Editor’s Note:  The Heartfelt Living In Service, Answering the Call Newsletter has now moved to the New Day Herald.  If you have a story of service to share we would love to hear from you.  Please email your story to stories@heartfelt.org.

Here is a service story from a minister in Venezuela…

Recently our humanitarian NGO team drove two and a half hours to work with the community in La Esmeralda, Sucre State in Venezuela. This area has no nearby places to eat or purchase anything. From there it is an hour drive to get supplies. The only local work in this community is “cutting sardine heads” that will be put into cans. The conditions are so challenging. Many are without shoes and working in the extreme heat carrying heavy boxes. Most of the people work there because it is the only job available. They work 20 hour shifts in order to make some money (not even $100). And somehow, their sense of humor and their generosity touched my heart deeply.

Our work involves teaching people the basic principles of entrepreneurship and in this instance supporting them to create vegetable gardens with our supply of seeds. I knew my purpose in being there was to facilitate a series of workshops for the communities, and I also want to be open to any opportunity to be of service. And one appeared. We visited the home of a sweet old sweet woman, 86 years old. I was shocked to find her living in such minimal conditions. She didn’t even have a bed to sleep on so she was sleeping on the floor.

That image stayed with me and on our way back to the inn after our workshop, I asked our team some questions to see if we could get some wood pallets to build a bed. The driver enthusiastically told us of a friend who had some pallets.  He gave us four pallets, which was enough to build a bed. After a few calls from the office some local business men donated money for a mattress. And we – as a team – added two dollars each to buy a pillow.

Later we went back to visit the woman, and she was so happy she was crying with joy.  She lay in bed giggling and crying, saying, “This is like being in heaven!

If you have a story of service to share we would love to hear from you.  Please email your story to stories@heartfelt.org.