Your Actions Can Leave a Big Impact. by Melina

Your Actions Can Leave a Big Impact. by Melina - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Growing up in a Christian family, I spent most of my time in a church or involved in church activities. There was always something to do or look forward too when it came to church. Sometimes I would take trips with the church to for summer camps or we would spend weeks practicing for a new drama to perform on Sunday morning. Wither way, the church was my life. I made sure to show up every Sunday morning and afternoon sermon, and every Wednesday night for youth group meeting. It was fun and gave me something to do. I made friends with fellow church members and it became a social event in my eyes.
I ended up changing churches during high school and it was the best decision I had ever made. There was this new tempo and overall different environment about the new church. The sermons were always passionate and meaningful. The pastor seemed overly enthusiastic about his ‘mission’ in life. I didn’t just want to show up to scheduled meetings every week to preach to the same people. Instead, he wanted to reach out to the people in the world. The most captivation thing about it was the way he would reach out to others. He never threw his beliefs onto anyone or tried dragging them into the doors. He just aimed to help others without any strings attached.
One Sunday morning the pastor announced that he was planning on spending a day just handing out cold bottles of water and sandwiches to anyone and everyone who he came across. He set up the day and asked all the church members to feel free and help. I was curious to see how this event would turn out so I showed up early that day and volunteered to help. It was overwhelmingly hot that day and I began to sweat before we even got started. We loaded up the church van with the bottled water and sandwiches and headed to the nearest major city, Birmingham, Alabama. I remember walking the streets offering people cold water and food. There were people sleeping on benches, riding bikes, and just strolling the streets. I went to everyone offering what we had. After a while, I noticed the amount of appreciation coming from everyone. There was a gentleman at a stop light that I spotted and offered him some water. He was extremely grateful and left with a smile. At the end of the day, we all were tired and sore from walking the city but it felt like a huge success and I couldn’t understand why.
All I had done was hand out water and sandwiches that day. It wasn’t anything extravagant or impressive but it felt satisfying. Later I had realized that we never told any of the people what church we were from. In fact, we didn’t say anything when giving out the freebies. It was that moment that I discovered the importance of giving to others without expecting something else in return. I never imagined the kind of bliss that would come just by making someone else smile. It didn’t matter if the person was a Christian, rich, or poor. We reached out to everyone with an compromised love. That day taught me how to improve our community by connecting with everyone, no matter who they were. All it takes is one simple gesture to make a difference in our world.