The spirit of volunteerism
Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too (NLT) Philippians 2:4
The act of volunteerism is one great indication of a charitable spirit. For most people that I meet in my home country, they are only willing to volunteer only when there is something in it for them. That attitude is not even countenanced by the world let alone in Christendom. Throughout every year, Christians should make it their habit to find at least one worthy cause which is in line with their purpose and passion and give it their all without necessarily expecting any payback from the beneficiaries. We can even go the extra mile and use not only our time but our material resources to change lives for the better. When it comes to volunteerism, two characters that come to mind is Mother Teresa of Calcutta and some Spaniards I met at an orphanage.
Mother Teresa was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun. Having seen the abject poverty and deprivation suffered by the people of Calcutta, she left her comfort zone to be with the poor and care for them. Now she has left a legacy of charitable deeds in her trail with her protégés pledging to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor".
The next heroes of volunteerism I want to talk about are some Spaniards I met at Liberty House, an orphanage in a small town in Ghana. From our conversation, I was told that they are a group of volunteers who have decided to come to Africa every summer vacation and visit orphanages and offer them help in cash and in kind. When the director of the orphanage was giving his address, he mentioned two of the volunteers from Spain personally gave the orphanage thirty thousand Ghana cedis (GHC 30,000), which is roughly equivalent to seven thousand five hundred US Dollars (USD 7,500). Without this donation, all the twenty plus orphans would have been evicted from their current location and the director would have suffered incarceration. With this donation, the orphanage is almost through with an outright purchase of the property. The guys in the team also contributed their quota by painting the newly acquired property. Their attire and hands were soiled with the paint but their joy in helping the orphans knew no bounds. I was really touched by their benevolence.
Beloved, doing good is not always about money although it plays a critical part. Giving a part of your valuable time to be with the down-trodden and putting a smile on that woebegone face is the closest thing to Heaven you can ever do. So instead of living for yourself only, be someone's hero in your own small way and I believe that by doing this the world be a viable social environment for the propagation of the gospel.