In the mission ministry I am lucky to have a front row seat to see good things happening every day. I come to work and talk to people who want to find new ways to serve, I receive emails and calls from all sorts of folks who are just looking for ways to plug in and help. A common phrase is, “I have some time. Where can I serve?”
What a joy to help make those connections, but it’s also a responsibility I take seriously. Whether it is the Community Market, Meals on Wheels, Reading Buddies, Rebuilding Together or any number of places, I want the work we do to make a difference and not just fill someone’s free time. It’s important that the help we do is meaningful and serves a greater good. Or is it?
I used to work hard to match the right volunteers to the perfect job, to make sure that every job and every task was needed, that time was considered and that every moment seemed to value the time of the volunteer and gave back in some meaningful way. Then I began to witness what I call the “small things”. These “small things” were all those extra little moments of good that weren’t on a task list, they weren’t a part of a volunteer sign-up, in fact they weren’t really things we could list at all—but boy were they valuable. Sometimes they were simply having volunteers assist in throwing out the trash and then see them take the time to separate the recyclables from the trash, just because they should. Or watching a volunteer give up their regular volunteer spot so that someone new had a place to help. Maybe it was seeing someone spontaneously praying with a client—just because that person said they had not been feeling well or had a tough day. Or watching a Community Market volunteer walk a client all the way home with a box or bag of food just because they could see the client might need a little extra hand that day. I watched as a volunteer lovingly planted some flowers for a senior client, flowers they had bought and brought themselves to a Rebuilding project—they just wanted the homeowner’s front yard to “look pretty.” Everyone can contribute something—on one of our community market stops we have a volunteer that is also a client. Each week we are there, he waits for the truck to arrive, he directs us into a parking place, opens the door and offers his hand to help us out of the truck and then unloads tables, carts, sorts produce talks to everyone and stays to the end to pick up trash. His contribution might be small at times, but his presence reminds us that everyone can be a part and do good.
The small things that get done by those who help are just as valuable, just as critical as all the big things that must happen to do a job well. Even though we can’t list the small jobs, or we can’t always anticipate those small tasks—they are still important and those “small things” become valuable to the experience.
I often wonder if volunteers get tired of doing good for others. Oh, I know they work hard, I know they grow physically weary—but rarely do I see them refuse to continue to do good things.
I’m reminded of several verses that encourage us when we are tired: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 and maybe one of the best reminders in Proverbs 3:27— “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”
Be encouraged my friends, doing good is in every effort small and large. You do not have to do it all, you do not have to do it best, it does not need to be a perfect fit—just do good.
Lori Hall, Executive Director of Missions
