Volunteers

“…I believe that for just about everybody the most fulfilling thing we can do, in the long term, is to focus on our work. By “work,” I’m not just referring to a nine-to-five job. It could be parenting. Or serving on a board. Or volunteering. Many possible things. Anything that contributes good to others is work, regardless if we’re getting paid for it.

And what distracts us most from that kind of work? One of the biggest things is work’s opposite: leisure. Or better put modern society’s infatuation with leisure.

…I’m not against rest, relaxation and fun. I just don’t want you to miss out on the things that matter to you because you’ve unthinkingly bought into our cultural notions of leisure. What I’m against is making leisure your objective. Because if leisure is your objective, it will inevitably displace your higher priorities. That’s a very common problem in our society.

Let me put it this way: Leisure make a great booster to long-term productivity in our pursuit of meaningful goals. But leisure makes a terrible goal in itself.

Leisure doesn’t provide meaning. It provides renewal for other things that do provide meaning.

Preaching Angles: Leisure: Mk 6:31, Ex 20:10, Ecc 3:13, Ps 118:24; Work: Col 3:23, Pr 16:3, Gen 2:15, Pr 18:9; Purpose: Jn 6;27, Col 3:17, M 6:33 Source: Joshua Becker, Things That Matter, Waterbrook, 2022, Page 146-147

Research suggests that when we make acts of kindness a habit, it's also good for our health. Whether it's volunteering at a local food bank, or taking soup to a sick neighbor, there's lots of evidence that when we help others, it can boost our own happiness and psychological well-being. But there's also growing research that it boosts our physical health too, says Tara Gruenewald, a psychologist at Chapman University.

Perhaps the most striking evidence comes from the Baltimore Experience Corps trial, a large experiment in which adults age 60 and older were randomly assigned to either volunteer at elementary schools or be put on a waiting list. The volunteers spent at least 15 hours a week tutoring underprivileged kids. After two years, the researchers found that the volunteers had measurable changes in their brain health.

One of the researchers said, "They didn't experience declines in memory and executive function like we saw in our control participants. And there were even changes in brain volume in areas of the brain that support these different cognitive processes.” Volunteers were also more physically active, "which is important for maintaining both cognitive and physical health as folks age.”

Another researcher added, "Volunteering or doing an act of kindness can distract you from some of the problems that you might be having, so you might be a little bit less reactive yourself. And "it may help to give you more perspective on what your own problems are." Also, when you go out to help others, it also makes you more physically active and less lonely. Social isolation is a known risk factor for physical and mental health problems, especially as we age.

At the very least, volunteering will make the world a little bit better place for many others. And we might just make it a little bit better for ourselves.

In an article in Scientific American titled, "Rx for Teen Mental Health: Volunteering," Lydia Denworth writes that "helping others might help depression and anxiety." She gives three examples:

● An early experiment found that 10th graders who volunteered in an elementary school for two months showed fewer signs of harmful inflammation and lower levels of obesity compared to students who didn’t volunteer.

● A group of 14- to 20-year-olds who had been recently diagnosed with mild to moderate depression or anxiety participated in volunteer work at animal shelters, food banks, and other community organizations. They experienced a 19% reduction in depressive symptoms.

● A 2023 analysis revealed that young people who participated in community service or volunteered in the past year were more likely to be in very good or excellent health. They also tended to stay calm and in control when faced with challenges and were less likely to experience anxiety. Why? Helping others improves mood and raises self-esteem. It provides fertile ground for building social connections. It also shifts people’s focus away from negative things and can change how they see themselves.

Kindness can be addictive and one small gesture can start a chain reaction of kindness according to readers of The Wall Street Journal who have written to the newspaper to tell their story.

Theresa Gale was locking up her church recently after a long day of volunteering when a young woman approached her, asking for water and bus fare. It was late and Gale was alone. But she gave the woman a bottle of water and $15 and offered her a ride to the bus stop.

In the car, the woman asked about the church, and Gale explained that the members believe that they have a duty to help those in need. “Well, you are God to me today,” Gale says the woman responded. “I was touched,” says Gaile said. “It was as if I, too, had received a blessing.”

Possible Preaching Angl e:

“When we act kindly, the systems in our brain associated with reward light up, the same ones active when we eat chocolate. They make us want to do that same awesome thing again.” -Jamil Zaki, associate professor of psychology at Stanford University

These are dark days for military recruiting.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force have tried almost everything in their power to bring in new people. They’ve relaxed enlistment standards, set up remedial schools for recruits who can’t pass entry tests, and offered signing bonuses worth up to $75,000. Still, in 2023 the three services together fell short by more than 25,000 recruits.

Military leaders say there are so few Americans who are willing and able to serve, and so many civilian employers competing for them, that getting enough people into uniform is nearly impossible.

Tell that to the Marines. The Marine Corps ended the recruiting year on September 30th having met 100 percent of its goal, with hundreds of contracts already signed for the next year. The corps did it while keeping enlistment standards tight and offering next to no perks.

When asked earlier this year about whether the Marines would offer extra money to attract recruits, the commandant of the Marine Corps replied: “Your bonus is that you get to call yourself a Marine. That’s your bonus.”

In a nutshell, that is the Marine Corps’ marketing strategy: Dismiss financial incentives as chump change compared with the honor of joining the Corps. Brush off the idea of military service as a steppingstone to civilian career opportunities. Instead, dangle the promise of the chance to be part of something intangible, timeless, and elite.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Christians aren’t called to elitism, but we are called to a life of adventure and challenge.

Sometimes just taking part is what counts. Just ask Belgian shot-put thrower Jolien Boumkwo, who competed in the 100-meter hurdles at the European Athletics Team Championships after her teammates had to withdraw through injury.

After placing seventh in the shot put on Friday, Boumkwo turned her attention to the hurdles at the last minute and duly finished in a time of 32.81 seconds – 19 seconds behind the seventh-placed athlete.

Footage of Boumkwo carefully stepping over each hurdle while the other athletes race away ahead of her has since gone viral on social media. She smiled and laughed throughout before being congratulated by other competitors at the finish line.

Just having an athlete take part in the event earned Belgium two points and saved the team from disqualification. Boumkwo’s efforts weren’t enough to save her country from being relegated to the second division at the meet in Poland, finishing 14th out of 16 countries with 250 points.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sometimes it is the taking part that really counts. In the church this might mean stepping up to help serve even though it is not our primary spiritual gift. We are part of a team and we all serve for the benefit of the body (1 Cor. 12:1-31) and we should do it with eagerness and joy.

Garret Keizer was asked by his minister to visit an elderly parishioner, Pete, in a nursing home. Garret finds out that Pete loves bananas, so he starts bringing some on each week’s visit. Garrett said:

I was standing with my Chiquitas in line at the supermarket behind one of those people who seem to think they're at a bank instead of a store. She must have had three checkbooks. I shifted from one foot to the other, sighing, glancing at the clock. I wanted to catch Pete before supper. No doubt I was feeling the tiniest bit righteous because I was about the Lord's business on behalf of my old man, who needed his bananas and was looking forward to my company. And here was this loser buying an armful of trivial odds and ends and taking my precious time to screw around with her appallingly disorganized finances.

When I finally got through the line, I watched her walk to her vehicle feeling that same uncharitable impulse that makes us glance at the driver of a car we're passing just to “get a look at the jerk.” She got into the driver's seat of a van marked with the name of a local nursing home and filled to capacity with elderly men and women who had no doubt handed her their wish lists and checkbooks as soon as she'd cut the ignition.

Do impressive-sounding, inspirational job titles make us feel better about ourselves? Can they change our behavior? Research suggests that job titles have the power to improve our well-being and sense of control, and shield us from feeling socially snubbed. They might even encourage us to apply for a job in the first place.

Since a powerful-sounding job title can signify social status, it’s not surprising workers aspire to them. But a fancy title isn’t always about status. Simply making a title more fun can influence behavior. After attending a conference at Disneyland and upon discovering that employees there were called “cast members,” Susan Fenters Lerch felt inspired.

The former CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation returned to her office and told employees they could create their own “fun” job title, in addition to their official one, to reflect “their most important roles and identities in the organization.”

Researchers interviewed these employees a year and a half after Lerch’s decision. They found that their “self-reflective” job titles reduced workers’ emotional exhaustion, helped them cope with emotional challenges, and let them affirm their identity at work. Researcher Daniel Cable said, “The titles opened the door for colleagues to view one another as human beings, not merely job-holders.”

Researchers have also found that giving an employee a more senior-sounding title can make them act more responsibly by making them feel happier at work. Sociology professor Jeffrey Lucas found that giving high-performing employees a high-status job title could stop them from leaving. He carried out two experiments and discovered that workers with important-sounding job titles “displayed greater satisfaction, commitment, and performance and lower turnover intentions” than those who didn’t.

“However, as far as job titles go, it's important that people actually perceive the titles as conferring status. In other words, fancy titles that people perceive as being nothing more than just that would be unlikely to have positive consequences.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

This attitude could apply to valuing church staff, elected church officers, and volunteers. Do we follow Paul’s example in giving affirming titles those who serve with us? He publicly appreciated them and called them “fellow workers,” “beloved brothers,” “faithful ministers,” and “true partners” (Phil. 4:3; Col 4:7).

55-year-old New Jersey school bus driver Herman Cruse noticed that a kindergartner seemed a little sad and out of sorts during one morning ride to Middle Township Elementary. When Cruse asked the kindergartner what was wrong, the boy explained that he couldn’t complete his reading assignment because his parents were busy with his four siblings at home to help him practice reading.

Cruse said an idea popped into his mind, since normally he just napped between his morning and afternoon routes. “I told him, ‘Listen, I have some free time, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to come to the school and read with you.’”

Cruse received permission from the six-year-old’s teacher, Alex Bakley, to show up at her kindergarten classroom the following week. When he walked in, the boy shouted, “Hey, that’s my bus driver!”

Cruse said, “We went into a quiet corner and began reading together, and it took on a life of its own. Then a second student wanted to read to me, then a third. All these kids were going to the teacher asking, ‘Can I read with Mr. Herman?’”

He and Bakley decided to call his reading circle “Mr. Herman’s Kids.” Bakley said, “He’s a bright light at our school who makes every child feel loved and heard—they’re all drawn to his energy.”

LaCotia Ruiz said her five-year-old son Kingsly is more excited about books since he started reading with Cruse. She said, “Kingsly had a rough time with reading at the beginning of the school year, but he’s doing much better because of this fun one-on-one time. In the morning he wakes up excited and says, ‘I’m going to read with Mr. Herman!’”

Cruse’s enthusiasm for his new role has caught on with his colleagues. “There’s now another bus driver who wants to help me out between his routes. What started out as a way to kill time has now blossomed into a way to make a difference in the heart of a child.”

Soldiers in the Minnesota National Guard have had an exceptionally busy year. They helped process Afghan refugees fleeing to the United States and provided security at American military bases across the Horn of Africa. But none of those experiences prepared Minnesota’s National Guard members for their latest deployment. They are collecting bedpans, clipping toenails, and feeding residents at North Ridge Health and Rehab, a large nursing home in Minneapolis that is the largest in the state.

One soldier said, “I’ve had protesters throw apples and water bottles at me but that doesn’t compare to the challenge of giving someone a bed bath.”

30 Guard members have been working as certified nursing assistants at North Ridge, which has been so badly hobbled by an exodus of employees. Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz said, “Our health care work force is heartbroken and fatigued. Having the Guard provide a bit of a respite is a godsend.”

One of them is Staff Sgt. Nathan Madden, whose civilian job is an assistant manager at a home improvement store. He said the past two weeks had given him a newfound appreciation for those who care for the sick and the elderly. “This kind of work is humbling for sure. … It’s great to help out in the community, but I have older parents, so in a way this is preparing me for what I might have to do one day.”

In 2018, when Dale and Julie Marks bought their home in the Beaverdale community of Des Moines, they were excited because the community is known for its elaborate holiday lights on all its homes. Julie said, “It was like a dream come true to buy a house here. I’ve wanted to live here since I first came through with friends to look at the lights 10 years ago.”

The Markses not only enjoyed participating in the holiday light show, but they leveraged their position in the festivities to help the less fortunate, collecting donations for a local food drive. Last year, visiting neighbors donated more then $7,500 and 1,500 pounds of food.

But when the couple both contracted COVID-19, Dale faced a long recovery and was too weak to unload the numerous boxes from his garage and stand on a ladder to string the yards and yards of lights. Julie was fully recovered, but her time was devoted to Dale’s care.

That’s when a local contractor, Bob Coffey, reached out. He heard about the Markses from a mutual friend. Coffey said, “When I learned they could use some help, I knew I wouldn’t have a problem getting a volunteer crew together. I called Julie and told her I’d love to put up their lights.”

Soon after, Coffey brought four of his employees to the Marks household. With all their tools and expertise, they were able to decorate the whole house in about three hours while Dale watched in dazed appreciation.

Julie said, “It was incredible that they’d do this for us — I wanted to cry.”

Coffey replied, “It’s important in life to pay it forward. If everyone did something, think how that would add up.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we help others in their need, we are modeling the way of Jesus.

When residents saw the Christmas tree unveiled in downtown Newport, Washington, some of them were less than impressed. Fritz Turner said, “It wasn’t really great. Kinda poorly decorated. It’s almost like they didn’t have the time for it this year. They were just kinda like ‘throw the lights up, get it done.’”

When Turner saw what he felt was such a pitiful display, he got an idea. “I wanted to make a joke of it really, so I made a GoFundMe.” On the listing, he promised to take the money to purchase and decorate a better-looking Christmas tree, but he also dropped in a few barbs. “Even Charlie Brown's Christmas tree looked better than this sad spruce. When they put these lights up, the value of our homes dropped.”

Clearly Turner was not the only one feeling that way, because the post collected more than $2,700 from over 60 donors in a matter of days. Additionally, there were people who donated directly to the city of Newport, earmarking their funds specifically for the Christmas tree.

All the commotion got the attention of Jason Totland, president of the Newport Chamber of Commerce. Totland quickly mobilized 30 or so volunteers to stage a tree-lighting ceremony, complete with hot chocolate, an appearance from Santa Claus, and giveaways for kids.

Turner said, “I’m really inspired by how quick the community gathered to put on this event. It’s really cool that something that started out as a joke became something so big, and I’m just inspired to do more work for the community.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Good natured humorous “snarking” can serve as an opportunity to call attention to something that needs correction and seek the good of the community. When done correctly, criticism can result in positive action.

Herb Turetzky attended the New Jersey Americans’ first-ever ABA game in October 1967 expecting to be just a spectator. Turetzky, a student at LIU Brooklyn, arrived early at the Teaneck Armory. Max Zaslofsky, the Americans’ coach and GM who had attended the same high school as Turetzky, greeted him as he walked in, “Herb, can you help us out and keep score of the game tonight?”

Turetzky responded, “Max, I’d love to. I’m here, so why not?” Turetzky sat down at a wooden folding chair at half court and jotted down the lineups. That was more than 2,000 games and 53 years ago. Since then the team has moved to three different cities, played in eight arenas, and been absorbed into the NBA. And Turetzky is still setting in that wooden chair. “I’ve never left that seat since,” he says. “I’m still here and I’m still going.”

NBA official Bob Delaney calls him, “the Michael Jordan of scorekeepers.” And an article in Sports Illustrated referred to him as the "courtside constant." One simple “yes” led to a meaningful lifelong service.

When the lines and wait times at the local drive-through coronavirus vaccine clinic became unbearable, local officials sought out the experts. Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie said, "When I heard about it, I called Jerry and asked if he would come help us out.” The man in question was Jerry Walkowiak, manager of the local Chick-Fil-A restaurant, a chain known for serving large numbers of drive-through orders.

Mayor Haynie explained how things got sorted out. "After he looked it over, he said, 'There's your problem right there. It's backed up because you have one person checking people in.' Then he showed us how to do it right." Walkowiak mobilized a bunch of volunteers from the local Rotary Club, and before long, the hour-long wait had been trimmed to a more manageable fifteen minutes.

Walkowiak is only the latest in a long trend of professionals from adjacent fields being asked to help facilitate large-scale vaccination efforts. The Associated Press reported that health officials in Massachusetts have tapped Dave McGillivray, director of the Boston Marathon, to run mass vaccinations at Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When God gives you a talent, you never know how that talent might be used to bless the community around you. Don’t look down on your abilities just because they’re not explicitly meant for use inside the church; rather, look for every opportunity to bless your community as you do your work as unto the Lord.

There once was a time people were awakened, not by a cell phone or even an alarm clock, but by a “knocker-upper.” For many workers in early 20th century Britain, the daily alarm clock was a service worker. Known as the “knocker-upper” these predawn risers would pass by working-class buildings, rapping on the windows of those who need to get up.

Rural laborers, used to keeping time with the seasons, had relocated to manufacturing cities. They not only had to adjust to dangerous, fast-paced industrial work, but to new schedules. There were alarm clocks at the time, but they were expensive and unreliable.

Some workers might only find out they’d been called in for a shift from the knocker-upper that morning. Conditions could be cutthroat. Author Paul Middleton writes, “Life for the employed was forever balanced on a knife edge. Being late for work could mean instant dismissal and a speedy spiral for those workers and their families into poverty, homelessness and destitution.”

The job went obsolete around a hundred years after it was invented, as alarm clocks became more affordable and reliable and working conditions improved.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Employee; Work & Career – We should value the members of our church who work hard to earn a living. It is easy to demand too much of them as volunteers if we do not understand their labor. 2) End Times; Second Coming – As we near the end of the age, there is even a greater need for people to be awakened before it is too late (Rom. 13:11; Eph. 5:14)

There is no shortage of people today who would like to be used to do something important, something meaningful. But most of us aren’t really sure where to start. Maybe a few words of wisdom from someone who has become known for heroism can help us find a starting point.

He pulled a person from a flaming vehicle in South Korea. He served on President Trump’s security detail during the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He also played a pivotal role in the rescue of junior Thai soccer players trapped in a cave, during which he saved the life of a Thai Navy SEAL. In recognition of those acts, US Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kenneth O’Brien was named one of a dozen outstanding airmen of the year. But the Japan-based airman’s impressive résumé didn’t end there.

On a flight back to the United States to receive the award, O’Brien noticed a 1-year-old choking. He immediately sprang into action, clearing the child’s breathing passage and performing CPR. He said, “I’m thankful that the child is okay and that I was able to help when the family needed support. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

But O’Brien seems to be at the right place at the right time a lot lately. But maybe the uncanny number of heroic opportunities has nothing to do with luck. In an interview, O’Brien had this to say:

If someone needs to go do something dangerous, I volunteer. If someone needs a leader, I volunteer. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and that’s what helped me stand out because I sought out key positions or responsibilities.

He happens to be in the right place at the right time because he put himself in situations where he could be used. He volunteered and found himself being used.

A long-haul truck driver recently walked into Tiny Tim’s Toy Foundation in West Jordan, Utah, and asked for a box of toys. Owner Alton Thacker gave him five boxes, each packed with 125 cars. Thacker said, “He stopped at children's hospitals along his truck route and handed them out. And I know he'll be back for more. Seeing all those little smiles is a great motivator.”

The simple wooden cars with a painted smile—are made at the factory and given free to children in need around the globe through charities, churches, and children’s hospitals. Thacker’s factory reached a huge milestone this year when he cranked out his 1 millionth toy. He said, “For some kids one of our little wooden cars is the first and only toy they'll ever get.”

The nonprofit organization turns out between 80,000 and 120,000 wooden toy cars a year. It uses a volunteer workforce with an average age of 80. A car is a simple thing but the impact is immense. Whether the child is in a hospital, tough neighborhood, or developing country, all kids react the same when they get the toy. They will drop to the floor and start “driving” them on the concrete, the tile, the dirt. The response of pure joy is always the same.

Most of the painting is done by inmates at the Central Utah Correctional Facility. Retiree Wade Bender, who delivers cars to the prison has noticed tears in the eyes of the felons, especially before the holidays. “They’ll tell us, ‘This is the first time I’ve done something for somebody else, thank you.’ Many of them are fathers. So they know what the toys they’re painting can do to boost the spirits of a child.”

On Christmas Eve, after the last box of cars is filled for a volunteer to hand out, Thacker says, “At the end of December, we’re tired. But our hearts are full. It makes me feel good to see the impact we’re making. I’ve always said that the secret of happiness is to make somebody else happy. So, after the New Year, we’ll start all over again.”

Pastor Scott Sauls tells a story about an unnamed nursery worker who bumped into a first time visitor named Janet who had dropped her two boys off in the nursery. Sauls writes:

After the service, while Janet was waiting in the nursery line to retrieve her boys, one of the nursery workers quietly approached her and said that there had been some issues. Both of her boys had picked fights with other children. Also, one of her boys had broken several of the toys that belonged to the church. In front of a room filled with other children and their parents, Janet scolded her boys and then screamed in a bellowing voice, "S—!" Deeply ashamed and feeling like a failure, Janet got her boys and skulked out of the building. No doubt, we were never going to see her again.

But that unnamed nursery volunteer called the church office that Monday and asked if I could check the visitor notebook to see if Janet had left her contact information. She had. I gave the nursery worker Janet's address, and unbeknownst to me, she sent Janet a note. The note read something like this:

Dear Janet, I'm so glad that you and your boys visited our church. Oh, and about that little exchange when you picked them up from the nursery? Let's just say that I found it so refreshing—that you would feel freedom to speak with an honest vocabulary like that in church. I am really drawn to honesty, and you are clearly an honest person. I hope we can become friends. Love, Unnamed Nursery Worker.

The nursery worker and Janet did in fact become friends. Janet came back the next Sunday. And the Sunday after that. And the Sunday after that. And eventually, Janet became the nursery director for the church. Later on I would discover that when Janet started coming to our church she was a recovering heroin addict.