Benjamin Probst came from a rather small village in Switzerland. Ben said that their
chocolate was the best (probably true), favored the phrase “of course!” instead of the
more polite term “yes” if asked a question, and thought that vegetables in a meal
were quite useless.
After graduating from a university in Switzerland in civil engineering, Ben wanted to
adventure a bit. He had always wanted to visit Hawai’i so he began trying to contact
Jay Jarman (a friend of a friend), asking if he could volunteer to help Common Grace
in exchange for a place to stay. For ten weeks. At first he messaged Jay on Facebook,
hoping to get a response within two weeks. Of course, Jay, never checking his
Facebook page, didn’t respond. Ben messaged Jay again, in hopes that contact could
be made. Nothing. This was particularly worrisome because Ben had already bought
his 10-week plane ticket to Hawai’i and had no place to stay. As a last resort, he
wrote an old-fashioned snail mail addressed to Common Grace (Attention: Jay
Jarman) and at long last finally got a response: yes, Jay could happily house Ben.
At the staff meetings before Ben’s arrival, Jay had voiced some concerns—and
rightly so, because Jay knew absolutely nothing about him, except maybe he that he
was from Switzerland. We prayed that Ben didn’t take to drinking; we prayed that
he had never been in jail.
When we first met him, we didn’t know what to expect when we looked (way) up
and saw a skinny, six-foot 23 year-old wearing a cocky grin. But it turns out that we
didn’t have to worry because he didn’t drink (that much) and had never been to jail
(not once). He made friends with a Common Grace kid, Alika, with people at all the
churches he visited on the island and with us, here at Common Grace; learned how
to surf (kind of not really); got a golden tan; wore aloha shirts everyday (mostly
plastered with waves, hibiscuses or sailboats); saw a shark while fishing (now
crossed off his bucket list); took a spontaneous flight to Maui (by himself again);
learned to drive in O’ahu traffic and ate a lot of shrimp. The cheeky Ben we got to
know blessed us and we wish him all the best! Here is a little journal of his
experiences with us (you should know that he learned English two months ago):
My experience to be a mentor
During the time I stayed in Hawaii I was a mentor of a boy at Palolo elementary school. My new
friend is a 4th grade and his name is Alika. I learned a lot in this time when I spend time with him. The
most important thing I learned in this time was that to spend time, to listen and to take him
seriously. Have your focus on the child and don’t try to teach them. Spend your time with a child one
to one and you will win their hearts.
I learned from him too. Alika is very generous. He own almost nothing and yet when I gave him
chocolate as a Christmas present his first thought was with which person can I share that? He gave
his teacher some, his friends and I’m not sure whether he eats one. Another example is another gift
he became from another friend. This friend let him buy a poster whatever he wants and after it was
payed he gave me this poster and said: that’s for you uncle Ben, I and all our friends here can sign it
and then you can take that at home to Switzerland. Wow! How generous it is for a boy who has not
very much!
Comments