The power of love, the power of goodness,
the power of humanity….

The picture that was chosen from Mission of Hope archives to celebrate the significance of this day, speaks volumes.

🔹 Six women who did not know each other before they went on a Mission of Hope trip.
🔹 Six women who hail from different towns and cities and states.
🔹 Six women who have a multitude of talents and skills.
🔹 Six women who have made a difference in my life and in the life of Mission of Hope.
🔹 Six women who are engaged with living compassion, kindness and empowerment in vastly different ways.

That’s the power of love, the power of humanity at its best.
These women are a microcosm of the hundreds and
hundreds of youth, men, and women who have journeyed to foreign land on Mission of Hope trips.

They began their journey from separate lives and separate corners of towns and cities, yet they dare to stand together, holding a giant cooking pot.
How odd?!
Or perhaps, they are a perfect representation of the
melting pot of Mission…Mission with a capital “M“
and Mission with a lowercase “m”.

Their faces exude the joy of accomplishment at finding
large pots in a very marginalized country like Nicaragua.
Why?
The pots were essential if we were going to
feed 7,000 children daily.

Yet, the search for that pot took us down into a dark
and dingy oriental market, hoping and praying
we could not only survive the surroundings
but could find what we were searching for,
not unlike the path some humanity travels.

All of humanity is searching.
Yes, most are searching for peace, justice,
acceptance as well as food, shelter, health.
Yes, there are choices to be made!
NOW more than ever.

All of these searches lead us to World Humanitarian Day!
Jane Goodall says it well: “We have a choice to use the gift of our lives to make the world a better place”.

What choices did these 6 women make to share the
power of goodness and kindness?
What choices did these 6 women make to be the
embodiment of the best of humanity?
What choices will you and I make to
make the world a better place?
What choices will you and I make to empower others
in their searches for wholeness and sustainability?
What choices will you and I make to foster a world of love and compassion, of justice and truth?

And what choices will you and I make to be
better reflections of divinity?
If we believe that we are made in the image and
likeness of God, then we must live our lives as
reflections of that divinity, that likeness, that Godness!

So, thank you- Holly B., Carol H., Sue Q.,
Karen O., Christine M., Debbie F…
and the hundreds and thousands of men,
other women and youth just like you,
who help to make the world a better place!

Live and be HOPE this day….humanity needs us!

Sr. Debbie