Article by Amanda Anderson, 2010 Mission Team Member
Posted on Jul 10, 2010 by
Sherry LucasService above self, an intentional, lifelong mission
by Amanda H. Anderson
April 29, 2011
Putting people before oneself is very valuable, and has both social and personal importance. This importance is installed in us from the very early age: the golden rule, sharing your crayons, participating in random acts of kindness. These initial principles seem to become lost, however, as we age. Once learned, even with prideful acknowledgement, but as we get older, service above self must be intentional, purposeful choices that we make. The world around us is in desperate need of those willing to serve others. There are students that need tutors, poor who need helping hands to serve food, provide shelter, and find work; those willing to sacrifice their time to talk to widows, clean a park, care for fatherless children, or volunteer at a nursing home.
This past summer I was awarded the opportunity to serve on a missions team that traveled to and lived at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. My journey started when I had to raise my support, and then travel from New York to Houston, Texas to meet up with a team of three other people, where we journeyed in a van up to South Dakota. When we arrived at the house that would be our home for the week, I realized, apart from being surrounded by large, rolling, endless fields, this little town of Mission was just like the street scenes
I am used to in Bridgeport, CT. It had its sections of poverty, of poorly paved roads, of teen girls and guys hanging outside shoddy houses with hoods tossed over their heads. The small town had a boys and girls club, a new grocery store, a school, and even satellites on top of houses.It was very much like my world, then again, nothing like it.
The two other girls on the team and I spent the afternoon of our arrival decorating clay pots to bring to the nursing home the next day. Placing a small potted plant in the hands of someone who never gets a visitor was uplifting, yet, I found myself moved by this one lady who just sat motionless on her bed as we delivered the pots. Creases of age adorned her face like stories and frail hands gripped the edges of her blanket. I remember breaking away from the group to return to her room to ask her name. "Running Bear," she barely said. She didn't talk much, but it was worth the visit for both of us.
I later met another Running Bear in a small town of one-hundred people, probably less. It was a mile stretch of road, littered with junk, houses with rotting wood, kids with clothes multiple sizes too large for their scrawny frames. Our mission team took over one room in their community center, utilizing it to hold a children's Vacation Bible School. The first day: five children. The second: seven. By the third day we had about eleven children sitting in folding chairs around a table learning Bible stories, playing, and doing crafts.There was one girl that spoke to me more than the others. It is funny, because the first time I met her, she wouldn't speak at all. I offered to share my hymnal with her. Who knew that would cause her to cling to my side for my remaining days on the reservation. As I type this I wonder if she has thought about me since I left. I know I have thought about her and the oneword she taught me in Sioux, Nunca, which means "two." I am concerned about the kind of world she will be growing up in. I hope I helped make her path just a little easier, a little brighter. I know she helped mine. I parted the tiny town with a heavy heart, selfishly not thinking of the how the kids felt
watching us drive away, never knowing with certainty if we were coming back. I placed in the small hand of Alicia, the girl who taught me the one Sioux word; my green sun necklace, hoping she would remember me every time she looked at it and know that someone out there was thinking about her, praying for her.
Sadly, I cannot return this summer to see that town, the Running Bears, and Alicia. But I can state with certainty that someday I will return. One day I will drive my own car through that town. I will see what has changed; maybe even stay there a little longer. They could use help building new porches, pick up the stray tires and metal scraps, feed the dogs and give them a good washing, retile the church floor, teach a Sunday school class, and buy some clothes that
actually fit the children like Alicia.
Service should not be just a onetime thing. It isn't something you do to make yourself feel better. You do it to benefit the other person, no matter the cost to yourself. Service above self is a lifelong mission, and a commitment I am more than willing to make.