"Who can take away suffering without entering it?"

As we continue to share with others & process in our hearts what we will be doing in Africa and why, I sometimes wonder how we can make a difference. We can't solve their issues of suffering and poverty, we can't take away their painful past, we can't give them all the resourcs they need to be educated, heathly contributors to their community. So in a sense, I've been asking myself what can we do?

Some encouraging answers have come by reading the The Wounded Healer by Henry Nouwen:
"The emptiness of the past and the future can never be filled with words but only by the presence of man." I think about some of our skills we have to offer, some finances we have that can help in some small way, our willing heart to help with service projects. But I think the most profound thing we have to offer is simply our presence. The heart and mind to be in community with those people, "...because all men are one at the wellspring of pain and joy."