Loving Our Neighbor

The following is an article I wrote for Faith Networks, a Christian magazine.
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Project Good Samaritan, a life-altering experience, began quietly in a Walmart parking lot in south-western Alabama on Sunday morning, October 16, 2005. There, a group of thirty or so gathered to embark on a pre-Feast mission to aid victims of hurricane Katrina. Though diverse in age - ranging from infant to middle-aged folk - we had all come together for one purpose: to serve.

From Walmart we made the half hour trip to Pascagoula, MS, where we would be participating in relief work over the next day and a half. The first order of business was to meet with a local Baptist organization that was already well established in the community. They were the catalyst which enabled us the make the most of our short time in the area. Not only did they give us guidance and direction, but they also supplied our group with much of the needed supplies to effectively serve hurting members of the community.
During our time in Pascagoula we focused on two main areas of service: physical labor and monetary or basic needs gifts. The physical labor entailed everything from cleaning up yards, ripping up carpet and flooring, to mudding out homes -basically, pulling out everything from the inside of the home, all the way down to the carpet, and then dumping it in a semi-organized fashion by the side of the road.

While most in our group were focused on different physical labor tasks, three, including myself, served as "personal shoppers" for a couple of local residents. As personal shoppers, our mission simply began by listening to and talking with people. We parked along a street and then began walking, individually, door-to-door. It took about six houses before I found Mary Graham, and the family whom I would be shopping for. Mary greeted me with a warm smile, listened as I introduced myself, and then carried on for the next quarter of an hour as if we had been long lost friends. And, indeed, I met a precious fellow sister in Christ and made a new friend that day. She showed me her damaged home; told me about the light of her life: Megan, her 13-year-old beauty of a daughter; and then explained the difficulties and differences in life since the hurricane. Then, as she finished listing the few items that her family needed, she remarked, "There's a lot more to be done - and a lot already has been done, but I know we'll make it. It'll take awhile, but things are going to be OK." Then she smiled, thanked me profusely for "coming by," and proceeded to tell me that she had to run and pick up her husband and daughter. We parted, but not for long.

As I walked back to meet up with the rest of my group, Mary called out to me from her car and - once she had gotten my attention - went on to point out a several people in her community who she knew were "really hurting." She asked me to try to help them if at all possible. I told her we would try. And honestly, if hearing about what Mary's family had gone through hadn't been enough, seeing the truth of her love for her neighbors was more than enough to make me want to cry.

While working in Pascagoula, Mississippi, I saw incredible devastation: entire households' clothing, furniture, appliances, books and beds - most, if not all, simply destroyed by water damage - piled high in heaps on the lawns of countless gutted or semi-gutted homes. I also encountered many overwhelmed people, and some who couldn't even tell you where they hoped to begin in the process of recovery. But amidst very real and devastating circumstances, there also lives - among many in Pascagoula - the strong air of community and a confounding sense of peace that has birthed from a new-found understanding of what truly matters in life. Family, friends, faith - these are the things and people that should matter in our lives.

In all that I experienced during Project Good Samaritan, I had the unmistakable feeling that This is what Christ meant for us to do. As far as I can tell, service - like that done during Project Good Samaritan - is a part of the Christian faith that is sorely lacking in many Christians' lives. Speaking strictly for myself, I tend do a lot of study and then fail to go beyond and put what I learn into action by giving of myself to others. But what we abundantly receive - or miss out on, as is often the case - when we pour out our lives for others, is a feeling of well-being and joy beyond description. For me, this verse sums it up well:

Galatians 5:14 NLT "For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"