Be part of a great cause!

http://www.flowerdust.net/2008/11/10/the-50000-shoes-in-50-days-challenge

When else will you be able to buy two pairs of shoes for just $5??

The realities of Gustav

I grew up landlocked in Oklahoma. Hurricanes were not one of life's realities for me. Gustav is making things personal, though, as it threatens to rage its way through Louisiana and also make its influence felt in Pass Christian, MS. Pass Christian, if I remember correctly, was the town hit the hardest by Katrina. One of my former roommates, Leah, and her family (the McBrides) have been living there for the past year, rebuilding and providing hurricane relief. They won't be going far when Gustav hits so they can be immediately available to provide relief once the storm passes.

It's easy for all of us to keep an emotional distance from this kind of devastation when we have no personal connection. I'm just as guilty of that as anyone. But just because we may not have met the people involved does not mean that they are any less valuable and loved in the eyes of God, and we should give these nameless faces more than just our sympathy. So please pray for the people in the path of Gustav. Prayers are far more than just sympathy after all; they are powerful. Pray for the safety of those involved and for the future of those who may lose their home, perhaps for the second time in three years. And pray for people like the McBrides who will be providing relief in the midst of the threat of damage to their own home. Pray that they will be safe and encouraged and a light to those in need of a real hope.

For more on how you can specifically pray for the McBrides and other rescuers, check out the website for their organization, Project Reclaim. You can also go here for information on how to provide financial support if you should decide to help out in that way in the days following Gustav. I promise you it will be money well spent, and you can be assured that every penny you give will go to the relief effort.

"...but we do have a Vespa"

Listening to the radio this morning, I heard an interview with a couple who will be traveling 1200 miles in one week on a scooter (well, two scooters, actually) to raise money for an organization founded by missionaries bringing clean water to third world countries (Hydromissions International). This is just one couple who decided to draw attention to a good cause.

Bringing clean water to impoverished communities is an issue close to my heart. A year and a half ago I traveled to Nicaragua for a week to do just that. There were plenty of wells in the community, but they were all open, contaminated wells not fit for drinking water. My "job" there was to help teach hygiene to the community, and we spent a lot of time just playing with the kids too. There was one boy there named Jorge, about 14 years old, who sat out one game of Frisbee because he said his "kidneys hurt." At the time I thought that was odd. I'd never heard anyone say that before, and he might as well have told me that his spleen hurt. Only after I got home did it occur to me how dense I was for not making the connection that kidneys regulate the body's fluids, and anyone without access to clean drinking water could very likely have hurting kidneys! But we are fortunate to live in a society where babies do not routinely die of dehydration and the average 14-year-old boy does not have kidney problems.

So I think it's awesome this couple has taken up this particular cause. They are a young couple, and I'm betting they probably have a scooter because they don't have a lot of money, but they are doing what they can with the resources they have. One line on their website says, "We don’t have millions of dollars or celebrity status, but we do have a Vespa." I don't know whether that line is intended to be funny, but I think it is. It sounds like a version of something you would hear in Get Smart or a Naked Gun movie. "You think you've caught me...but you haven't counted on the fact that I'm hiding this fancy dart gun I have no idea how to use properly." Or in this case, a Vespa (which, fortunately, they do know how to use properly). Similarly fascinating to me is that the couple who founded Hydromissions International spends their Saturdays making soap out of their one-car garage, and this soap is now sold in 19 states (and online). I guess soap and water go hand in hand, but how exactly does one come to ask, "Hey, honey, why don't you and I start making soap out of our garage?" I guess I am just not that creative, and I'm certainly not that much of an entrepreneur. But then again, I think I could be if I just decided to come up with an innovative way to support a worthy cause.

And now it's your turn. If you're reading this, you almost certainly do not have millions of dollars or celebrity status, but what do you have that you should not underestimate? What resources could you use in either surprising or predictable ways for "the greater good"? A particular talent? Clothes you really should donate anyway? Your own blog? If this cause or this couple's journey speaks to you, I would encourage you to spread the word and/or follow this link to donate out of your own abundance. (Or buy some soap.) Even just one month's Starbucks or soda allowance can go so much further toward giving others the gift of clean water.