“More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.”
—Mother Theresa
They were just kids, struggling under the hot summer sun, trying to remove the old roof—in reality, several roofs, one atop the other. Using a variety of tools brought from home, they peeled back layer after layer of previous attempts to eradicate the means from which the elements breached the homeowner’s best efforts. Somehow though, no matter how hard its occupants tried to prevent it, water from the rain, and in winter the melting snow, always seemed to find a way of seeping into this 40+-year-old trailer home and into the lives of the family residing beneath its leaky roof.
The workers attempting to implement these renovations certainly were not professional contractors. What they were, in fact, were teenage volunteers who had come to Appalachia with other members of our congregation as part of a mission trip. While each had come to the region to help make the homes of those they served warmer, safer and drier, they came for other, more personal reasons, as well. One young volunteer offered, “Instead of sitting around saying, ‘I wish I could help,’ I actually do.” Another said, “I worry about the people who have no roof over their heads, and I worry about the families who have to watch where they step so they won’t fall through their own floors.” A third volunteer simply added, “I go because I can.” It’s doubtful that any of these volunteers considered it at the time, but each in his or her own way soon would become the answer to somebody else’s prayers.
After traveling almost 12 hours to reach the school that would serve as their home-away-from-home, these volunteers got down to the business of making a difference. They worked eight or more hours a day for five days, performing tasks that were physically and mentally challenging. Some would become well-versed in roofing techniques while others became practiced in the art of hanging sheetrock, basic plumbing, house painting and so much more. Regardless of the work assigned, nor the litany of obstacles that seemed to be a daily occurrence, each youthful volunteer took great pleasure in the opportunity to serve.
On our final night in Appalachia, we gathered with some of the other volunteers to reflect on our experiences during the previous five days. No recollection was as powerful as the one shared by one of the younger volunteers who’d been a part of the crew rebuilding the damaged roof. He told us that just a few hours earlier, as his work crew was leaving their jobsite for the last time, the family for whom they’d labored all week became emotional. He recounted, “Charles, the father, was crying. His wife and all of their kids were, too; and yet they were smiling and hugging us and saying thanks. Charles said he’d been praying for help for a long time, for someone who could fix his roof. He said that finally this week God had answered his prayers. Suddenly, I realized I was a part of God’s answer. I started crying, too.” So did most of us who were listening.
How wonderful is the realization that within each of us is the ability to reach out and interact with someone in need and perhaps to make a difference in his or her life. How amazing is it to know that one day, somebody somewhere might pray to God for His help, for His intervention, and that maybe in response to these prayers we, too, may become God’s answer.
