“Daddy, what do you do?”
It was a simple question, but it stopped me in my tracks.
I’ve worked with charities since before my daughter was born. She has been to my office when I worked at a homeless shelter. She has waved good-bye when I’ve travelled overseas doing relief and development work. We talk about Daddy’s work all the time. And yet here was my 9-year-old, sitting on my lap and looking up at me with those big, honest eyes, earnestly wanting to understand what I do — but more than that, why I do it.
How can I explain acute hunger and poverty to a child who has known neither? How would she ever be able to grasp the realities of life faced by refugees and forcibly displaced families?
I couldn’t find the words to explain it. I realized that I had to show her.
Of course, my ever-lovin’ wife made it pretty clear that I was not going to “traipse” my daughter all over the world to have her “experience” malnutrition and homelessness.
So that left me with a dilemma: how do I be a good father and educate my daughter about these things while keeping my marriage intact?
The team at World Relief Canada helped me do both through their World Relief Challenges — simple activities that bring global experiences home. The first one is called “Life in a Suitcase.”
The premise is simple. You have 10 minutes to pack a suitcase that you must live out of for a week. You have to take it with you everywhere you go: to school, to the office, to restaurants, to the movie theatre, everywhere! Sounds straight forward, right? At least that’s what I thought…
So why was my daughter now standing next to an overstuffed carry-on, literally weeping?
“Daddy, I’ve never packed by myself before! What if I do it wrong? What if I forget something? What if I don’t pack something and I love it and I never see it again? Oh daddy, how do little girls do this? I don’t understand why bad people make them do it…”
It broke my heart to see her mourning others’ losses. The challenge had just begun, and she’d already learned more than I could have ever taught her.
Her response changed how I packed. It was somehow more real. If I knew I would lose everything I didn’t pack, what would I leave behind? Now packing a few suits and underwear seemed shallow. Identification, pictures, and heirlooms suddenly seemed much more important — these items told the story of my family.
But let’s be honest. If we had to run for our lives from armed conflict, I’m not even sure I would take a suitcase. My only concern and prayers would be for keeping my wife and daughter safe. Keeping “things” would be a distant second to survival.
I know there’s a huge difference between my daughter and I carrying suitcases around for a week and refugees who flee for their lives. Living out of a suitcase won’t change anything, but understanding will.
Because understanding is the beginning of all real change.
My daughter’s understanding is much deeper, and my world will never be the same. Experience is a game-changer. Maybe that’s why Jesus came down to live among us — to experience humanity before he saved it.
So maybe it’s time we ought to experience more of humanity, too.
World Relief Canada invites you to this kind of experience. Take in some of the World Relief Challenges — there will be lots of them. And consider starting off with “Life in a Suitcase.”
Every suitcase tells a story. So what will yours be?
