When Hal was 12 years old, he never thought that his life would revolve around heading up one of the world’s largest, influential, and most effective charities!
According to Forbes Magazine, year after year, Hal Donaldson heads up one of the top-listed, most effective, and worthy charities. The charity is called “Convoy of Hope.”
He and his organization are there during catastrophes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, and typhoons. His organization also addresses some of the most extreme cases of day-to-day poverty.
As I write this, the news reports that Morocco has been devasted by a massive earthquake — and his organization is already on the scene helping people in real, tangible ways!
When Hal was 12 years old, his “parents were scheduled to attend a business meeting. His “two younger brothers and younger sister were supposed to stay home with a babysitter.
However, as he shares his story, he states . . . .
“But the babysitter was late, and so my dad said, ‘You’ll have to hop in the car with us and go to the business meeting.’ My father was halfway down the road when he glanced at his rearview mirror, and he spotted the babysitter pulling into our driveway and so my dad made a u-turn, dropped the four of us kids off, and we would spend the night with the babysitter.
After about an hour and a half later, there was a knock at our door and I ran to the door, and they’re standing in front of me were two uniformed police officers, and they had come to deliver the news that my parents had been hit by a drunken driver my father had been killed instantly, and my mother was seriously injured fighting for her life in the hospital.”
The events of that night, and what followed, would be part of the structure of what built this charity decades later.
“I’ll never forget that night because a number of friends and neighbors began together in our front yard, and the police officer pulled me up on the porch, put his arm on my shoulder, and he addressed the crowd. He said, ‘Are there any family members or friends here who are willing to take the children home with them? If not, we’ll take them downtown to the station.’ — and that night — I’m sure it was just a matter of moments before someone responded, but for a kid, it felt like minutes — and finally, one young couple raised their hands, and their names are Bill and Louvada Davis, and they said, ‘We’ll take them.'”
The Davis family already had four children, and now there were eight children. The Davis family lived in a small trailer, and all ten lived together for about a year. There were not enough beds, so the children took turns sleeping on the floor.
“The Davises drained their savings account. They sacrificed their privacy so four kids could have a home. . . . My mom, because of the shards of glass from the windshield, her face was terribly scarred and scabbed, and so they wouldn’t allow me to see my mother — weeks passed — finally they let me go to the hospital and . . . . . . . I actually passed out when I looked at her because I couldn’t believe that was my mother.”
Hal and his siblings came to understand that . . . .
“The Davises sacrificed their privacy and drained their savings account so four children could have a place to live. Without complaint, Louvada spent her days cooking, cleaning, and folding laundry. Bill worked extra hours at the rock quarry to feed his small army.”
During that year at the Davises, Bill Davis developed an awareness of the negative spirit that was developing in Hal’s heart. Bill put his arm around Hal and spoke words that he never forgot.
Hal repeatedly shares those words of advice . . . .
“Don’t allow the tragedy of your childhood to become a lifelong excuse, because where you start in life doesn’t have to dictate where you end.” [1]
Mrs. Donladson’s hip was crushed, along with severe ankle injuries, but she was alive and lived. She had a terrible limp for the rest of her life. She held the family together by taking on two jobs.
Hal’s life took many twists and turns over the following decades. However, the acts of kindness and words of the Davises to the Donaldson family and children were all part of the lumber that built the Convoy of Hope.” [2]
Our acts of kindness can domino, as did the acts of the Davis family on that night of tragedy as they opened their hearts to take in the four Davis children. Most times, our act of kindness will be far less than that of Bill and Louvada. Still, it will be just as meaningful to the receiver — a bag of groceries, a hospital visit, attendance at a funeral, providing a place to live for a few days, weeks, and maybe even several months, just sitting with someone saying little to nothing, etc.
Our simple words of counsel can turn bitterness and anger into heavenly advice that changes the direction of one’s life. What could have easily been a life of dysfunction and selfishness can be dodged by recognizing someone’s pain and speaking words of divine wisdom into that mind and heart.
What will the next 24 hours bring into your life, and maybe more importantly, across your life’s path. It may be very disruptive, but that is what the Davis family volunteered for that tragic night when they said, “Yes — We will take them in.” I am certain that they did not know that it would be for almost a year! It was disruptive, and that word became part of the title of Hal’s book, “Disruptive Compassion.”
In the next 24 hours, what can you and should you step into to make a difference, that may be disruptive, but maybe it will even make a difference, maybe an eternal difference!
- Hal Donaldson’s book, “Disruptive Compassion.”
- “My decision was inspired by the Davises’ decision. They could have said they didn’t have enough money or space to rescue four kids. They could have shed a tear and simply walked away. Instead, they moved beyond excuses and pity to action. They made our tragedy their own and hitched their happiness to ours. Their decision changed our lives and, years later, inspired the founding of Convoy of Hope.”
- HOW THE POWER OF KINDNESS SAVED AND INSPIRED CONVOY OF HOPE CEO HAL DONALDSON — By Ettie Berneking — BIZ417.com — Nov 07, 2019
LINK: https://www.biz417.com/blog/hal-donaldson-convoy-of-hope-disruptive-compassion-book/
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