Samaritas is in the redemption business.
The word redemption often brings two things to mind, especially at this time of year. One is spiritual and the other is financial.
The spiritual aspect of redemption has to do with the story of God loving creation so much that God chose to be born in the flesh as a baby, live in our shoes, experience the joys, trials, and angst of being a human, and then die an unjust death as one of us. This all happened because God so loves the world with no strings attached that God did the unimaginable to redeem us.
Financially, we hear about redemption too. One of my favorite gifts for Christmas is a gift card. I really enjoy these things, partially because it allows me to get a gift twice – once when I open the wrapping and the other time when I take it to the store or go online to select my present.
But what do I do with the card when I select the special thing that fits me perfectly? I do the same thing that I also do with coupons, discounts, or tickets for my children at an arcade. I redeem it.
To redeem something by definition means to retrieve the inherent value that already exists in it.
To redeem a person by definition means to discover the inherent value of the person.
When God redeemed creation through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God boldly proclaimed that what God made – who God made – has insurmountable value.
It should be no surprise to us, therefore, that Samaritas is in the redemption business, because we are driven by a mission that flows from the same type of love that God has for what and whom God made. Our mission is about serving people as an expression of the love of Christ.
This mission is why and how we bring redemption to people.
And how do we do this?
We help people discover the inherent value they have as children of God through the ways we sacrificially and unselfishly serve them.
Children in foster care, who, for no fault of their own, are separated from their birth parents, find their value, their redemption, through the dedication of our foster care workers and the loving families who welcome them in. They discover that they have value when they are successful in school, when we send them to camp, give them Christmas gifts, and either restore them to their original home or help them find a new forever home.
Refugees, who, for no fault of their own, are separated from their place of origin, find their value, their redemption, through the hardworking days and sleepless nights of our New Americans staff. They see that others value them when we welcome them at the airport, take them to a new dwelling with a home cooked meal, and get them rapidly on the road to self-sufficiency in their new homeland.
Seniors, who, for no fault of their own, are unable to live independently, find their value, their redemption, through the attention offered by people who work in our senior living communities. They see that their value is still recognized. People who are receiving our new and expanding Samaritas At Home services know a similar experience as people come to their homes and help restore them to health.
Persons with disabilities, who, for no fault of their own, need extra care and support, find their value, their redemption, through the compassion and loving action of members of our PWD team. They experience what it means to live in community with other people who share similar challenges and accomplishments, thereby reminding them that as children of a loving God, we are all in solidarity in this thing called life.
This pattern of bringing redemption is a thread that weaves itself throughout the diverse tapestry of our organization.
Our Finance Team brings redemption and value when they help us all be better stewards of financial resources that don’t belong to us, but really to God and the people we serve. The same is true as our Human Resources team educates us on stewarding our relationships with our staff.
The Advancement Team, of which I am blessed to be a member, helps our support partners see and bring value to the people we serve through their inspirational acts of generosity. Our Executive Team sees the worth of all parts of Samaritas and strives to maximize that through strategic navigation of this organization.
We, and so many other teams I am remiss not to mention due to space limitations, come through when others don’t, with a path home, because we are all about bringing value to people and helping them discover the worth that they already have.
We do this, because Samaritas is in the redemption business.
Merry Christmas to all!
Nik Schillack is Director of Church Relations at Samaritas