There are millions of ways to help

by Alexandra Miller-Mutia

My name is Alexandra.  I’m in 5th grade and I go to Monte Vista Elementary.  My family and I moved to Albuquerque over the summer from Berkeley, CA.  I’ve been a member of three other churches.  The most recent was St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco.  I’m very new to Canterbury, but I’m looking forward to getting to know the church and finding ways to help here.  

In my opinion, there are many ways to be involved in church. One of the ways is to help people that can’t be in church or are going through a hard time.   Also I think that this is definitely a job that everyone can do, and there are multiple ways to do it.   

In the past, I’ve helped in many different ways.  For example, once after church I went with a group of people to visit a member of our church who was in the hospital.  When we got there, we talked for a while and then we sang hymns together.   Also sometimes my family has helped people by bringing them meals.  At Eastertime, sadly, some people could not participate in services.  So what we did was we set up a table at the side of the church and on that table there were art supplies for making cards for people.   

One memorable experience was when we visited our friend, Ginny, in hospice.   She was a very good artist.  I was really surprised when I saw her room.  It was filled, floor to ceiling, with art she had made.   However, she couldn’t do any more art because of her cancer which was very sad.   When we visited her it really felt strange to know that she would die, but I could tell that she appreciated us being there.   About a year later a miracle happened.  She didn’t die. She survived and she is living back in San Francisco.   

In the future, I hope that I can do more of the things that I’ve done, including visiting people and helping them in any way I can.   And I’m sure that you will find a way to help someone in need as well.