About one and a half years ago I watched the movie “I Am Because We Are”. A friend rented it and at first I had little to no interest in watching it. I had no idea what it would do to me and how my life would eventually be forever changed. I ended up searching and discovered getting to Malawi was not as easy as I had originally hoped. Malawi is very poor and is not one of the Sub Sahara African countries that has an easy access to link up with a Non-Government Organization regardless of if it is faith based or not. I started making phone calls, sending emails and soon I heard about World Camp for Kids. Little did I know that about 10 years prior a group of university kids stepped out with heart, kindness and generosity to make a difference in Malawi, Africa. Little did they know that their efforts would lead to a Canadian boy 10 years later getting a chance to go out and be a drop in the ocean of the world of need. World Camp opened the door for this kid to come to Malawi and for me to really see what it means to serve, learn and grow as an individual and with others. I feel on purpose, and I hope that one day you and I are serving with World Camp in Malawi!! But what is purpose anyways?
While growing up and still today I often ask myself and ponder what is the meaning or purpose of life. What is the end the result supposed to look like? What is the role of relationship with people who frustrate you and others whom you adore and cannot close your eyes without thinking about? What does it even mean to be a “good person” in a world filled mostly with individuals who are selfish and cannot love themselves let alone others ……………. This includes myself?!
At age 37 a women followed the call of her heart. I wonder for these first 37 years the battles and struggles she faced, did she face the same questions I listed above. Is it perhaps the fact that her inner soul cried out for answers that she responded and lived a life on purpose. A woman not married, a human like us, created by God, saved by Christ but perhaps still facing doubt and confusion.
This woman has been a huge impact on my life.
“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”
Mother Teresa
Face: Our face is more then simply what we look like. It can show joy or stress. It can show our youth or our long days. It can show innocents or guilt. As a young baby it is what will draw people in to pinch, kiss or tickle us. As a teenager it can lead us to feel so low about ourselves that we don’t want to live. When old it can be the image of “Wisdom” for the young grandchildren in our lives. It can bring peace to a person’s heart or anxiety to their soul. We must never forget this, it is our face but it is all our faces that make the world. Poverty once had a face to me, an idea. Coming to Malawi showed me the characteristics of that face. The little things, the things I have grown to like. The things I didn’t notice at a distance.
Eyes: The window to soul! The path to the heart perhaps? The point where truth meets fiction. The eyes are more powerful then we know. They allow us to see the world so we can have it become part of who we are. At the same time anyone can look into our eyes and see us. The eyes filter what we look at, what we focus on which then leads to what we focus our attention too. A pure mind and heart often can be linked directly to the eyes and what we have allowed them to enjoy. We tend to forget however the eye holds the source of deep inner hope, future and love for the world around us. In the eyes of a friend, a lover or a stranger we can find either a light to start our fire or coldness that can in a moment extinguish our flame. In Malawi while at the schools with the kids I find I cannot stop looking into the eyes of the many little characters that surround me. I feel so blessed to spend the days looking into the eyes of angels.
Smile: In a song by Semisonic they say “Nobody knows it but you’ve got a secret smile”. Wow, anytime I have got to see someone’s secret smile my heart has melted. Right now I think of my brother Nathan’s secret smile when we grip hands and know we are friends by choice!! My brother Shawn who has a grin which can get me excited to go out and live life! Or my brother Jonny’s who makes me want to never not be kind to another person again. I also think of other people’s and without a doubt just as impacting. We all have experienced this and I am sure without realizing it always we have offered it. But that is a secret smile. What about our daily smile!! In life we often have so much going on that we frown our way to tomorrow having no idea the impact we are having. When ever we get a chance to realize this we need to take a moment and force a smile. It is not about fake happiness, it is about being a joyful light. Also smiles are contagious so why not cause someone else to do this small gesture that can change lives. The people of Malawi seem to smile the moment it is needed. The moment you come in range of seeing it!! Maybe it is cause they are not so worried about building the same colored fence as the Jonse’s. You’ve got a secret smile, make it more public.
What is the driving source behind smile, eyes and face? Why do some people seem to naturally have that magic ingredient while some of us really struggle to demonstrate any kind of glow? I would propose it comes down to “Kindness”. Kindness is not so simply action or feeling. It is a combination of both. At times kindness will be initiated by feelings which lead us to take action, while other times we must be ready and hopefully willing to take an action that demonstrates kindness even when we don’t feel like it. Kindness also comes from a heart of giving up self just a little bit. This often will be in direct relation to personal time which for most of us is very valuable but sadly not used efficiently anyways. I encourage you to seek kindness, at all cost find it out and have it part of your life. There is also a secret about kindness you must also know…………………………….. It will make you all the richer in the truly purposeful ways!!
I am days away from leaving Malawi for the second time. I hate leaving!! But I knew when coming on this mission that I could not wait to come to Malawi a third time. We humans are limited to needing to leave in order to return!
“Let Know One Ever Come To You Without Leaving Better and Happier. Be the Living Expression of God’s Kindness: Kindness In Your Face, Kindness In Your Eye’s, Kindness In Your Smile”
Mother Teresa, A Women who at Age 37 Started to Change the World.
Submitted by: Nick Felgate, Malawi SS1 2011 intern
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