Listen Your Way to Make a Difference!

Teresa Grashof lives in the center of a very active career, family and volunteering life: 25 years in real estate development, marriage and raising children, community church fellowship and mission outreach. The key to navigating the demands of her busy life is an early-morning practice of quiet prayer…a listening communion with God, “What do you want me to hear and follow?” Answers come, sometimes slowly, but Teresa says it’s worth the daily 10-30 minute pause – if she launches the day with go-go-go, running into the day without quiet time, the running won’t stop! It feels like chaos. “I need to praise, thank and listen first, then go… I’m always better for the prayer-time.”

Recently, Teresa shared how she got involved with the South Florida Haiti Project, dedicated to improving the living conditions of the people of Bondeau, Haiti.

How do you know what to do to make a difference? Listen – and say yes!

“Whenever it comes around to helping people in need, it resonates with me. Must be part of my DNA because it simply isn’t ok with me NOT to do something, not to give.  Someone says, ‘We need help.’ I ask, ‘What can I do?’”

The journey to volunteering for Haiti began years ago in Teresa’s family Episcopal church.  It started with “We need this…” and a resonating desire to answer the need: a leader of the children’s portion of the service, a member of the church’s leadership body, a leader of family fellowship and Bible study, then joining the Outreach and Mission Committee followed by taking on secretary then treasurer of the same, and now board member of the South Florida Haiti Project. It turns out that the more you do, the more you do!

As Teresa describes it, her volunteer work in Haiti didn’t start by going on a trip to Haiti – it started in her morning prayer time and with Hurricane Matthew having just happened that she was nudged to think about Haiti. She had never given Haiti any thought prior but she said “OK” in response to the nudge. It’s her only answer to ideas that come from her morning listening sessions.

“When I put my focus on others – out of myself! – then ideas to help and ways to connect with people come. It’s like a bonus to my prayer time!”

Come listen to what is happening in Haiti…

“Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti in 2016. I didn’t know much except that it wasn’t good. First the earthquake, now clobbered by the hurricane. I knew I needed to do something. I found out that our church financially supports the South Florida Haiti Project, and I began to contribute financially.”

That is when Teresa was asked to come and listen to a board meeting for the South Florida Haiti Project, sponsored by St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton.

“I was so taken aback by all that was needed in Haiti and in particular the town of Bondeau. The #1 issue is they don’t have a clean water source, let alone health care, food, shelter. What a bubble I lived in! I just hadn’t looked at third-world issues until now.”

More meetings and understanding about the issues followed. This led to an invitation in September, 2017 to visit Bondeau, Haiti with the South Florida Haiti Project and see first-hand the progress that had been made and what more needs to be done.

“I was surprised at my willingness to do this – it was so out of my comfort zone. I had to go…and it was overwhelming at first. But I learned a lot. It was amazing.”

Questions, then clarity on a path forward.

“I am always asking, ‘Why am I here…What is my purpose?…Can I handle this responsibility?’ I was dragging my feet on making plans to join the next trip in October 2018 to Haiti. I just wasn’t sure I needed to go. But a friend said, ‘Oh yes you do – because of the way you listen and break the issues down.’ So I said yes, and various obstacles that were in the way got quickly resolved – and I was on a plane to Haiti.”

It was a long weekend full of meetings with community and church leadership and conversations in small groups about what projects were needed to support basic education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sustainability and dreams.

“On the flight back, I am thinking about all the projects and the money required. In the recent past, the fundraising has relied on small individual donations. But now, in order to take on these big projects, we need to figure out how to garner donations in bigger increments.”

This set Teresa’s mind in action, creating ideas about how to expand larger contributions. And something more, an answer for her own purpose: “Maybe this is my piece, maybe my way to help is on the fundraising side!”

As a result, her first big giving project is Food Packing for Haiti, providing 75,000 meals for hungry school children in Bondeau, Haiti. It’s happening on one day, January 12, 2019 at Teresa’s church – Good Shepherd Episcopal in Tequesta, Florida. “Supplies in large amounts are coming in but more is needed – and we are trusting God, taking one step at a time. This is happening!”

“Right now, I feel in harmony, lighter…I am happy to be right here. I don’t always feel this way. Maybe it is the Food Packing project – to be involved in something where you see God’s work all over it, feel His presence…it is super exciting.”

How can you get started where you are?

Teresa offers tips from her own journey: Reflect on your life, what has resonated with you? Is it kids? Older people? Is it a specific issue? There is a wide world of need, and there is an opportunity not far away!

When it pops into mind, listen to your heart and go find it. Take the first step to volunteer. Then evaluate. Maybe it’s not perfect, but just know it isn’t going to happen overnight. Stick with your intention, your prayer, your desire to help, and listen. You may not always hear an answer right away, but that is ok. Just start.