Someone asked me what we get out of volunteering at a hospital during the strike and the question took me by surprise. I didn't realize I should expect something for bringing a meal, carrying oxygen for the tired mom of a sick child or having a conversation with a scared elderly lady on her way to an operation.
I asked this person how she would feel if she was in hospital and had to have a serious operation but there were no porters to take her to surgery on time.
Or how she would cope if she was in serious pain and had to have a meal before being allowed oral pain medication, but there was no one in the kitchen to deliver her food.
We didn't go to the hospital to perform heart surgery, but hopefully some hearts were touched by our presence.
We didn't go there to change the world, but make the world a little better for the few we helped.
Do we have to wait for a strike to happen to lend a helping hand? Did Jesus wait for a catastrophe before he prayed/healed/fed?
I know what I got out of volunteering - I am humbled to the core of my being.
God doesn't require work for us to have an intimate relationship with Him, but some works are just so worth doing!
Paula Senekal