“Once in a Lifetime”

One of the things heard often on trips with 501 Collective is, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Traveling to Romania to serve refugees who have fled their homeland.  Going into Ukraine to bring food and supplies to those displaced withing their country.  Shooting hoops with a wheelchair basketball team in Uganda.  Building Aquaponic Farms across the globe in third world countries. Caring for disabled children in India. 

On any trip, there will be moments of, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

It may be as simple as sitting in a coffee shop in war-torn Ukraine and having a conversation with the barista about what life is like, what life was like.

Sometimes, you take a breath, look around and wonder how you got there.

But there is another gentle reality.

As Tom Baker shares, “It’s not a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Come back.”

Over half of our original team to Romania & Ukraine was back a few months later.  Building on the same relationships.  Visiting the same families and refugees.  Serving the same children. 

What might seem like a once in a lifetime opportunity, can easily become something more.   

And that’s the goal of 501 Collective.  That even those we visit and serve wouldn’t see us as people on a once in a lifetime journey.  But simply as neighbors who’ve come to serve and will be back again soon.