You guys must be very rich......

~10/6/2013~

I was chatting with this old gentleman at one of the temporary housings. And suddenly, he said this to me, "You guys who came here as volunteers must be very rich. You must have tons of money. That is why you can afford to stop working and come all the way here to help us." He continued, "Even if I want to do the same thing, I cannot afford to do so. No matter how much I would like to serve as a gratitude for all the assistance that I have received so far, I just don't have the money to do it."

I was caught by surprise with such statements. I never for once thought there could be such view on volunteers. This is entirely opposite from my thinking. In my opinion, those that choose volunteering and social works are normally "not that well-to-do" as they would not be receiving too high a pay. What drive them on is their passion for the course of the work and the satisfaction that come from doing the work itself.

But this provides a good opportunity for me to share God's love with him. I told him that I am not rich at all and I came with financial supports from my Christian friends. That the churches back home are concerned about the well-being of the people in these tsunami-hit areas. That every one in the church can play an important role in helping regardless of whether they are rich or not. That those that can go will go, those that can afford to give will give, and those that cannot go or give, they can pray. In fact, all can pray. That we do all these because of God's love. Love that we have received abundantly from God and which we want to share with them. That God loves them too. That our God is big enough to provide all the love and all we need.

I thank God for the opportunity to share this with him. I pray that this will give him some food for thoughts, deeper thoughts that will lead him to seek the GOD that LOVES and PROVIDES for all.