3:17am and All the New Things I Know

Photo by Matthew Paul Turner; copyright World Vision

It’s 3:17am here in Paradise, Pennsylvania. Jet lag has got the best of me, and after a day of barely being able to keep my eyes open, I’m now wide awake.

It’s 12:47 pm in Sri Lanka right now – I wouldn’t have known that two months ago, back before I traveled with World Vision, back when I wasn’t 100% sure of where Sri Lanka even was.

There’s a lot I didn’t know two months ago. I didn’t know about a 33-year-old woman named Parameshwari. Now, after World Vision taught her how to garden, she makes almost ten times what she made as a day laborer simply by selling produce and seeds. And she’s helped 78 other women in the area start their own home gardens.

I didn’t know about Sudesh, World Vision’s ADP manager, and how his willingness to walk peacefully beside the other religions in his community is helping the poorest of the poor.

I didn’t know that Matthew Paul Turner is afraid of snakes.

I didn’t know Afra’s story.

I had never met such solemn-faced teenagers, kids who sometimes go days without eating yet stay strong and don’t complain, all for the sake of their parents.

I didn’t know it was possible for complete strangers – Buddhists and Muslims and Hindus – to tree me with such respect and dignity. Their kindness has given me a new lens through which to view the world.

There was so much I didn’t know. But now, knowing, there is so much that I want to do. Will you help me?

Please consider sponsoring a child through World Vision. I’ve seen their work, and it’s amazing.