Service is helping those in need—at least, that’s what it appears to be. Even this shallow definition instantly invokes images of devoted volunteers working long hours for people who may not be able to afford food, housing, and other essential services. Many enter volunteer work assuming they are the ones giving. While often true on a material level, the gifts given by those who allow others to serve them are incomparable.
Service is a symbiotic relationship. It takes incredible strength to ask for help in hardship and actively strive to better your future. Once help has been offered, those being served open their hearts and demonstrate grace. They must assume strangers have positive intentions despite the possibility of being belittled intentionally or out of ignorance. Many chose to share their smiles, struggles, and hospitality; they share their humanity. These examples are only a few of the many blessings which we receive when we serve others.
While true for all situations requiring compassion, service work presents many opportunities to learn and grow. True service, not simply volunteering, requires self-awareness and education on the complex societal and historical barriers to livelihood. We become better people when we serve. We learn to love and treat our neighbors as ourselves.
I also have a selfish reason for serving—I see myself in the neighbors I will be serving at St. Basil’s academy. This summer, I will be an intern at St. Basil’s Academy. Their mission is to provide a loving environment, education, and protection for children and orphans in need. The community and mission St. Basil's serves resonates deeply with me. I feel compelled and blessed to be able to serve with them.
I was born in China, but the one child-policy dictated that I could not stay with my birth family. I was adopted and welcomed into a family that gave me my best friends: my two older sisters who were also adopted from China. I am so grateful to be the person I am today, but I recognize that it is only through God’s intercession and the unconditional acts of love which I received. During the formative first 18 months of my life prior to being adopted, my future was uncertain.
Service is not only a blessing — it is a necessity. As St. John Chrysostom said, we can find “salvation” from those in need. If we can find love and salvation in service, service is truly the greatest gift and our inevitable calling.
Emmalia is interning at St. Basil's Academy in New York. St. Basil's is a national non-profit philanthropic center of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America which provides a loving Christian environment and a home for orphans, children of chronically ill or destitute parents and children from broken homes. The Academy's mission is to facilitate shelter, protection, love, and education in youth so they grow up to be healthy, wholesome, well-rounded Orthodox Christians, as well as productive members of society with vision and hope.