1 THESS.1:4-9
I work for Church World Service, the international relief agency of the Disciples of
Christ. The relief work that we do around the world would be difficult, if not impossible,
if it weren’t for communities like so many DOC churches that participate in CROP
walks, Blankets Plus Program and support our partner, Week of Compassion. Since our
founding in 1946 many DOC communities have reminded us to always bring the light
where there is darkness. The flooding in Cambodia and Pakistan in this past year, the
current severe droughts in East Africa, the earthquake and tsunami in Northeastern
Japan back in March, the earthquake in Haiti two years ago… all of these places have
suffered destructions that have affected millions of individuals.
Yet, when human suffering and loss
occurs, it is also a time when we are allowed
to catch a glimpse of the tremendous heights
of human compassion and concern for other
humans. The many schools that CWS has
built in small villages in developing countries
to empower and give vulnerable women new
dreams and access to business so they can
be empowered is a direct result of Week of
Compassion and the CROP Hunger
Walk. When your community strives, you
pass it on and pour the compassion out
abundantly to your neighbors in need. I have
been blessed to experience this compassion
firsthand, on a recent trip to Kenya with
Church World Service.
I have also experience this at home last week at the launch of my home congregation’s
Oakland Peace Center, where a glimpse of unlimited possibility and reconciliation
is attainable even when the community seems broken. Strangers from various places
came to the launch because they care deeply for their community and for their children,
and wanted to build a better place for everyone. Lives are being changed…here in the
Bay Area and around the world because of the incredible compassion and hard-work
that many DOC communities are doing, and I am grateful to be a part of such an incredible
collective community that calls us to love our god and our neighbor.
Prayer: God of abundant grace, may your love for me transform me so that I can
love my neighbor ever more deeply.
Amen.
Vy Nguyen serves as assistant regional director of the California-
Southwest region of Church World Service/CROP Walk. He is a member