"Happy people have found a use for themselves like a good tool." Barbara Kingsolver
We round a paved road leading up to our hiking path for the day. Coming down the road are two couples. Tony notices something familiar about them, something he once shared with them: the black tag that designates their affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are missionaries!
I love to find these transplants on world travels. They are a force for good. These missionaries are on humanitarian missions. Their sole purpose is to do good in the world. One couple is serving the people of Ukraine and the surrounding areas. The other couple is serving the people of Macedonia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I ask them to tell one highlight of their mission so far. They contemplate. One man begins with one story, but he can't be contained. The others join in rattling off story after story. They speak of giving pregnant calves to women with children whose husbands have left to other countries to earn a living. That one calf turns into a herd of forty-three and the father can come home. They speak of members driving busloads of women and children out of Kiev and war. They've overseen the building of schools, helped dig wells so village people have water, and in the coldest winter in Ukraine, they delivered coal to keep people from freezing.
They laugh when they realize they went far beyond the one thing I'd asked for.
They are most happy that they don't work alone. They work with Muslim Aid, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency; the Red Cross. All three organizations work together to relieve poverty, suffering, and relief during emergencies of war and famine.
They don't talk about their own happiness and fulfillment. They don't need to. It's apparent and not their purpose. It is the collateral bonus.
Somehow, the subject turns to the need for more people to do the humanitarian work of the church. They mention a couple teaching English in Tajikistan. The demand for learning was so great that the church asked for ten more couples to teach English. In fact, they added, 10,000 more volunteers to teach English are needed.
"I can teach English!" My outburst surprises me. Probably Tony too. Tajikistan needs me.
And fortunately, I 'd told Tony already that morning of a dream I had the previous night. I dreamt that I'd returned to teaching, but it wasn't Socratic Seminar at my old school. I was in a puzzled state because I didn't know what or where I would be teaching.
I share this short dream with the missionaries.
I wonder if they'd had dreams themselves.
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