Spontaneous Acts of Kindness

© 2002 Don Rogers

Last summer in NYC, our youth, 5 boys and 8 girls came to do mission and ended up touching and being touched in ways they may still not notice.

Scott and Debbie were first to put who they are into little unnoticed ways of practice. Debbie noticed a large green apple stuck into the tailpipe of an old Pontiac in Chinatown. Scott pried it out of there as she kept watch for the owners of the car - or the apple.

After John had helped a Brazilian family orient themselves to the ways of New York subways, he and Natalie helped a little old wizened lady get her oversized 4-wheel cart up the exit stairs. Time and again the 13 found themselves opening doors and giving up seats, stooping to pick up dropped articles and paying full price for undercharged items. Their time in the city was full of kindness and bravery, while doing mission work and when playing tourist.

Most touching of all is the picture which remains with me of Hannah. We stopped by the side of a dark street with the workers of Midnight Run, a food and fellowship ministry with street dwellers. A sweater, pair of pants, socks and clean underwear were unloaded from the van, along with two sack lunches. "See the little dark area under the trees over there?" Paul asked pointing across the street into a little park. "Joe, lives there. He's probably asleep under those loose pieces of cardboard. He's nervous about being arrested, so he may not come out when we call."

"Joe! Joe," he called quietly into the night air.

"Here, I'll take them", Hannah said, pulling her long blonde hair up into a ponytail, before she scooped up clothes and sandwiches and marched across the street. I watched her slow down and begin to speak quietly as she moved into the little copse of trees. So quietly did she speak that we could not hear her, only see her body silhouetted in the street light as she bent down and gently lay all the items close to the pieces of cardboard. They moved a bit and I could see her squat right down to peer under them, reaching out her right hand. Light streamed off her hair as she was haloed by it and by her loving actions toward this stranger she did not know and would never see again.