Recently I was traveling on business and was on a long flight back home from the West to East Coast connecting through Charlotte.
As I sat down in my seat (ailse seat) the women next to me extended her hand saying "Hi, I'm Eva". I responded back and then she turned to the person next to her in the window seat and did the same thing. I thought to myself, what a nice gesture for someone to introduce themself to the people around them. You don't see that much.
So after we took of, Eva soon pulls out all this paperwork from her bag, and starts to work very diligently. Being a little nosey and somewhat curious, I could see that she had a stack of children profiless that looked like something you might see from Unicef or other organizations that help people around the world.
I asked her what she was working on. She filled me in on this incredible story where several years she went to visit Egypt (as a tourist). During her travels she was taken aback by the poverty, lack of medical supplies, lack of education, etc. that exists in Egypt. After coming back to the US she had this wonderful idea or calling to help the children of Egypt while at the same time spreading the word of God. From my conversation I could tell she was a deeply religious person.
Eva approached her church to see about getting money for her to go back to Egypt and to help people in need. From this idea - evolved The Healing Grace program which is headed by Eva.
Eva explained to me that she has developed a network of people over the years both in the US and in Egypt that help in th mission to support young children in need - kids with no parents, kids with debilitating diseases, etc. The program raises money thru sponsorships for specific kids or groups of kids, while at the same time introducing kids to God. Her program has been very successful and 100% of all money raised goes to helping the kids in Egypt.
I was truly blessed hearing how Eva didn't just notice a problem - she is doing something about it. She's had to learn to work within a country that is not Christian so as not to upset the people of the government but at the same time achieve her goal - helping others in need. This takes courage and a strong will to put one's self in constant danger and still do something good. I was truly amazed by Eva.
So at the end, I asked her to send me information about sponsoring a child. My daughter has choses a girl her age in Egypt for us to sponsor - her name is Nadia. We donate $30 every month to support the care she needs and the education she deserves.
I was truly blessed to meet Eva by chance - just sitting next to each other on a plane. I don't support all her religious beliefs, but I do applaud her burning desire to help others when they need it most. She's a doer! We need more doer's in this world and less talkers!
Just remember - you never know, Kindness might only be just one seat away.
