Reclaiming Faith Through Volunteering

When Susan retired after more than 50 years as a primary care physician, the pace, purpose, and connection that had defined her life were suddenly gone. She found herself facing an unexpected question: Who am I without my work?

Raised Catholic, Susan says she drifted away from the Church in early adulthood. Over the years, she found grounding in her work as a physician and later in Zen Buddhism, which helped her navigate a personal health crisis and reconnect with daily life. Still, retirement revealed something deeper: a “gaping hole,” as she describes it, that neither career nor routine could fill.

Then came a turning point. Through a series of chance connections, Susan discovered A Faith That Does Justice, which urgently needed English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers. Despite uncertainty about her ability to teach English, she took a leap of faith and volunteered.

What she found through volunteering was far more than simply a way to stay busy.

“Reaching out to help others,” she reflects, “is perhaps the closest I will get to reclaiming the faith that slipped through my fingers in my youth.”

In the ESOL classroom, Susan discovered a connection with her students, many of whom are immigrants navigating the challenges of building a life in a new country. Drawing from her own experience living in Paris years earlier, where she struggled to communicate in a new language, Susan brings empathy and authenticity into her teaching. She remembers the anxiety vividly: the racing heart before a simple interaction, the self-critique afterward, the vulnerability of trying to be understood. This remembered struggle became her superpower in the classroom.

“Speaking a foreign language as a beginner is embarrassing and requires a lot of courage,” she says.

And courage is embodied in her students every day. Many of her students are parents balancing the seemingly impossible demands of raising children, learning English, and navigating systems that feel unfamiliar and, at times, unwelcoming. In a time when anti-immigrant sentiment has been rising, volunteering has provided Susan with a sense of agency, she says. Rather than feeling overwhelmed or helpless, she has found a way to show up with care, consistency, and solidarity.

“I remember each of my students so well and care deeply for them,” she shares.

Susan’s story denounces the common myth that to volunteer, you must be an expert in a subject area. The truth is far more liberating. Volunteering is about saying yes despite uncertainty. It’s about being willing to connect, to learn, and to grow alongside others. It’s about putting your faith into action.

For anyone who feels called to volunteer but hasn’t yet taken that first step, Susan’s journey extends a compelling invitation: You don’t need to have all the answers. You just need to begin.

And sometimes, that beginning is exactly where transformation starts.

If you’ve been thinking about getting involved, this is your invitation. Volunteer today.