"I think if I want to stay all-in, I need to be around other people who are all-in."
We all live in a bubble.
It is comfortable. It is safe. It is predictable. But it is also the exact place where our perspective gets stuck, insulating us from the realities of the world and keeping us from going all in.
Our CEO, Tim Brand, recently reminded us that being “all in” does not mean having all the answers or carrying the burden alone. It means offering ourselves in a posture of complete immersion. But you cannot experience that level of surrender from inside a protective bubble.
Pastor Andrew Schmidt understands this tension well. In a recent conversation, he shared “Surrender… is an invitation into activation, not passivity… when you surrender the part that’s resisting God, or resisting what God wants, all of a sudden all the energy can go into what God does want.”
However, staying all in is difficult when life does not go as planned. “Navigating disappointment is a lot bigger part of being in ministry than I had anticipated when I first entered into it.” When we face constant setbacks inside our bubble, our enthusiasm naturally wanes.
To combat this, we have to step out and look for hope in unexpected places.
During a recent trip to Haiti, Andrew experienced what happens when that bubble bursts. “The thing that was most helpful is just seeing hope in the midst of hopelessness, and that’s what my trip was over and over again.” He met a local man who had not eaten in days and lived under a roof that leaked whenever it rained. Despite his desperate circumstances, the man was full of joy and laughter. He told the team that he always thanked God because, even with the leaks, water had never gotten in his ear.
That is the power of finding hope in the midst of hopelessness.
Distance breeds apathy, but proximity creates empathy. Living an impactful life requires us to step out of our isolation and surround ourselves with people whose contagious hope keeps us going. We cannot sustain a life of generosity from a distance.
“I think all-in is contagious. I think if I want to stay all-in, I need to be around other people who are all-in.”
At Many Hands, we believe in the power of getting proximate. We are building a community of people who are choosing to pop the bubble and go all in, not because they are perfect, but because they are willing to show up for each other.
Whether you are traveling on an Impact Trip to serve alongside our local leaders, or you are committing to a monthly gift to sustain their vital work, you are making a choice. You are choosing to close the gap, remove the resistance, and step into a story of grace.
Where will you step in today?
About Many Hands:
Many Hands is an Iowa-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming together, to be in action, in a broken world. We desire to walk alongside the community and empower individuals and families by focusing on education, agriculture, leadership, safe structures, youth programs, and early childhood development. Together, we can rebuild lives and restore hope, one person, one family, one community, at a time.
