Dorina

Serving with joy doesn’t mean we’re always cheerful or everything is perfect, but it means we choose to bring light into the spaces we enter. It’s about being present, being kind, and finding the moments however big or small to celebrate each other. It’s in the way we greet one another, how we support a team member having a tough day or in sharing someone’s birthday with a small cake. These are the grand gestures, but they are the deeply meaningful ones. The ones that speak “You matter. This moment matters.”

Over the past few weeks God has been pressing this on my heart on how we can be examples of joy in the way we live, love and serve. Not a performative joy but a genuine joy that springs from recognizing who He is and what He’s done. A joy that sees every day as a gift, and honours the people around us by simply being present with them. 

Although I feel like I’m still in the middle of my service, I’m also aware that my time here has a finish line, and in just 3.5 months I’ll be packing my bags and heading back to Canada. This realization has started a shift on how I approach each day. It’s made me ask: How can I be the most intentional with the time I have left? 

And I believe the answer isn’t on doing more, it’s doing what matters more intentionally. It’s choosing to be fully present. It’s remembering that our days are limited, but our impact doesn’t have to be. To leave behind more than completed task, but a trail of joy. Not because every day was easy, but because joy made every day worthy of showing up. 

Now, apart from my reflection I want to catch you all up on some exciting things that have happened the past few weeks. 

The capacity at the Hope Center has reached its max, and with more patients on the surgical schedule, a second Hope Center was opened. It’s been a whirlwind few days of organizing, setting up a completely new facility, and figuring out all the logistics. But in God’s perfect timing, our team was strengthened and encouraged, rising to every opportunity to make it happen. Working straight through the weekend to welcome our first patients by Monday evening. Many of these patients are blind, and we are praying with hope that their eyesight will be restored. I know the coming months will stretch us as we serve across two Hope Centers, but my prayer is that God would continue to pour out His strength, energy, and wisdom over each day. Because even in the busyness, there is joy, especially when we get to witness lives being transformed right in front of us.

And to cap it all off, there’s been even more reason to celebrate. Two dear friends from my small group on the ship are expecting their first baby! What a joy it’s been to witness the gift of life growing, and to see God gently shaping their hearts as they prepare to step into parenthood. One weekend, we celebrated with a baby shower, and it turned out to be such a beautiful, joy-filled day. Despite the logistical challenges of pulling off an event like that in the middle of Madagascar, our community came together, each person contributing in small, meaningful ways to bring her vision to life. It was such a picture of what it means to serve one another in love. It’s through these moments of simplicity that remind me that joy doesn’t come from perfection. It comes from people, presence and purpose.