Monday, May 9, 2011

Be the change…

Bus stations are interesting places. Strange things can happen at bus stations. While I was working and living at Clatterbridge I had to catch many a bus and became quite familiar to some of the bizarre sights and things overheard. For example, at Birkenhead bus station it was quite a normal thing to witness girls parading around late at night in their winter pyjamas. I wrote this entry while I was sitting at Victoria Coach Station in London awaiting my bus back to Liverpool (6 hours overnight...bleh). I was in London for a few days for Hillsong Colour Conference and have lots and lots to process and mentally download from the sessions I’ve attended, which I’ll eventually write about here as well as I hope it continues to influence my life, make me a better person, a better example and witness for Christ.

I didn’t know what to expect of Colour, having never been before. A couple of good friends back in Sydney encouraged me to go this year as they had benefitted from attending the Sydney. Now that it is finished I am still trying to figure it all out exactly, I guess downloading it all in my mind bit by bit. A couple of key themes were threaded throughout the entire period though, one particularly of being the change that I want to see in the world, making a difference one person at time, changing one life at a time through my own words and actions.

At TNR a couple of weeks back I was given a card for an organisation/website called my generation (I think) with the idea behind it that you do something for someone, give them the card and they can then go to the website and read stories and upload their own story of how a random act of kindness made their day. Honestly, I have yet to go to the website and check it out because as always life distracts you and you put things aside, so this little card has been sitting inside my wallet waiting for an opportunity to be used.

I am not one to usually give money away on the street to people, but after everything that was spoken about at colour, this evening I felt compelled to follow through and be active in providing for the needs of others. While sitting in the bus station I was approached by a girl from Slovakia who said she missed her bus and was a few pounds short of what she needed for a new bus ticket to get back home. 
While she was telling me her story, my mind was going back to one of the sessions at colour where they were talking about the sex trafficking trade in Europe, the atrocities that occur within that situation. I don’t want to be a person who judges others because of the situation they find themselves in. It made me wonder what it would feel like for me to be in that situation, to be asking random strangers for money for whatever reason. This girl was not obviously homeless, well dressed and made up speaking quite good English. Who am I to judge and refuse the physical needs of another human being, another woman because I selfishly don’t want to share?

I don’t know whether her story was real or not, but my heart moved for her and she seemed genuinely upset so I helped her out. At that point I remembered that I had the my generation card in my wallet so did a bit of fumbling around to find it and gave her that as well and then she continued on her way. I’d cleared out my wallet a couple of days ago getting rid of loose papers, receipts and things (it had recently been described as a disaster zone), and had seen the card from TNR which I was yet to put to use. Then earlier today while at one of the sessions at Colour about how we can be practical when we serve and minister to others I re-remembered the card, that I hadn’t done anything with it and I may have had a bit of a thought/prayer that I could put it to use, but I can’t really remember.

In hindsight I now think back over it and I should have asked her name and spoken with her longer and said something witnessey. Shoulda-woulda-coulda… But I gave her the card and a little bit of money and I hope and pray that she was able to catch her bus in the morning, that she does get to the website and that it plants a seed in her heart someway somewhere somehow.

In the words of Jeff Konemann…. I dare you. Do something different, be the change. Impact the world one person at a time.

I dare you.

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