The Simple Gaze

By Maya A. in Romania

I met Rick on my second or third day of the mission. He has both a mental and physical handicap but that does not stop him from sharing his light with others! He has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. We really struggle to communicate sometimes, because I don’t know a lot of Romanian yet, and he cannot speak very well. So, sometimes we just have moments of silence. But in these moments, he takes time just to look at me. You can feel his love through the way that he looks at each person. He can express everything he is thinking and feeling with just a look. One of the harder parts of the beginning of the mission has been not being able to say everything I want to say, or joke around with our friends immediately. I have become so fond of my time with Rick because he reminds me of the reason that I’m here, and that is simply to grow in love.