I have had the immense privilege of being born into a Baha’i family.

However, despite having grown up with the Faith, an experience that I had in Lapwai, Idaho over the summer allowed me the opportunity to gain a more profound appreciation for the beliefs I allowed to lead my life. For the past thirteen years, groups of Baha’i youth have been invited by the Lapwai Baha’i community to participate in a week-long service project on the Nez Perce Reservation.

For Baha’is, the purpose of life is to serve all of humanity. As a result of both that obligation and the invitation, I decided to make Lapwai the first place I would travel in service.

Though the community members in Lapwai struggle in the face of gross government neglect and poverty, alcoholism and violence, they are not simply victims — they are survivors. Consistently during the formation of our friendships, those community members — Baha’i and non-Baha’i alike — emphasized the role that the Baha’i Center in Lapwai played in their survival.

As one quote from Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, states, “Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone; let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path.” I personally witnessed the Baha’is in Lapwai living that proverb, which is why the center has been a haven where children of the community — many of whom experience severe tribulations on a daily basis — may find sanctuary and, more importantly, love.

During the service project, I had the privilege of meeting a wonderful 14-year-old boy (name withheld to protect privacy) who has lived on the reservation his entire life. Joy and youthfulness seemed to radiate from him, and I consequently assumed he was not one to whom life had handed many hardships. On my fourth night in Lapwai, it was his birthday, and he chose to celebrate it at the Baha’i center.

When it came time for him to blow out his candles, he paused, and with tear-filled eyes he looked up at all of us and began to share his life story. He expressed his deep gratitude to the Baha’is. He had grown up across from the Baha’i center, with a single mother who was an alcoholic; his older sister would come home during passing periods at her high school to give him a bottle when he was a toddler.

One day his sister could not make it home on time to change his diaper. At the age of just one-and-a-half, he crawled across the street to the center to get his diaper changed. With tears in their eyes, both he and his sister thanked the Baha’is for showing them such unrestrained love and kindness. After blowing the candles out, he told us he would not be who he was today without the Baha’is.

That experience was life-changing for me. Hearing a firsthand account of the Baha’i service’s effect on this individual made me realize how Baha’i principles and genuine love can change lives.

“Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue,” said Baha’u’llah. “And not in the pageantry of wealth and riches.” Thanks to my exerience in Idaho, this quote is forever engraved upon my heart.

Reach columnist Sacha Nunn at opinion@dailuw.com.