Seizing the opportunity for service

The September 2009 issue of Guideposts contains an inspirational story about a man named Kenneth Behring. He had been a successful businessman and was quite prosperous by most standards. He wasn’t satisfied, though. He said, “I lacked purpose, something you achieve by giving your heart, time, and money to provide a better life for another – without seeking anything in return.”

So he watched for an opportunity to find such a purpose. In time, he became aware of the desperate need for medical supplies and equipment in many countries. He began to help with relief efforts. And a need he hadn’t foreseen became obvious to him. He recognized that “there were hundreds of thousands of people who were outcasts because they couldn’t walk – people who couldn’t be part of family activities or hold down jobs. People who spent their years lying in bed, isolated and alone”.

So Ken created the Wheelchair Foundation. In less than 10 years, 750,000 wheelchairs have been provided to people in 153 countries. In one instance, a man from Zimbabwe crawled 12 miles to the distribution center in hopes of receiving a wheelchair. The following year, the Wheelchair Foundation returned to the area. The man had again traveled 12 miles – this time in his wheelchair – to thank them once again.

As I read this story, I was both touched and, perhaps, a bit troubled. Certainly I don’t anticipate being able to start a foundation that has such far-flung impact. I don’t have resources to give away 75 wheelchairs, let alone 750,000. And I may feel a bit of self-reproach at not feeling called to such a ministry.

But then I read the last paragraph of this article:

“Ken doesn’t see what he does as extraordinary. ‘You don’t have to have a lot of money to do something good for someone else. You can start out small – a kind deed, a loving gesture. Those small acts multiplied can change lives.’”

No, I’m not called to supply wheelchairs to needy people around the world. And I don’t have the funds to launch a philanthropic effort on the scale of Kenneth Behring’s. But God has some purpose in mind for me, I feel sure.

Am I attentive enough to notice when an opportunity to perform even a “small act” presents itself?

____________________________________

A special All Souls remembrance:
Click here throughout the month of November to offer prayers in memory of loved ones who have preceded us in death.
____________________________________