What Can One Person Do?

I was sitting on the plane to Nairobi as I began writing this post, having left London in the morning and California the night before that. Lying wide awake in bed at the hotel that night thinking, still stuck on Pacific time I realized that one of the issues that I regularly confront as I speak to people about using their talents for good, is the feeling that one person can’t do much of anything. Or as a Pastor told my friend Bud Potter before we left on this trip. Aid to Africa is "like shooting darts at the moon".

Now, my seatmate for the flight to Nairobi is Tim who works for a NGO (non governmental organization) that is working globally on getting prescription medicines that we here in the west have access to such as AIDS and Malaria medicines, to the people who don’t have that access. Certainly a huge project. So perhaps many people think, we should leave helping others to govenment's or big NGO's like WorldVision or the Red Cross.

After all, realistically what can one person do to help the billions of people mired in poverty? What can one person do to help the global environment? What can one person do about the millions with AIDS in Africa or the millions of orphans that have been left behind? What can one person do to bring clean and safe water to the over 1 billion people who don't have it?

Think about it for a minute. Whats your answer to those questions? In fact personalize it. What could I do?

Do you feel defeated or feel energized? Apathetic or passionate?

Well, let me tell you how 2 people answered those questions and the results of their answers.

The first is a boy from Canada named Ryan Hreljac. In 1998, when Ryan was in first grade he learned from his teacher that people were dying because they didn't have clean water to drink. In his innocence as to the size of the problem around the world, he decided that raising money for people who didn't have clean water would be a good thing. He worked for four months in order to earn his first $70. Ryan’s first well was built in 1999 when Ryan was seven years-old at a school in a Ugandan village. The well continues to serve thousands of people.

Ryan’s determination grew from the $70 collected by doing simple household chores to a Foundation that today has contributed a total of 502 water and sanitation projects in 16 countries bringing clean water and sanitation services to over 621,712 people. The Foundation has raised millions of dollars and Ryan is still only 16 years old. Here is their website: www.ryanswell.ca




My second person is Blake Mycoskie, a fellow blogger and founder of TOMS Shoes. In 2006 while traveling in South America, Blake befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Most children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or just getting around, these children are at risk.

Wearing shoes prevents feet from getting cuts and sores from contaminated soil. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation.

Also, many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't have shoes, they don't go to school and if they don't receive an education, they don't have the opportunity to realize their potential.

Wanting to help, Blake created a company that would match every pair of shoes sold with a pair given to a child in need. One for One. A simple, yet bold idea. Well, Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes to be given away.

Since then, TOMS has given over 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in need through that One for One model. TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world in 2009. Want to order a pair? Go to the TOMS website. Here is a 2 minute video from one of their Shoe Drops to the needy.




Now biblically speaking its clear one person can and should do a lot. Lets take a moment to look at Jesus Christ’s own ministry. Yes, he did die on the cross to save humanity. That certainly was global and beyond anything we can do. But if you look at his daily ministry you’ll find it was directed at individuals. He did not raise thousands of people from the dead in some mass setting, but a very elect few. When he healed he didn’t make some proclamation over a whole city that every sick person be healed, but dealt with people one at a time, as individuals. In fact each one was even healed in a somewhat different way. The blind man by the mud Jesus made with His spit, the crazy man at the cemetery by casting out demons and the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years, simply through the touch of his garment.

Even when He preached to thousands such as the Sermon on the Mount, he spoke to people about the things they could and should do as individuals. When He said the greatest commandments were to Love the Lord God with all your heart mind and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. He didn’t say love your neighbor’s, but neighbor.

How does all this relate to my current trip? Well, my friend Bud and I are on our way back to Rionchogu, a village of about 7,000 people in the equatorial highlands of western Kenya. The organization I serve with Go and Do Likewise is a loose assortment of few people. Now you might wonder what can a few people do to help 7,000. One heck of a lot actually. It’s simply a matter of commitment, purpose, and passion. Here is an update from the trip:
www.goanddolikewise.org

Commitment. When you are able, do more than just write a check, though I thank those who can do just that. In these tough economic times its needed. In fact if you can help with the work we are doing in Kenya, go here to GAD Kenya to make a donation. But I hope you'll consider seriously making a commitment to be willing to be changed through the connection with those you help. You see when we only write a check, it is a one-way transaction. The money flows from one person to another and its possible you might not be changed in return. What I am now looking for are the two-way transactions, where the people we give to, change us as much or more than the ways that we change their lives. I am sure if you asked Ryan or Blake they would tell you they have been changed, in ways they never could have imagined.

Purpose. If in self reflection your purpose has been to just feel better about your self, it probably won’t last. I have supported a World Vision child in Malawi for 10 years now. Jumani is his name and he is almost grown up and ready to take on the world. I do feel good about that, and the work World Vision is doing is fantastic, but I also realized last year that in a way my $30 a month was simply a guilt offering, to make me feel better every time I saw a picture of starving children in Africa or Mexico, etc. For me, it was a one way transaction, because it didn’t really change me. Oh it could have, had I allowed it. Had I become more involved in Jumani’s life beyond writing the check. Rionchogu, "a village despised" and the people there has changed me. In fact, this blog itself, was ignited by my experiences of my first trip there.

Passion. Having been young once, married more than once and deeply in love with my wife Suzanne, I have many wonderful memories of pursuing the woman I loved with passion. Do you recall similar memories? Is there anything else in your life where you exhibit that kind of passion? Perhaps a hobby or sport? I sure "love" my Angels baseball team and watch or listen to every game I can. What if you had that kind of passion to help others? What would that look like for you? Where does that passion come from? How do you find it within you? How do you get there if you're not there?

I'd love to hear your answers to those questions? Leave me a comment on the blog or if you're shy send me an email and I'll report back what I hear. And please share my blog with others. We're up to 93 readers from 10 different countries, 10 different states in the US and 33 different cities in California. Who knows, maybe the next Ryans Well or TOMS Shoes will spring from us? Wouldn't that be cool?

Eaar