Advance Stories

A Compassionate Conversation

A Compassionate Conversation

A Compassionate Conversation

Tiffanie went with her church, Bible Fellowship in Little River, South Carolina, to New York City to set up sites and distribute coats that the church collected and donated. When they were handing out the coats, the church members had the opportunity to talk with each individual. Towards the end of the day, one lady visited and was having a difficult time finding something that worked for her, given that most of the coats were gone. Tiffanie told the woman that there were other sites that might have options to fit her. The woman asked if she could sit down with Tiffanie and they began talking. 

As the two women struck up a conversation, Tiffanie was able to share some of her story and hear some of the woman’s, as well. Tiffanie said, “the act of taking that chair and pulling it up beside her, sitting down, and being interested in her, just to do that with people in general is the human thing to do, the compassionate thing to do. And I hope that she saw that not as an act, but that she could see I was deeply sincere in wanting to know more about her and caring for her as a person.” 

Photo by Adriana Melendez

Before going on the trip, Tiffanie felt that she didn’t have much of a story to share and even thought about not going at all. She worried that she wasn’t the right one to go. “But you know what? I get up there and just talked to people and I really felt drawn to that woman. I feel like maybe God was drawing me to her so that I could have this conversation with her, and she could tell me her story, and I could tell her mine.” The fear that Tiffanie felt before the trip evaporated. “Now here I am, I’m looking forward to hopefully going again in December and doing it all again.”

Author

  • SCBaptist Creative Team

    SCBaptist Creative Team

  • Share This Story