Today, I read the story of a young American whose body had been recovered from Haiti, a seminary student who had been helping at the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys when the earthquake hit. A cried a little bit, overwhelmed not just by the tragedy, but by the beauty of what he had been doing over there in the first place.

The Christian community can be a very small world, and since the earthquake, not a day has gone by without me hearing of someone, somewhere, praying for a miracle or grieving a loss. It takes my breath away to realize how connected we are, how many people have poured their time, love, energy, and lives into Haiti. These are not people who went there for a tropical vacation, or to advance their careers–these are people who had already made significant sacrifices to bring peace, help, and healing to a hurting nation, for no reason other than that it’s what Jesus would do.

We Americans remember those who have fallen in war, but we tend to gloss over people who have given their lives for peace. And make no mistake, most people go into missionary work knowing the risk. Normal people don’t charge into famine, social chaos, and political instability without a really good reason. But missionaries have a really good Reason.

I am so thankful for the sacrifices people have made to bring food, medicine, and education to the hurting people in the world. I am so thankful for people who have had the courage to leave their comfortable lives behind, to alleviate the suffering of others while sharing in it at the same time. Giving money to a cause is a wonderful thing–giving your life to it is beautifully, wonderfully, recklessly foolish. Proof-positive that you have fallen head-over-heels in love, that Divine Love has totally overpowered your senses. And it’s a good thing, because it’s Love, not money, that will change the world.