| | God’s blessed me with beautiful people in my life – and some of these beautiful people I have never met.
These beautiful strangers, along with people I hold close to my heart and others who have a special place in my life, have shown love for their brothers and sisters, who are strangers to them, through their donations, their thoughts, their prayers.
They’ve helped make our world a smaller place. They’ve done their part in this “fight against terrorism” we are always hearing about by showing love and understanding, by reaching out, by letting their hearts pass across oceans and cultures and touching lives that they’ve only read about.
From 2004 to 2007 while I was in Buduburam, friends, family and strangers (who heard about me from the Hear and Dare or from mission appeals or through word of mouth) have placed confidence in my judgment to do the best with the gifts they have sent my way. I know many people sacrificed to help me with the work I was doing over the past 3+ years.
And people were creative in finding ways to help. I want to seriously thank everyone who supported the Liberian refugees over the past few years through their donations entrusted to me, their thoughts and their prayers. And I’d like to share a few of their stories:
When the father of a good friend of mine died, his family asked friends, rather than sending flowers, to make donations toward the work I was doing.
This man, through his friends and family, provided lunches to the students at the School for the Deaf for 1 full school year.
By asking for wedding gifts of donations to a particular woman’s education fund, my sister, the man who is now her husband, and those who helped them celebrate their love, made it possible for one young woman to get through her first year of university. They have plans to see her through her entire education by doing fundraisers in the future. (One raffle, which included an afghan my mom made, beer my sister’s husband brewed, wine his parents made, and a few souvenirs from their wedding, has already taken place.)
Several people let their loved ones know that their birthday and Christmas gifts were donations to help the refugees.
Strangers have made periodic, regular donations, which always seem to reach at exactly the right time.
Several people focused on a specific direction for their assistance. For example, education – one woman and her husband have made it possible for 4 people to complete university (two completely, one for an emergency couple of semesters, and another for all but the first semester).
A couple of people have periodically sent boxes with supplies. These supplies have included sign language books, 2nd hand clothes, peanut butter, candy – basically anything that they thought would be useful for the people I was working with. One friend
filled a box with jewelry she had asked her friends to send to help a woman get a small jewelry- selling business going so she could meet her son’s medical needs. And a few boxes even focused on making my life a little easier (and making it possible for me to stay mentally healthy).
One friend gave up a vacation she had planned and sent the money to help someone receive needed surgery. Someone else asked her church’s congregation to give their Lenten offering to make it possible for another refugee to receive spinal surgery.
The list goes on. And the point is that people sacrificed in creative ways and did what they could to make it possible for the refugees I was working with to improve their lives.
Friends, family and strangers reached out to help complete strangers. The world is big, but this kind of love is making it smaller every day
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