Keep Letting Your Light Shine
Leaving can potentially provide you with opportunities to grow, build new relationships and bring others along with you on a different journey.
As we approach the 4-month mark of our trip to the Holy Land, I’m reminded of when I was in Haiti many years ago on a service trip with no definitive date to return home.
I was fortunate to have been invited to live in a Haitian family’s home and I also had a roommate, an American young lady who turned into a true friend.
During that stint, Haiti was going through some pretty tough times. Our daily routines were constantly being altered due to safety concerns and the country that my roommate and I had grown to love was slowly becoming a country filled with a lot of uncertainty.
Unfortunately, after many long tear-filled nights, I made the decision to leave Haiti earlier than originally scheduled. Things were getting interesting, to say the least, and my family was worried.
I left, but my roommate stayed. She’d email me when she could to give me updates on our students, the Mission, others in the home, and the overall state of the country.
And although I genuinely appreciated her taking the time to keep me informed, and I anxiously awaited her next email, I longed for more. The States was not where I wanted to be… my heart was in Haiti.
And this is kind of where I am today.
Since returning home 4 months ago from a trip cut short, I’ve grieved for people I’ve never met, I’ve cried for children that I didn’t carry, and I’ve prayed for a land I didn’t get to see.
I’ve also become virtual best friends with citizens who are now journalists reporting daily on how life is for them 120+ days into what many refer to as a war. One of my new “best friends” is a young man named Motaz.
Motaz had recently graduated and was fulfilling his dreams of being a photographer when life happened and caused him to instead become a journalist. He’s shared personal stories, hard moments, and graphic images with the world not because he wanted to, but because he felt the world needed to know the truth.
But on day #107 of the so-called war, Motaz made the extremely tough decision to evacuate from his country. And although he hasn’t publicly said why he decided to leave, I know that many factors played a part in his decision and that was not an easy one to make.
Leaving the place you love, the only place you know as home, the place that holds all your life’s experiences is tough.
From this point on, Motaz could choose to never again speak of what’s going on in his country. But instead, he continues to bring awareness to the unfair and cruel treatment of his brothers and sisters in Gaza through interviews, live talks with news stations, and guest appearances with various groups.
He’s not okay. He’s admitted that. But he keeps amplifying the voices of those he left behind. What I’ve grown to learn is that it’s okay to not be okay; just don’t stay there!
Maybe you’ve had moments like me or Motaz where you’ve had to leave a situation, a relationship, a job, or an environment. It’s tough, but the change was necessary.
Leaving doesn’t always mean forgetting.
Leaving can potentially provide you with opportunities to grow, build new relationships and bring others along with you on a different journey.
Although your physical location may change, there’s still good to be done. As the group Unspoken says, “keep fighting the good fight.”
And just like my best friend, there are people depending on you to not give up, so keep letting your light shine!
“…Keep fighting the good fight, Never give up, never give up
Keep letting your light shine, Holding it high as long as you live
'Cause I'm never gonna leave you; Always gonna see you through to the other side.
Keep fighting the good, fighting the good, Fighting the good fight, good fight.”