Slinging Starfish Back to the Sea
A two-week medical mission to Luxor, Egypt
This evening, I will board a flight with 28 others to head to Luxor, Egypt, for a two-week medical mission. We will perform surgery to repair cleft lips, palates, and burns. We are traveling to an open wound in the global family where the suffering is raw and fresh. Terrorists have made these wounds with their unexpected violence and brutality. When I feel discouraged that these wounds are so big that one person, group, or mission could never make a difference, I am reminded of the story of the starfish.
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A man was walking along a beach studded with starfish and came upon a small child throwing them back into the sea one by one. He inquired what the child was doing as there were many miles of shoreline and hundreds of starfish. He told the child they would never be able to make a difference. At that, the child got quiet and then picked up a starfish and flung it far, telling the man that it had just made a difference to that one.
The energetic and vital ninety-year-old founder of the nonprofit Rotaplast will be on the flight with me. This organization has been performing this challenging goal for over thirty years in many countries worldwide. The planning and preparation to perform high-level surgery in new places is no joke. It requires months of preparation and hard work by dedicated staff and volunteers. If terrorism relies on unexpected violence, this work relies on planned, deliberate gentleness. We come to heal. Our work may not make a difference to many of the complex issues plaguing the region and the world at large, but it is one starfish cast far to the sea, and to me, it feels like the best thing I can do right now. When we surrender to despair, the terrorists win. When we respond to violence with gentleness, we spread hope, peace, and love.
If enough people join in the flinging of starfish over time, it is incredible how many of them can be saved. Rotaplast has operated on nearly 20,000 people of all ages, primarily children. I could not be prouder to belong to this group of starfish slingers this evening. If you, too, are longing to make a difference, to do something, consider donating to support the children of Luxor and making a difference one starfish at a time.
