faces. Their reactions were usually a mix of excitement and skepticism. Some parents would have an overwhelmingly thankful expression on their faces as if their minds were thinking “thank GOD my child isn’t doing that” The follow up questions and comments were more often than not along the lines of “so…you ARE going to College afterwards right?” or “Are you getting paid?”
A few people tell me I have my head in the clouds doing this whole “traveling mission trip stuff”. Others are supportive but make the point that THEY have never personally been “called” to aid people overseas and thank goodness people like me will do it. They expect a spiritual or even physical sign to change their lives and heart for others before even considering the possibility. I actually had one classmate ask why they should care about the nonsense of other countries.
None of this really bothered me at the time, but after the past week I spent in Tacloban, the conceptions and ideas held by many people back home resurfaced to frustration. I don’t understand when people say they don’t have a heart for ministry or that God just didn’t give them a desire to help children or the oppressed. Or the unspoken truth for some—that they’ve got their own life to take care of.
Personally, I do not believe that if we are actively pursuing the heart of God then it is possible to remain apathetic towards his people. Whether they are down the street or across the world, it is the simple duty of being a part of humanity to aid a neighbor in need, even regardless of religious affiliation.
Survivors of all ages stared wide eyed at my team as we stopped to hear their untold stories on the streets of Tacloban. Over 300 students rushed up to get pictures and autographs after we held a presentation in their school debriefing the recent typhoon. Children hid in bushes with timid smiles to watch the white people. One woman choked on her tears as she recounted how she swam with her baby in her arms to higher ground in the storm surge. Destroyed homes laid in ruble. We stood under tarps in makeshift shelters and played with child survivors. Everywhere we walked, there was something to be done. Cardboard posters hung in the streets pleading for help and offering thanks for the aid received. If there is any question to the existence of a need to be filled, it should immediately be forgotten in the face of the obvious desperation for both love and aid in the eyes of these people.
I am not suggesting that people need to pack up their lives and move to a remote country, but I am saying that this blanketing idea of not being given a heart for others should be reconsidered. Whether that means praying, sending supplies, sending others or embarking on ones own adventure. If having my head in the clouds means caring for the people that others will never notice, then by-golly I never want to come down.
So for those still waiting….. here’s your sign.
