After a much needed travel sleep, we woke up refreshed and excited to start our journey. The breakfast buffet at the hotel was full of unique Asian cuisine mixed with many familiar regulars for us to enjoy. Then, it was over to the orphanage for orientation.
At the orphanage we were provided with moving stories about the sacrificial lives these people have taken to serve the less fortunate. Interestingly, Susan commented that, "she doesn't think they believe they are sacrificing anything." I believe she is right. These people believe they are exactly right where they are supposed to be, doing exactly what there supposed to be. They are led by a calling and a passion to serve. So, to me or many of us, they seem like sacrificial lives but to them, it's what they do. It's life.
The gift the leaders have is love. They tell of stories of anger and resentment towards unfair situations but that they overcame these things through love and understanding. It is love that broke down barriers that enabled them to gain advances in the care they could provide. It was love that has lead them to achieve the growth in the operations that they have been able to achieve. It reminds me of a "lunch and learn" I was able to recently attend at Growing Leaders (www.growingleaders.com). We discussed the differences that love in leadership has brought throughout history, e.g. King, Ghandi, vs violence. It was apparent here that an attempt to force change would have had a negative effect, but only through love has so much been able to be achieved in such a small, yet impactful way.
I recently watched Les Miserable again and was struck by the line in the song, "when we love we see the face of God"... Susan and I are seeing His face clearly in Xiamen.
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