Day 5, The End of the First Week

Well, today was the last day of the first week. It's been a great, learning experience this week and I can't wait until Monday to continue making a difference. :)

Today we had two speakers talk to us about the Father Joe's Villages and Child Abuse. Father Joe's Villages is a shelter for homeless people. They help those people get back up on their feet and get a home and a good life. What I learned about child abuse is that it's not just the parents who abuse the child. It can be an older sibling, neighbor or anyone who is stronger than the victim. And unfortunately, the child is usually too embarrassed to tell someone who would help them. If the abuse goes on unnoticed, then the child, unfortunately, may commit suicide. It is a sad, sad thing but it happens.

On a lighter note, after we heard from the speakers, my intercession spread across San Diego to grocery/department stores to host a diaper drive. The way this would work is that we would tell people going in the store about what we were doing then ask them if they could buy diapers and donate them to us for us to donate to Father Joe's Villages. What I learned through this experience is that some people don't care about what's happening around us. Even though they totally ignored us, I learned to not let that get us down and to keep going in our mission because there are people in the world who don't have anything better to do than put people down who are doing good things. Here's a story that I made up to demonstrate that.

There was a music writer/singer that said that all the hate int he world could be cured with good beats and music. The day before he was going to do a concert, a man filled with hatred told him not to do the concert or he would do him great harm and pain. The next day, he still did the concert. The fans who had heard of the threat asked him why he still did the concert. He said,"If all the bad people in the world who cause pain and suffering do their job everyday, why should the good people in the world take a vacation from doing good?"

That's what I learned today. I am excited to see what he 2nd week brings. :)

David Ramirez
-mrp