A LESSON LEARNED YET AGAIN
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."
William Hutchison Murray
The very first homily I gave at St. Meinrad Seminary in homiletics class was based on the following text from the Gospel of Matthew 6:38. "Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.” I can't remember what I said, but I remember the point of the passage - the message about God's extravagant generosity to those who give generously to others.
My church project in Kenya, for that reason, has been good for me and those who helped me, not just those who will use it. Our involvement was a blessing in itself. Doing this has indeed been good for us! As the book, The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins puts it, "When you help someone else, do it without expectation. Do it because it makes you feel good to reach out" (to people who could use a little support). Just helping them build this church has made all of us who helped feel better about ourselves!
Honestly. there were times when I got scared, especially when I began to realize that the church I had committed to build was actually going to be three times bigger and three times more expensive than I had originally committed to at the beginning. I plowed ahead, not knowing how far we could get before maybe having to give-up and quit. I was not always confident by any stretch. Sometimes, I simply got overwhelmed with worry and concern. However, even my waning confidence was rewarded by Providence. As the quote above says so clearly, once I committed, "Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." People's response to my commitment was inspiring enough to keep me going. For this project, I never "raised money" in the traditional sense of asking for it. I just told people as clearly as I could what I was doing and why I was doing it and invited them to contact me if they were interested in helping. Help came from an amazing cross-section of people and some of it came from very surprising sources.
One of the first things I learned in spades is that there is a basic goodness in a lot of people in this world - both the people over there who keep calling their new church a "miracle" and the people here who generously stepped forward to help people they will never meet - people who have a hard life and who are forced so often to make-do with very little. From my perspective, almost everything for them is a struggle, including walking miles to church, but most do it with patience, faith, hope and a strong sense of community.
The story of Veronica Katili, poor in resources but rich in faith, inspired a lot of people here who read about her walking miles to church until she got older and could not walk and how she went into action to secure a church in her village, how she helped build it from sticks and old metal until her dream of permanent church could come through. Unable to read or write, her faith was in her heart. From memory, she instructed people in the Catholic faith, taught them their prayers and helped bring them into the church as new members.
Because this project turned out to be three times bigger and three times more expensive than I bargained for, financially I had to personally "cough up" a little more than I had intended to give. Even that was good for me because I have already learned that the more I am involved in "the missions" the more I realize how good we have it here in the United States compared to many others in the world. My involvement in this project reinforced my belief that I already have "enough!" That realization has taken away my appetite for a a newer car, a bigger house, nicer clothes or another vacation. This experience has reinforced my belief that sharing, not hording and wasting, is actually much more fun, fascinating and freeing! Helping make others happy makes me happy! (I think I learned this from my mother.)
It seems to me that once you really commit to anything hard to do, God can't wait to help you do it - whether it is as difficult as marriage and parenting or as hard as building a huge church on the other side of the world in eight months! The people over there have declared this church a "miracle!" I, for one, believe they are right!
"Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.”
Matthew 6:38
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