Advent: A Season to Wake Up And Serve Beyond Our Comfort

tonytangebirah
Dec 7, 2025
3 min read

Advent is often described as a time of waiting—a quiet, expectant season in the Church’s life.

But the deeper truth is this: Advent is not passive. It is an active preparation, a spiritual awakening, a call to make room for Christ by making room for those who need help.

In the Gospels, the coming of Jesus always prompts movement: Mary sets out in haste to help Elizabeth, Joseph rises from sleep to protect his family, the shepherds leave their fields, the Magi journey across deserts. Advent stirs the human heart into action.

For those of us engaged in humanitarian missions—be it serving refugees, accompanying mothers and children with HIV, supporting the poor in rural communities, or responding to disaster-stricken families—this movement is the heart of our work.

Every mission trip, every community project, every moment we choose to stand beside the vulnerable, is part of the Church’s Advent journey.

Advent reminds us: Christ comes to us through the poor

Jesus arrived in poverty—in a stable, among the unnoticed, at the margins. To encounter Him today, we must be willing to go there too.

When we meet families living in makeshift shelters, when we sit on dirt floors with communities who have lost everything, when we listen to the cries of those the world ignores—we are not merely doing “good works.” We are welcoming Christ Himself.

“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” — Matthew 25:40

Advent invites us to rediscover this truth.

Advent is conversion—and conversion is concrete

The prophets call out during Advent: Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight His paths.This is not poetry. It is a command.

To “prepare the way” means to remove whatever prevents love from flowing through us—indifference, comfort, fear—and to let God reshape our priorities. It means choosing compassion over convenience, mercy over excuses, generosity over self-protection.

This is why your support for humanitarian missions is not simply charity. It is conversion lived out, a step toward holiness, a response to God’s invitation to transform the world beginning with ourselves.

Advent is the season of small beginnings

A child, a manger, a small light breaking into darkness.

The same is true in our work. A recycled bottle turned into a brick becomes a home for a homeless family. A volunteer’s few hours become hope for a refugee waiting in uncertainty. A donated meal becomes the first taste of dignity for a child who hasn’t been seen. A single mission trip becomes a whole community transformed.

God has always chosen to work through small, humble acts offered in love. This is the spirituality of Advent—and the spirituality of service.

A call to action for this Advent

As we light each candle on the Advent wreath, may each flame remind us of a concrete way to prepare for Christ:

Hope: Pray for and walk with those who feel forgotten.
Peace: Seek reconciliation in your own heart and become a presence of calm for those in crisis.
Joy: Bring joy to communities through companionship and acts of mercy.
Love: Let your love translate into visible support—volunteering, giving, advocating, joining a mission.

If God is placing on your heart a desire to do more for the poor and suffering, consider this your Advent invitation. Join us. Serve with us. Let your life be a sign that Christ is truly coming—and already present in the world’s most fragile places.