A few years ago when I was working in a refugee camp, the stress of the day caught up with me one morning. A young friend from camp came to see me, as he did most days, and he saw the worry lines on my face. He looked at me and spoke a few words that have stayed with me ever since. He said, “You should smile more because happy people are more beautiful.”
Such a simple truth, but it made me think. It made me realize that in my stress, I had stopped using the one language with which I can speak to everyone I meet, no matter what language they speak—the universally understood language of the smile. Everyone understands a smile.
As we drove into the camp in Malakal, we were greeted with huge smiles of welcome. As we headed towards the tent that served as their church house to do a children’s distribution, we were surrounded on all sides by smiling happy children. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but I understood their smile. And they understood mine.
The next day in church, I understood their smiles of joy as they worshiped God. The words of the song were unfamiliar to me, but the joy of worship, I understood.
When we distributed food later that day, I saw the worry lines on the faces. This was a rare chance to get food for their families for the next couple of weeks. As they stood in line waiting, I looked into their eyes and smiled, and I watched as the worry lines melted away as a smile broke forth, and we understood each other. With no words spoken, we understood the message of a genuine smile. And I wish I could tell these beautiful people how much it meant to me, just to see their smiles.
We don’t always have opportunities to serve in what the world classifies as big ways. But I’ve found that one of the biggest ministries is to live a life of joy and hope and extend that to those around you. Everyone is attracted to true, pure joy. The joy that can only come from God. And as we extend that joy to those around us, we are allowing a little bit of God to come through us and touch others.