Bingo
Some time during my voyages throughout Brazil, South America, during my tour around the world, I had the honor of staying with some wonderful folks: the famous Wayne Augusto Mann, the amazing Jelissa Melville and the beautiful Samara Renessa Melville.
One day, Wayne informed that there would be an upcoming bingo. The bingo would be in aid of a sick man from Bonfim who was getting treatment for cancer in Manaus, Amazonas. The man was a relative of Wayne.
Wayne asked me if I would like to make a donation to the bingo – which would be used towards prize giving to winners during the fundraising activity. I made a small donation of a nutrition product from my company “Hinode.”
The days whizzed by and it was finally the night of the Bingo: 10th of February, 2018. It would be a memorable night for me because it would mark the first night in my life that I had won a prize in a bingo ever.
So that night, I cranked up my motorcycle and drove over to the bingo. Wayne, Jelissa and Samara was already there. I joined them at the table. I had forgotten how to play bingo and had to learn all over again.
During the second game, I noticed something amazing: I had one of the lines on my card covered diagonally. “Bingo!” I shouted. The beautiful young woman came over and verified that I had won, then took me to the table to collect my prize. What did I win: a wonderful hair dryer; a very expensive one at that:)
But what I won that night was nothing compared to what I saw that night, and what I observed. There were hundreds of people out there at the bingo that night. They had all come out in support of this one sick man. They had given generously and the support was tremendous. And it struck me that I had never witnessed anything like this in my entire life: an entire community coming out like one big family to give financial,moral and emotional support to the sick among them.
Sure, I had heard of fundraisers by various charitable organizations to help those in need, and I had seen ads in the paper asking for donations. But I had never seen the kind of humanity, care and kindness that I saw that night at that bingo.
Indeed, this incident is by no means to say that bad things never happened in Bonfim, or that there are no bad people there. But this night, February 10th, 2018, these people in the Christian community of Bonfim had lived by Jesus’ word, at least for this night, when He said, “love one another as I have loved you.”
Related: Bad things do happen in Bonfim too.