““‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” ”
I began volunteering at The Virginia Home in the summer of 2022. During college, serving people with disabilities was a personal priority—it shaped my experience and deepened my relationship with God. But in my senior year, COVID cut my time at school short, and those places of community and service were suddenly inaccessible. Isolated, I became more self-focused. I realized I did not want to give up time for others, preferring to pursue my own interests. Recognizing this, I knew I had to find a place to volunteer for the sake of my soul. So, I looked up our Redeemer community partners, and with experience working with people with disabilities, The Virginia Home felt like a natural fit.
When I began at TVH, it wasn’t the smooth transition I expected. I was used to feeling capable and fulfilled in these settings. But TVH was different. I realized I had always served in spaces where I felt comfortable—usually church buildings. At TVH, I was going to people in need and meeting them where they were. That shift has been critical to my spiritual growth.
In the beginning, I wandered with my list of residents to check in on, feeling like I didn’t belong. I often retreated to the volunteer room to label clothing, intimidated by the idea of visiting. It didn’t feel good—but I kept going, and two years later, I can honestly say, it’s one of the highlights of my week!
There are many ways to describe TVH, but I want to highlight three things that have made it such a vital part of my spiritual formation.
First, it’s a place where you can’t ignore the brokenness of the world. In modern American life, we often avoid suffering. But at TVH, there’s no faking it. The residents are fully reliant on staff for every need, and many struggle to communicate or do what they want to do. The suffering is unavoidable.
Second, despite that brokenness, there is great joy. As I’ve settled into rhythms, I’ve had the privilege of sharing in that joy. Sometimes it’s playing Rummikub with my friend Chris—full of laughter and trash talk (he once asked if I was ready for my “whooping”). Chris even called another resident’s mom to celebrate her daughter’s first win. Other times it’s talking through plays with Jack and Trevor, watching Jeopardy with Larry, or playing video games with Jim. At TVH, I’ve truly been able to experience abundant joy.
Finally, I want to highlight the source of much of that joy, which I believe is because many residents have placed their hope in Jesus. With some residents, I have that privilege of getting to talk with them about our walks with the Lord and walk through scripture together. With others, it’s a shared “God is good all the time” as they pass by. Regardless, we share in the joy of the Lord. This only begins to describe the joy of serving at TVH and others in our parish can speak to it as well.
At Redeemer, we’re committed to Gospel Formation for Missional Presence. Henri Nouwen writes, “A true disciple of Jesus will always go to where people are feeling weak, broken, sick, in pain, poor, lonely, forgotten, anxious, and lost... It is possible only when we discover the presence of Jesus among the poor and weak and realize the many gifts they have to offer.” I’m under no illusion that the folks at TVH need me—or even Redeemer. But I need them. And I believe we all need to go to places of brokenness to discover the presence of Jesus and be formed into His image.
If you’d like to explore this kind of formation, please reach out and I would love to talk more about this ministry to you. We also have a Board Game Event on September 6 from 2:00–3:30 p.m.—a great way to get a sense of whether God might be calling you to serve in this way. My prayer is that, at Redeemer, we would be people increasingly formed into the image of Jesus through service to others.
Cameron Bonsell
