By: Allison O’Connor
Mother Teresa once said, ¨Do small things with great love.¨ This has become one of my favorite quotes as I spend my days serving at Hope of Life. I have lived in Guatemala full-time for the ministry for the past year, and I have seen that even by doing the smallest thing for someone, it can make such a huge impact on their life. Living among constant need and overwhelming poverty was becoming exhausting to me, until God showed me that I just need to focus on small things but love people in big ways. I’ve learned that we can change lives and bring hope if we are overflowing with great love.
This week, I had the privilege to work in the remote mountain village of Germania with Community Baptist Church from Michigan. This was my 4th time visiting and serving in this village in the past 6 months. I was so encouraged to see the friendships that have been built because we’ve been faithful to return to this village and have been strategic in meeting some very basic needs.
On my first visit in February, I was able to help a mother with her 2 week old baby girl, who was very weak and not gaining enough weight. We shared the baby formula we brought, and we spent time teaching this mom about her own nutritional needs and I helped her with breastfeeding. A week later we returned to Germania, and I was so thankful to see the baby and her mom doing so much better. I felt like we really had not done anything very substantial, but we loved her, we prayed, and focused on the small things we could do that we hoped would make a difference. Upon returning this week, I was immediately greeted by this mom and her baby girl who looked amazingly healthy! The Lord showed me the friendships that have been made and the hope in the eyes of the people we have been serving.
We were also part of a water project this week in Germania. They had been gathering water from a nearby river which was contaminated, and many of the children were sick from parasites and other water-born illnesses. This team from Michigan helped pipe fresh water from a spring high in the mountains above Germania, bringing clean water into 6 different water stations around the village. This ability to access clean water will impact the health of families for generations to come. This was a big project, made small because of many faithful friends working together to help the people in Germania. Most importantly this water project was done with amazing amounts of love to bring encouragement and health to these precious people.
Before leaving the village yesterday, I remembered I had brought 1 feminine hygiene kit with me. I almost put it back in my bag because I was feeling so badly that I only had one, and wondered what difference could be made with one kit. I said a quick prayer asking God to show me who He wanted me to give this kit to containing the essentials to bless one young girl. Almost immediately the other children began leaving for their homes as we were packing up, but one teen girl stayed with me. As she hugged on my arms, I knew this was the girl that needed this little bag this day. I hugged her as I whispered in her ear the directions on how to use the things in the bag, and I told her that God wanted her to have this small gift. Her eyes were so bright, and her smile was the highlight of my day. She thanked me about one million times. My new friend, Jani, received a small gift filled with a ton of love yesterday, and I pray she remembers how special she is and that she is loved and seen by her Heavenly Father.
Small things done in great love can change the world one life at a time!
