Gotta Have It

For many people, a job is a means to an end. They do what they do so they can afford to do what they want to do. There is nothing wrong with that. We all need to eat and live, and we need to have a way to finance that life. Zig Ziglar, one of the world’s top motivators, was once quoted as saying, “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the ‘gotta have it’ scale.” I couldn’t agree more. Except that I would say that hope is kind of like that too – you gotta have it. But fulfilling a job can be about so much more than money. It can also be about changing the world, one life at a time.If you know me, then you probably already know about Kru Nam. I love this woman. Her passion and her guts really set her apart among the people I work with all over the world. It isn’t that she is forceful – it’s that she is a force to be reckoned with.I needed to know what it was like to be where she is at. I needed to find out what kept her going, so I figured the best way was to just come out and ask her to share it herself:“Why do I do what I do? I help these street kids because no one else is helping them and it is hard to find people to help them. There are too many people who take advantage of their innocence and steal their dreams, using them to traffic drugs, selling their bodies, enslaving them and doing almost anything you could imagine to them. We have to take advantage of this opportunity to rescue them while they are young, because when they grow up it will be too late. They will become the ones who are causing the problems in society.Of course, there are victories in what we do; moments where you remind yourself that you can keep going. When we have government officials begin to accept these kids as human beings and recognize that they need a future like every other child then we know we have had a victory. Or even when the kids see themselves as being worth the fight, it’s a victory. It’s like planting a seed that will grow into a tree, it’s a long process; but it feels good when people can see the tree.Recently, we were able to help a mother and child. The mother has mental disabilities, and her child was begging for money on the streets. She wouldn’t let me help them for over two years, and just recently we were able to bring the girl into one of our children’s homes. It makes me happy to know that I can keep the mother and daughter together and yet help them both at the same time.At the same time, there are too many heartbreaks to count. Moments like where I helped a 16 year old girl escape prostitution. We gave her vocational training skills and helped her get a new job and attend school. However, once she finished her vocational training, she returned to prostitution. She said she felt more beautiful than before and more confident. It broke our hearts to see her return to the very thing that was destroying her life.If we only ever focused on the setbacks, we wouldn’t be able to carry on. But every human walking on the earth was born in the same way. Everyone has a life that was given to them by God: the rich, the poor, the black, the white – this is what makes up the world. If we want the world to be in peace and have meaning, we have to see everyone as equals. We each have to do our parts, and this is mine.”Over the past four years, I have watched and learned from her about what it is to hang on and see the bigger picture, no matter how discouraged you may get. Along with the incredible men and women who stand alongside of her, Kru Nam has helped to see hundreds of stateless kids rescued out of slavery, prostitution, and exploitation. Through constant challenges, setbacks, and perseverance, they are helping to shape the future for kids around the world – one life at a time. They are not rich – in fact there are seasons when they themselves struggle to survive – but they are full of hope and that hope is what keeps them going.This summer, we are returning to Thailand with Hero Holiday. We are working with Kru Nam, JK, and many other unsung heroes, helping to build a better future, one life at a time. You can join us! Check out www.livedifferent.com.“It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes a difference.” ~ Zig Ziglar