Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Tsunami Relief

Tsunami Relief: part II.

Twelve of us went yesterday. The church was cooperating with a mennonite organization to fill relief buckets with towels, toiletries, laundry soap and feminine hygene products. All were carefully crammed into 5 gallon buckets that can double to carry water.

It was really neat, and we were all blessed by the experience. Sometimes, as touring ministry, we can get so caught up in what WE are doing, we forget to look for ways to bless others outside the drama. And sometimes we can be selfish, too. These are OUR days off, and we have left our families, and our stuff, and gone on the road with pittance, and work 10 hour days of pretty hard labor, and then have to go back to a total stranger's house and entertain them when all we want to do is sleep and check email. I'm guilty. Last tour was very hard, and we did need our days off to recuperate. The tour before was similar to this one. We have 2 1/2 weeks more free days this tour. And last spring tour the group began praying for ways to volunteer to fill some of that. We really don't need this much time off. We certainly don't need to "rest from a hard week of shows" when we have three days off before, and two days off after each one.

So we are looking around. And praying for opportunities and keeping our ears open. And then this comes along, and we were all blessed by it. Most of us would have liked to volunteer more time, and several would like to go back sometime this week if we can. We don't have to meet for our show until 1.

The coolest quote from yesterday came from Jonathan, who hadn't been part of the original 11, but decided to tag along.

"I could have sat at home all day watching tv, or I could come and help someone."

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