So… Twas a crazy month I had this October, mainly because of the onslaught of a few new work that I have recently taken up, mostly volunteering.
Hence, today I would like to share with you guys some of my experience volunteering in various places.
But first let me quote from the Bible,
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” JOHN 13:34
I remembered the first day I spent in the orphanage. I was nervous, pacing around, trying to make conversations with the people there, with the children, praying desperately that I would not do anything inappropriate. After all, this would mark the first time that I would have to be in close contact with a child for a long period of time. But thank God, the children quickly warmed up to me and my friends and we were soon comfortable around them.
In the beginning, half of the team members took care of the older children, guiding them with their homework, while the other half took care of the babies and toddlers, playing and having fun with them. Everybody was happy with the arrangement, the children too.
However, it did not take long before problems began to surface up, one after the other (I would not go into the details or it will be TL;DR). Soon, it began to demotivate the team members and I stood and watched with my team leader as the numbers of our volunteers begin to dwindle down. Before we knew it, the volunteers dropped from 20 over to a mere 5. Dark times indeed._.
Before we knew it, our time was up. Our 4 month arrangement with the orphanage ended, and we left feeling defeated, unmotivated with a slight sense of guilt and regret for we could not live up to our promises and also we did not actually help the children at all.
And 2011 passed, and in come 2012.
After my midterms were over, I decided to start anew in another establishment, but this time alone. However God had already set his plans in motion. The week I was about to choose a new establishment, my ex-team leader decided to return back to the orphanage and do it right this time round. I was hesitant at first, REALLLLY HESITANT, as the previous experience had already imprinted a bad memory within me and I simply just do not want to re-live that experience all over again - it was a nightmare.
But I remember one Sunday in which I and John were having dinner with Uncle Chong Sheng and Auntie Lai Kiam in a restaurant, and I ask them whether I should continue to serve in Ti Ratana or to move on elsewhere. Now, I do not remember exactly what they have said to me, but I remember that auntie Lai Kiam encouraged me to go on with it, telling me to reach out beyond where I am to others, and that as Christians we should show love to others.
And so, we went back, but not before having meeting after meeting to identify what went wrong previously and also to find a solution to our problems. I remember that there were a few critical issues that we had to deal with if this was to work, and if we could not iron it out, we will have to really give it up. This problems were far beyond our own capabilities and resources to handle, but as I said before, God has already set his plans in to motion.
Everything fell in place. Everything.
We were quite pleasantly surprised the 2nd time we went back. Much have changed in the orphanage, it felt as though God was preparing the stage just for us to come back. And we did.
Though the 2nd time we went back, we only had five of us, yet we finally were able to make a positive contribution to the children there and also form real bonds with them. Ultimately, we managed to prepare a new system in which the next batch of students from HELP could easily adopt, sparing them unnecessary trouble and heartache.
And here I am now, more than a year has passed since I first began to volunteer there. I’m currently serving there for the third time, but our time there is also about to end. Next week will be my final teaching session (though we have 2 more weeks with them to just play with them). As I sit here typing this out, I really Thank God that he has so gracefully allowed me to complete my work here, without any regrets.
But perhaps the one thing that really spoke out to me throughout this entire experience was how tough and challenging it was. I cannot even begin to count the many days in which our patience were pushed to the limit by the children, to have our work trampled upon (literally). And also the many hours in which we have to sacrifice to prepare the materials for the children. Many silent tears were shed, and I remember coming home every night on a Thursday feeling completely exhausted, worn out.
There were times, I felt like just giving up or to just lose my temper and shout and scream at the children, or worse, to simply not care at all for them.
At times like this, the three words “LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR” just keeps playing in my head. And I open my eyes to see beyond myself and look at the child in front of me, my team members, and also to God himself. And it keeps me going.
This chapter in my life is about to end, and I am looking forward to the plans that God has for me, currently I am volunteering in the National Stroke Association and occasionally in Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation, and what strikes me is that there are so much good that needs to be done, surely I alone can’t do much, but just because I can’t do everything for them, it does not mean I should not try to do something for them. God is a super efficient God, nothing is really ever wasted, not your efforts, not your time.
So…. I guess that concludes this post. I thank you all for taking your time to read this. UNTIL THEN!! [GLORIOUS ENDING SEQUENCE]
http://dribbble.com/shots/555271-Love-Thy-Neighbor
http://mrfreakinbrightside.blogspot.com/2011/08/poet-in-me-died-repost.html
http://www.highperformanceatc.com/trainingprograms.html
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