Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Tipp City UMC - The Invisible Impact

It has been interesting as Liz and I have been here at Angel House and Angel Secondary to watch different volunteer teams come and go. People come volunteer for all sorts of different reasons and often end up accomplishing or gaining from the experience things they never expected. I will also tell you that it always takes time to see the true impact that teams make while they are here. I wish that teams could see as much as we do the impact that they have here in Tarime. It comes out in the stories that staff and kids tell weeks and months later. It is the letters that start to go back and forth across the ocean. And it is the change in attitude and behavior that we get to see in children and staff that we never thought were impacted. So I cannot tell you right now how much of an impression Tipp City United Methodist Church has left on the children, students, and staff of Grass Roots Ministries here in Tanzania. I don’t know what dreams will take place in the minds of the girls that will live in the hostel they built. I don’t know what music will be born in the future from the chimes that were taught. I don’t know which one of the church members will lead others to God using the Wordless Bible. And I don’t know what other impressions and changes have occurred in the hearts, minds, and lives of the people here. These intangibles are the most important contributions and service that volunteer teams bring and yet are the hardest things to measure. I do however know that the time they have taken off of work, the money and energy put into traveling over 8000 miles away from home, and the love that goes into every act of service and kindness is not wasted on the people here who have been blessed by the visitors from Ohio. Thank you to Larry, Judy, Beth, Bonita, Dave, and Keith for your response to God’s call.