Normal Rockstar

Change a Life; Get a Goat

It's been privileged to be a part of The 40 Day Fast. It wraps up tomorrow - we'd love for you to join us tomorrow as we're ALL fasting the final day. One of the initiatives that has arisen out of it is Get A Goat - click here to help make a world of difference in a family's life in just 5 minutes for $1.

40 Day Fast: About Something Other Than Us

Fellow blogger Kat started this initiative just the other day after viewing this rather disturbing picture. The idea is that 40 bloggers will each fast one day starting on June 22nd. Each blogger will blog about the experience as well as an area of need in the world (either a cause or a country) and an organization that strives to meet that need. Our hope is to help raise awareness and show people that there really is something they can do to help the poor and the orphaned all around the world.

If you are interested in being a part of this, either email Kat or go to this page for more information. We've got 19 signed up already - we only need 22 more. Will you join and be a part of the solution?

The Power of One

The Day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was free for him to administer during life, will pass away unwept, unhonored, and unsung.  - Andrew Carnegie, 1889

Jeffrey Sachs, widely considered to be the leading international economic advisor of his generation, wrote this great article for Time Magazine a couple of weeks ago. Entitled "The Power of One: Sharing the Wealth", the article exhorts the world's 950 billionaires to pool their resources and create a foundation that, with the kind of resources these individuals have, could end poverty and pandemic disease.

But you and I are not billionaires - most of us are not even close to being millionaires. We may be having problems making ends meet every month - "wealth" is not a word people would use when talking about you or I. So what can we do? What power do I have to transform the world?

Meet Tinotenda (forgive the quality of the image - I didn't have a digital version, so had to take a picture of a picture). He is 7 years old and lives in Zimbabwe. For $35/month, my wife and I are able to provide him and his family - he lives with his parents and one sister - money for food, school, medical care, and other basic needs. Tinotenda lives in an area severely affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. In fact, on a DAILY basis right now in Zimbabwe more than 80 children die from AIDS and another 100 contract HIV.

Consider this: imagine Tinotenda and his family came over to America for a visit and Erin and I decided to take them out to dinner one night. We would probably end up paying about $40 for the four of them to feed them one meal. For less than the cost of one meal for a family of four in America, we can feed, clothe, educate, shelter, and provide basic health care - things we FAR too often take for granted - for little Tinotenda and his family.

You may have millions of dollars to give - chances are greater that you don't. But get this: according to WIDER (World Institute for Development Economics Research), if you have assets worth more than $61,000, you are among the world's richest 10% of adults. Most of us, if we really dug deep, could scrounge together $35 every month - cut out a St. Arbucks trip or two, eat at home a couple of extra meals, skip a trip to the theater... you get the picture. Those things add up fast. Take a minute, sit down with a cup of coffee, and click here to chose the child you're going to sponsor today. Then leave a comment and tell us who you chose and why.

Are you already sponsoring a child? That's great! Sponsor another one! And tell us about the letters you've written to your sponsored child and received back from his/her family. Erin and I have been sponsors through World Vision for a number of years now and have worked with them on a professional level. They are a fantastic organization - I would not hesitate to vouch for them and the work they do. It's time - step up and join the team!