Hope in the mist of despair

This week, I will not write so much about my own accomplishments or personal revelations, but rather my observations of the community I live in.

It would be denial to say I have never wondered why there is GreaterWorks in Booneville, out of some 75 YouthWorks sites. I have pondered the reasoning for this, the necessity, the need. Of course Booneville can utilize GreaterWorks interns… but do they need them more than other places?

I am not going to pretend to know the process of choosing GreaterWorks sites, but I am sure there are myriad factors that play into such decision-making.

As my time here draws to a close, I have been blessed to have conversations that help me to see why I am here. I can now begin to comprehend specific instances in which I was the right person to be in this community, and I am very grateful for having been able to help.

But what I’ve seen in the past week has nothing to do with me. As you know, the lives of many of the people in Booneville changed quite drastically a week ago. As a result, I have been able to see what this community, on its own, is capable of doing.

I’ve attended several ministerial fellowship meetings that often appeared (let’s be honest) somewhat pointless to me. The fellowship had an emergency meeting this week that was the kick-start of forming a clearinghouse to aid the families affected by the Cargill fire. The clearinghouse has already been stocked. And what is even better to see is that more than just the ministers of this community are working together, but more the members of the various churches.

I guess all of this has just kind of left me in awe and caught me off-guard because my perception of Booneville has sometimes been that things here are slow to get started and hard to complete.

This all goes to show that in the midst of disaster, there is always good. This community is working together to get through this. (In fact, there is a sign in town that reads something to the extent of: “Sleet, snow, fire or flood. Booneville will triumph!”)

Perhaps for myself, this has been an opportunity for my belief in this community to be strengthened. With less than a month remaining of my GreaterWorks term, I need to trust that the things we have begun as a team, whatever improvements we have made, were not done in vain. I need to trust that everything will not go back to the way it was before we came. For me, this is a way of seeing that this community can, and will, take care of itself long after we have left.