Yesterday I had the great honor to give a small speech at the Heartworks meeting. Heartworks was founded by Megan McDowell. She is truly an incredible person. She founded Heartworks as a non-profit Acts of Kindness group in response to the tremendous kindness that sustained her family and other families in the months and years following September 11, 2001. In short notice, about a week and a half, she asked the group to bring in donations for my mission to Bolivia.
I had a soccer game yesterday against New Providence, a team who beat us 6-0 last season. I was awaiting the game with great anticipation and we battled out a 3-2 loss, a great improvement but disappointment nonetheless. I rushed home ate a quick dinner and threw on one of many Operation Smile t-shirts. My dad drove me over to a member of Heartworks home for me to share a bit about what I was doing for Operation Smile. I wrote a short speech during some free time during school and was stressing out about it.
As soon as I walked through the front door all of my anxiety disappeared as the women all began talking to me excitedly about Operation Smile and how awesome it was to be doing what I was doing. I believe wholeheartedly that Operation Smile is a fantastic organization and the fact that they allow students to attend missions is unique and I am so grateful to be doing so. I made sure to share this with everyone who uttered the words “It is awesome to see a 16 year old doing this”. Operation Smile is my passion and without the organization I would not have the opportunity I now have. Megan wrote me a nametag and one for my dad, the only man in the house. I felt welcomed into the great environment that Heartworks has almost instantaneously.
Everyone sat down in the living room of the house and one woman lit candles in memory and in prayer for countless people and situations. To name a few; the armed forces and veterans, those affected by cancer and their families and communities, Maggie Doyne (she spoke at the leadership conference) and her orphanage and school in Nepal, The minors in Chili, and they lit a candle for me. When my name was said I was so touched and felt a great comfort to know all of these kind and generous women were praying for me and supporting me as I journey to Bolivia and back. Megan introduced me to the group and I stood up to share my speech. I said one line from the crinkled paper I was holding and then just spoke from my heart about Operation Smile. I feel that when one speaks form the heart it is more touching and impacts a greater amount of people. The women were very supportive and welcoming and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to speak. I printed out some fact sheets from the Operation Smile website and made contact cards so the women could contact me.
My experience at the Heartworks meeting is unforgettable and I cannot wait to share stories and pictures from my mission when I return home. The ladies brought in around five bags of donations. This is so exciting for me to see especially because there were some items I had not gotten yet. The donations range from play-do to toy cars to books and to glue sticks. Bolivia is the poorest and one of the least developed nations in South America. The children will be so happy to have some toys to play with and they will be put to great use. I found a picture of the awesome prayer board from the meeting but do not have any other pictures to post. I wanted to thank Heartworks again and thank my tremendous Aunt Karen for helping me out and introducing me to Heartworks.
Thanks again Heartworks,
Rachael
To find out more about Heartworks here is their link: http://www.njheartworks.org/index.htm
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