New Blog: Signs of Compassion

Since I came to Washington DC about 6 weeks ago, I have felt a call more than ever to reach out into the world in search for signs of hope, love and compassion.

I have witnessed many of these signs: people buying homeless food, organizations helping individuals and families in need, protests and prayer groups for social and moral issues. I have seen people stand up for morality, and I have witnessed harsh realities.

When I left for DC, I was coming with a purpose. Part of that purpose was to pursue journalism, the other was to find my calling and discover whether it truly lies in a field of communication.

My jump into the journalism industry was rough. My internship was colliding with my coursework, and I felt useless and uncalled. I struggled to get through the days not knowing if my heart was in it. Then with the blessing and advice of my advisors, I changed internships and began interning at the Baptist Press.

In my first few days there, I was already working on stories that affected not only the Christian community but humanity as a whole. The more I get involved each day, the more I realize that there are so many social, justice and moral issues that people are not addressing.

These past two weeks I have been working primarily on pro-life issues. An issue I feel both strongly and unsure about. As an adopted child, a baby born out of a teen pregnancy and adopted at birth, I have always felt it was right to be pro-life. However, I understand not everyone’s situation is simple. There are complexities in pregnancies I cannot explain. Regadless, this topic is one often discussed and debated as a moral and social issue.

There are other issues that affect human rights that are less frequently addressed. In the Summer of 2007, I visited a village in northeast Thailand with my high school peers. In preparation, we learned about the horrifically large industry of sex trafficking. Ever since visiting Thailand, my heart strings have been pulled by this subject. Portland, Oregon the metropolitan area my hometown is a part of, is the second leading sex trafficking city in the US. As a young women, this is disheartening.

Last year, in my general education chemistry course I did a report on clean water. The amount of people dying throughout the world by harmful water is saddening. I did research and found organizations making a difference. However, every time I drink bottled water, I don’t think of the environment first, but rather those who have no access to healthy and clean water.

There are so many dilemmas in this world. I could write about it forever. The AIDS epidemic, the poverty-stricken in Mexico who live in wastelands, the black market of selling organs, the work slavery that still exists today, the drug cartels, the orphans living in soiled cribs, all of these things affect humanity, affect our world. What are we doing about it? What will we do about it? How did we let it get this way?

I hope I can show you, the signs of compassion.