Using faith to look after ourselves, looking out for number one and number ones' family is a natural thing to do. Most of our working day is focussed on our work which all said and done pays the bills and keeps the bank manager away from our doors. All the time more money comes our way than is going out we are satisfied. Our actions and work tasks are most likely geared to providing a service for somebody, but we get a financial reward for our efforts and in this capitalist society, that is how the world ticks.
Life should be much more than the every day need to balance the bank account and there are thousands if not millions of ways to enrich our lives and enjoy the abundance that God has created.
Using our time selflessly to help others is just one way in which we can find tremendous rewards which aren't financial. Many times the act of giving selflessly results in an unintentional monetary gain without it ever being the intention. By giving our time, thought and effort to somebody else, we are paid back many times over.
On many occasions I have done stints on behalf of charity, whether it be sponsored walks, manning donation phone lines during live television and radio appeals or wearing silly costumes to raise money for a particular project. On every single occasion I have experienced tremendous satisfaction and pride that my efforts go a little way to making a difference to somebody.
August 29th is approaching very fast now. Why is that date significant? It is the day that I fly to Romania as part of an eight man team from two of the churches here in Tenterden. We are helping to build an extension to an orphanage in Comanesti that is home to children with learning difficulties. I know this will be an extremely emotional trip but I am excited about it as I also know that it will be extremely rewarding.
Six years ago I visited Nigeria for work. I was there for a total of fifteen days yet I had more experiences in those fifteen days than in the whole of my life put together. A lot of these were precarious, yet I still have fond memories of this truly poverty stricken country.
Just recently I have made a few new contacts with people in Nigeria. I like to think that I am beginning to know these people and understand a little about their enduring hardship. I remember the ram shackled homes of the shanty towns in the major cities. I also recall their tremendous willingness to work in an effort to try and lift themselves above that poverty.
They look for and cling onto hope wherever they can. It appears that perhaps their government has provided them with some hope. By the year 2020 they want Nigeria to be the most technologically advanced country in the world. A tall order one might think, but look at how quickly and unexpectedly Japan came to the forefront of the electronic world. If we are going to have dreams we may as well make them big ones.
One of my friends in Nigeria also has big dreams. He wants to create an IT company to ride the wave of enthusiasm that the Nigerian government are creating. He wants to cover a wide spectrum of the IT industry and once established, expand this across the African continent. I remember Richard Branson expressing the opinion that African people can be the most entrepreneurial of people, given the opportunity. My friends' dreams may seem extremely ambitious but I want him to succeed. With this in mind I have set up the "Nigerian IT Project". To view this project, please see the link below. And if this appeals to anyone, why not join up as a member and see if we can help these people achieve their dreams.
By selflessly helping them we can experience the joyous rewards from giving to others. Our faith in God, our faith in ourselves can be used for the betterment of others as well ourselves.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
To view this project, click onto http://www.pminded.org and head for my projects under my profile.
www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com
