Service means more than glamorous assignments
By Elizabeth Turnbull
Student Columnist

> February 1, 2001

Being a fourth generation missionary kid, some would say service is in my blood. And while that may be true, it hasn’t always been in my attitude. As I mature, I become more open to service and more willing to do whatever is needed whenever it’s needed.

This Christmas, my break went smoother and faster, leaving me more fulfilled and more in touch with my roots. I didn’t spend my break running around with friends from high school, I didn’t go to the beach every weekend and I didn’t complain about not being allowed to stay out late and party. No, the country isn’t any more stable than it was last year, and no we don’t have more electricity or faster Internet service. But in my time away at college, I’ve come to appreciate these minor inconveniences as part of what makes Haiti home.

In this appreciation, I’ve come to be more mature in my understanding of service. Our student body at Wake is admirably more open to service than those at most other universities. We pride ourselves on this, and rightly so. Yet, do we really understand the true spirit of service?

What heartless person wouldn’t want to nurse a dying man or spend an evening helping the homeless? But another aspect of service is sadly overlooked. I see this daily on the mission field at home. Everybody wants to do the glorifying, satisfying work. Everybody wants to run a clinic for dying children or pass out bags of food to the starving poor.

While these are great causes, they are not enough. Service has a very important administrative side; one that nobody wants to fill. Who wants to spend their vacation overseas making photocopies or scanning pictures? “That’s not service” we say, “that’s secretarial work!” Typing documents, filing, running errands, those are tasks anybody can do. Our skills go beyond this; our skills will change the world. And yet, in many organizations both abroad and in the United States, this humble work is what’s needed most. Nobody wants to take a behind-the-scenes job doing grunt work, so the offices thrive on mediocrity and inefficiency. The end result? Fewer food banks and hospitals get started because nobody can run them.

Anyone who has spent time volunteering realizes that the giving of our time so often ends up doing more for us emotionally and spiritually than those we set out to help. This isn’t a bad or selfish thing! Of course we will feel better when we reach out beyond the borders of our confined world and help the suffering. But it shouldn’t stop there. We shouldn’t be afraid to further stretch ourselves by sacrificing glory for the needs of others. It won’t always be pretty; it most definitely won’t always be fun; it may not be earth-shattering. But it will always be right and helpful.

So often we want to give of ourselves, but only if we don’t have to end up giving of our pride and ego. True service means true sacrifice. It means a complete surrender of oneself to whatever task is needed most. You don’t have to fly halfway around the world or even to a little island 700 miles south of Miami; you can start where you are, doing whatever it takes to help those around you.
But next time you decide to sign up for volunteer service, think about the not-so-fun jobs that still need getting done. Surprisingly enough, those summers working at the temp agency just might help you change lives. Service isn’t about us; it’s about others.