3 Ways to Change Your Life by Serving

The first way to change your life through serving is through local outreach. Volunteer at the local homeless shelter, food group, women's shelter, clothing drive, hospitals etc. There are numerous charities in your community that you can serve with. Call up the place your interested in and talk to them about areas their lacking in. Where do they need the most help? Even if it's sorting resources or folding clothes for a clothing drive. There is always something that needs done. Generosity is contagious and it does something in the soul of a person. Generosity can travel a long way with people and make a difference with a person in need. Sometimes just showing a smile and taking an interest in people can be enough to raise their spirits. Just the tiniest spark can catch a fire in the spirit of a man to pick himself up, to try one more time, to believe in a dream. Just the smallest act of kindness can be that spark that can cause a fire in the human spirit; a fire that can cause a real change. And in return there will be a warm spot in your own soul that can grow into a fire itself if you keep feeding it.

Beyond local outreach consider serving on a missions trip. Missions trips are a great way to reach the suffering of third world countries. Many countries lack proper health care, food, clean water,clothing, shelters and manny other things that those of us in the West take for granted. There are medical mission trips that you can serve on if you have a profession or education in the medical field. Many of these trips stay for months on end taking care of people that might not ever receive the health care they need. There are construction trips that help build homes, schools, churches, and doctors offices. Some mission trips help bring in nutritious foods and education on nutrition. Still others plant churches and thusly plant the Gospel into the heart of man. Once the Gospel take root it can produce a change in a man that no act of humanitarian aid can produce. Teaching and demonstrating the Gospel is the greatest service you can do for another.  No matter what type of mission trip you're on there are ways to serve others and to show outreach to the hurting and lost. 

Do you have a desire to start your own charity? What need burns in your heart? What need is always on your mind? That's God showing you what charity you can start. That might seem scary or to big. It amy seem out of your reach. It should seem that way! If it its not then why are you doing it? You need to research on how to start the charity. Who do you register with? What number of your friends and family will be interested in helping you and joining your team? If you don't have close friends interested then ask them who they know that might be interested in it. Advertise the need in the paper, radio,T.V. etc. At the same time write out your goals and dead lines. Goals with out deadlines are just dreams. Write out your vision and mission. Who are you? What do you plan to do and how? What specific steps will you take to carry these out? What fundraising events will be necessary? Read more on fundraising on my Wizzley article and my site. Be sure to not start building anything until you have all the money; you wouldn't want to run out of money and not be able to finish! Don't go into debt either because the borrower is slave to the lender. These are some tips you need to heed to get started on your dream.

Starting your own charity does not have to be an over bearing venture. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you do anything great and worth while? One quality step at a time. Keep the dream and the inspiration constantly in front of you. Stir up the gifts on the inside of you. Keep after it day after day until the finished project is standing before you!

Serving others is worth the risk. It's worth the blood, sweat and tears. When you see someone who is blessed because of your work, you'll know your life has changed because you changed their life.