Fellow Arpan Sathiabalan | The Small Things

Community Development. The refrain rang out clearly, unmistakably, worryingly. My mind was awhirl with new perspectives, conscious of the magnitude of the task ahead of us and all-too-aware of how small I am in the face of it.

Attending the Christian Community Development Association Conference in Portland as a Perkins Fellow was a powerful experience. It was incredibly inspiring to see the work Christians around the world were doing, to see that people took their call to serve seriously and were making a real impact in their communities. I felt warmly welcomed into this community, loved by strangers with tender hearts who had so much wisdom to offer. Hearing about stories of injustice and redemption built a raging fire in my heart. “How could I stand by and do nothing?”

Yet, my impetuous passion was tempered by knowledge of my limitations. I lack the knowledge, resources, and know-how to solve many of the problems I see around me. This is something that I expect many of you to have wrestled with, the consciousness of wrongdoing but the difficulty in knowing how to promote justice. In this wrestling, I’ve come to learn that our heart posture is more important than our ability.

A curious moment at the airport as we left Portland cemented this lesson. After passing through security, an elderly gentleman was asking for help in reaching his flight. As I began to try to help, a middle-aged man who had already tried his hand at being helpful warned me that he didn’t know his flight information and was drunk. Taking stock of these facts, I decided I would walk with him to the flight display board. On the way there, he unexpectedly fell against my shoulder and sagged onto the ground unceremoniously! Quite an adventure for 7:30 a.m.! A security guard came over and we practically dragged him over to a nearby bench where he waited for the airport to find a wheelchair and someone to help him.

I didn’t solve all of this man’s problems, but I helped him the best I could. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus says that ‘“whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”’ I am unable to solve every problem I see around me. All I can do is be faithful to my small part and trust that God will use it, so that inch by inch the Kingdom of God advances here on Earth.

Arpan is second from the left. Priscilla Perkins (daughter of John & Vera Mae) is centered.