Many people would rather erase this year 2020 from the calendar, mainly because of the pandemic and the many other limitations and challenges that came with it.
Countless travel plans were cancelled. Companies went bankrupt. Millions lost their jobs and some others struggle to survive after a greatly reduced income. Some are having trouble finding a job while others don’t know whether they would die from the pandemic or from having nothing to eat.
Once again, we were reminded that wealth, strength, influence, and accomplishments have their limitations. In the end, no matter how wealthy, healthy, or powerful, God still has the final say. We could choose to view this truth either with a resigned attitude or a hopeful one.
I choose the latter. Instead of boring you with updates about covid and how it continues to affect our lives, I’d like to share something good that came out of it.
The past few days, while many people were busy shopping and preparing to welcome the coming year, my parents and their small group members who regularly meet to study the Bible got busy shopping and planning too, but not for themselves but for the less-privileged children in the community, as well as their parents. They spent months meeting and polishing their plan for the event that culminated yesterday.
There were two sessions – one in the morning and another in the afternoon. The first one was for kids eight to 11, while the afternoon session was for those 12 to 16. There were 20 kids in all, not including their parents. Since they had to practice social distancing, they also had to limit the number of participants.
It was a simple program and a small start but very encouraging nonetheless. How I wish I were home to witness it and take part in the activities. Still, just looking at the pictures and hearing what the participants and volunteers had to say, it’s evident that everyone came away with their hearts full.
In fact, Aesa and Jonathan, the young couple who met several times with Mom and Dad to come up with the ideas for the children’s program, was celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary that same day. Instead of choosing to celebrate it by themselves, they chose to bless the kids and spend time serving them. “It was the most meaningful wedding anniversary we had,” they shared.
It was a great team effort as even the other couple who helped shared plenty of resources and made sure there will be medical equipment and proper measures were taken to ensure the safety and protection of participants. Even their young adult kids helped in entertaining the children. Another couple from overseas blessed everyone by making their beautiful vacation place, Vista Berge to be the venue for the program.
Still other members and volunteers chose to talk to the kids and lead discussions. Even my aunt participated. They were surprised by how smart the kids were and how profound their observations.
I’ve spent almost seven years away from home teaching kids not from my own country, and there were times when I marvel at just how privileged the kids here are. They have all they need and their country can even afford to pay for foreign language teachers in public school. Meanwhile, there are countless kids in my own country walking kilometers without proper footwear just to attend school. Even those who are not so unfortunate don’t have the resources available here so part of me hopes that somehow, they will be blessed too.
Who would have taught that this will come to pass in the midst of the pandemic that everybody so dreads? It started with a dream my uncle and his sibling and their spouses in Canada had to help the underprivileged kids back in their native land. While it’s easy to forget about home and enjoy the fruits of your labor in the foreign land you’ve come to call home, they were moved to do something upon seeing how kids there have plenty while the kids back home suffer even more due to the pandemic and the recent typhoon.
They, my Dad’s siblings, and their spouses made up their mind to send money as a donation to fund a program that would bless the kids of the nearby community. Being actively involved in the small group and many other activities involving ministering to people, Dad was tasked to oversee the ministry, something that he took seriously and spent countless hours, days, and weeks preparing for.
Everyone acted according to their faith and their desire to bless the less unfortunate. One thing I’ve learned from this is that you don’t have to be Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos in order to make a difference or be generous to others. Wherever you are, no matter how bad you think your situation is, there’s always someone else worse off than you are. It’s not the amount or the size of the gift that matters, it’s the heart behind it.
I think that aside from the many other lessons this pandemic has taught us, another important one is that instead of looking at ourselves, we choose to look at others and see how we can bless them.
Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves during this pandemic, we can treat it as a catalyst to look beyond ourselves and what we can do to ease others’ pain, for when we refresh others, we ourselves will be refreshed.
This is why seeing and hearing about this encourages me so deeply. It reaffirms the truth that God will make happen for you what you make happen for others. As I stay faithful and do my best to bless people here, He will be faithful to take care of my family and my countrymen as well.
The Adventures of Sarah Sensei 