My first week as a Lifebread intern has taught me a lot about what it means to not just help people but how to be a part of an organization dedicated to helping people. The phrase “helping people” makes it sound so easy.
You’d think you could just roll out of bed and start doing it....
Open a door for someone, buy the person behind you lunch in the drive through line, or sit and eat with someone eating alone and really see how they are doing. But JJ’s short little documentary has made me question what I should really mean when I say “helping people.” In this documentary, the idea of help only occurring in situations where a need exists is brought up. Yes, opening a door for someone is great (especially for the ladies), but that isn’t truly helping anyone.
Most true needs are far too big to be met by such a simple fix.
While I haven’t been part of it for long, Lifebread is an organization I have a great passion for. From the short time I have been around it, I have seen people seeking to meet real need. Through these people and this organization, I have found what it really looks like to try to meet significant need. I have always wanted to be a “simple” helper. I hate paperwork. I hate bureaucracy. I would much rather just straight up love people. This experience, as brief as it has been up to this point, and while it has not totally changed my mind on those things, it has at least opened me more to the world. Christians so often try to remove themselves from the darkness of the world, but I know if I really want to help the world, I have to be willing to be a part of it.
--Tom (tom@lifebread.org)
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