What can we do?

That was the final question on the bottom of a beautifully written post by @vanessahampton. I had opened her link from the day before, but could not give the post the attention it deserved until this morning. After leaving a portion of my thoughts in a comment for her, I told her I thought her question was an important one that deserved a fuller answer.

I encourage you to go read her post "Beggars can be choosers",  where she explores the heavy topic of "forgotten" children - those who are left to provide for their own needs, by any means necessary. When faced with the overwhelming burden of tackling a seemingly insurmountable problem as this, what can we do?

I recognized that her story was a fictional tale, but the tenderness I was experiencing in my chest was due to a heart rubbed raw by the actual children whose lives were represented in her story. As I read through the story, before she prompted, I was continually asking the question: what can we do?

I'm sure many have heard another story, but for those who haven't - allow me tell you one of my favorites. A little boy was walking along a shoreline littered with starfish that had been stranded on the beach after a storm. Unable to return to the safety of the water, they would dry and die under the heat of the sun. A man watched as the little boy walked along the shore, rescuing each star-shaped creature and flinging it back into the safety of the waves. As the man passed the boy, he shook his head and said, "Why are you bothering? Look at all of these starfish! It's impossible for you to save them all. You can't possibly think that what you're makes a difference!"

Undeterred, the little boy picked up the next starfish and tossed it as far as he could into the sea. Continuing to walk towards the next starfish, the boy simply replied, "It made a difference to that one."

A gift from my daughter

On a trip to Fiji, (No, not the resort side.  The side where we played on the filthy floor with children who were in hiding from their abusive fathers.) we had been faced with a similar burden that @vanessahampton described. There were so many. And we were so few. The hurt was so large; how could we make a difference? We were feeling very hopeless, and were on the verge of surrendering to defeat. An extremely wise native man was touched by our hearts and our willingness to serve. He was not a pastor by profession, but the village called him Pastor out of respect for his service to the Lord. I'll never forget his words of comfort and encouragement to us, "Start with one. Let God multiply."

We don't need to take on the world. We can't. But we can make a difference to one, and then...