Re'na
Garcia is a 24-year-old wife & mother of 2 preschoolers, a
full-time nanny to 2 other children, & director of student
ministries at a Nashville Evangelical Covenant church.
She leads a busy life, but her favorite part of the day is
when she goes out to RAOK her world - as in performing "Random
Acts of Kindness."
"God puts
people in our lives everyday for us to touch," Garcia
says. So many times we're too busy & we miss those
opportunities."
Garcia
believes that RAOK - doing something nice for other people
w/no expectation of anything in return - is simply living out
the compassionate & unselfish attitude that Jesus expects
of His followers.
"People
were drawn to Christ not because He stood on a mountain &
preached, but because He filled their needs," Garcia
says. "He fed them. He healed them. He
touched lives." People may be more open to hearing about
the gospel as they see us modeling Christ's behavior, Garcia
says.
She &
her husband, Aaron, are part of a growing network of
Christians who exchange RAOK ideas w/each other. The
Garcias have launched a website (www.raoked.com) to inspire other believers to join the
RAOK revolution. Their list of potential RAOK ideas
includes leaving a huge tip at a restaurant, paying for
someone else's gas at a convenience store, leaving a roll of
quarters at a self-service laundry, or mowing a neighbor's
yard.
Part of
the fun, Garcia says, is not sticking around for a thank
you. For instance, when she pulls up to a fastfood
drive-thru window, she asks how much the tab is for the car
behind her - & she pays it, too. She asks the
clerk to pass along a RAOK business card to the driver.
The card contains an explanation for Garcia's motivation &
info about her church. There are no strings
attached.
She says
part of her biblical inspiration comes from Matthew
6:1-3: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of
righteousness' before men, to be seen by them . . . when you
give to the needy, do not announce it w/trumpets, as the
hypocrites do. . . . Do not let your right hand know
what your left hand is doing."
Says
Garcia, "If someone is having a day in which his life is
hanging in the balance, this could be his opportunity to
realize what he's been missing. You never know how it
might change a life if you buy someone dinner & they don't
know who did it."
15
Ways to 'RAOK'
Someone's World
Leave
a roll of quarters at the
Laundromat
Leave
a large tip at a restaurant.
Mow a
neighbor's lawn.
Pay
for a stranger's dry cleaning.
Pay
for the person behind you at the
drive-thru.
Leave
grocery gift cards in a mailbox.
Plow
or shovel the snow from a neighbor's
driveway.
Pay
for somebody's gas at the pump.
Make
dinner for a needy family.
Stop
to help change a flat tire.
Pay
rent for a family in need.
Hand
out water of sports drinks at a biking
trail.
Buy
school supplies for a kid in need.
Feed
parking meters.
Scrape snow off car windows in the
winter.
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