remembering haiti

image from here

It's hard to believe it's been one year since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Hoping to continue to find ways to help this country get back on it's feet!

hospitality on the streets

Last night I was privileged to go to the Tokens Show at The Ryman. The night focused on "The Welcome Table" and living out hospitality. Hospitality comes easy when it's welcoming those who are just like us. It's not as easy to welcome the stranger. Daily, I try to find opportunities to demonstrate hospitality to people the world might quickly pass by. One great way to do this is to buy The Nashville Contributor from a street vendor. I can find ways in just those small moments to connect with someone who lives differently than myself. What is difficult for me is trying to decide which vendor to buy my paper from since I can see up to four or five vendors in a 1 mile radius. I try to change up who I buy from and often find myself with several copies of the same paper. Two of my good friends, Andrew and Lindsey Krinks, have written several articles in The Contributor. I hope the next time you see a vendor that you will use this time to demonstrate hospitality in Nashville...buy a paper and learn one thing about the vendor!!

orphan sunday 2010

This Sunday we recognized Orphan Sunday at our church. My friend, Carrie McLean, made the display above for our lobby. She is incredibly talented and I just loved her vision for this. I hope that many were inspired today to hear the cry of the orphan (or the 163 million orphans in the world per UNICEF) and take action. We used today to start the kick-off for Orphan Awareness month by putting together a burlap bag for every household that included an action/awareness calendar and a picture of an orphan. At the end of the month, everyone will return their bags filled with the money they collected over the month for each action day and that money will hopefully be enough to build a home for orphans in the Village of Hope that was created for displaced child soldiers in Uganda. My friend, Bethany, works with eXile International who is sponsoring many of these children and she has been able to use her counseling skills to help many of these children overcome their horrific past as a child soldier.

This is the video we showed today.

Orphan Sunday from Greg Buzek on Vimeo.

Would love to hear how you feel impacted to help an orphan.

free for life international

A friend of mine just sent me a photo of this flyer. I have never heard of Free for Life International, but after doing a quick search, I learned a little more about this organization and how it got started from simply watching CBS's "48 Hours Mystery." It's amazing to me how one simple event can be so life-changing and for the good of others. I have a deep passion for helping girls sold into sexual trafficking. Our first connection to this extreme issue was through International Justice Mission. I would love to go to this event but even if I don't make it, I hope that simply learning more about this organization will spur me to continue to take action against such horrific events that are happening every day. If you would like to learn more about this event, go here.

Black Friday

You may already have searched the ads and found the cheapest prices for your Christmas gifts this year...and they ALL are on sale THIS FRIDAY!!! So, what do you do? Do you go out and fight the crowds, risk your LIFE (because yes, people have actually died on Black Friday in stampedes for their on-sale gift), buy, buy buy? And shouldn't we to help the economy...that's what our country tries to tell us, right? I challenge you to do something else this Friday that goes against the norm. I challenge you to BUY NOTHING!! Please read the reasons why below and know that if you choose this challenge you will not be alone. And, I would love to hear how it made you think differently of what your are buying and why?


(Image from here.)

Below are excerpts from buynothingday.org.

"Buy Nothing Day is your special day to unshop, unspend and unwind. Relax and do nothing for the economy and for yourself - at least for a single day. It's a reminder to stop and think about why you're spending."

"When it comes right down to it, it's not that we believe a single day without shopping makes a big enough impact in itself. But if we stop and think about it for a day, we might find out that we're more deeply tangled in the dragnet of consumerism than we imagined. This knowledge could be life-changing. If we disect our spending habits we'll see how we have a significant local effect. But we are part of the big picture as well, and if we take a stand others will as well, and we can see that impact on a global scale. If we buy nothing for just one day, perhaps we'll realize the true value of watching HOW we spend."

Caregiver Kits

(Picture from here.)
Over the next couple of weeks, I plan to post ideas about different oppurtunities to serve others or buy Christmas presents that either impact the less fortunate of our world or offer fare wages to those making the products. You may already have your Christmas shopping done and that is fine but this first example is a simple way to reach out to others across the world with your family or a group of friends.

This first idea is working with World Vision.
The Need
Who’s in need? 33 million people living with HIV and AIDS
Where are they? Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Who’s helping them? World Vision-trained volunteer caregivers
What can you do? Build Caregiver Kits filled with basic supplies!

The opportunity
Assembling Caregiver Kits is an effective, hands-on way to:
-Show Christ’s unconditional love to those suffering from AIDS
-Equip caregivers with a year’s worth of the practical materials they need
-Encourage caregivers to continue caring selflessly for their neighbors
-Draw your church closer together by serving those in need

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Today was Orphan Sunday, a day to raise awareness of the plight of the orphan. We showed this video at our church this morning and it is from the Orphan Sunday website. It's a staggering number to hear 147 million orphans in our world. I don't really know what to do with that number except think that I need to respond to it in some way. I know that I cannot help all the orphans in the world, not half, not a quarter....but maybe one! I have posted before about orphans and how David and I have a desire to adopt internationally. There are so many options for helping orphans in our world and today, I did one of the smallest of things I could do and that was to help raise awareness at our church along with a few others. If you want to read about someone doing amazing things for orphans in Uganda, please check out this blog!

H1N1 Vaccine

Okay, so what have all of you decided about getting the H1N1 vaccine for yourself and/or for your child? I am still on the fence with it, although leaning towards getting vaccinated. I have read the CDC's report on the virus and also listened to various arguments from both sides from moms to microbiologists! If you have decided one way or the other, would you mind commenting on the reasons for your decision? I would love to hear and I am sure many others would too!
(picture from here and is an article about vaccine trials)

World Pneumonia Day

(Image from Maxims News Network)
Did you know that the number one killer in children under 5 is pneumonia? Two million children under 5 die from pneumonia every year. Today marks the first annual World Pneumonia Day. You can read more about this on the ONE blog.
You can also visit Mission Pneumonia by Save the Chldren to play a game that will raise your awareness on how to fight pneumonia for these children around the world. Let me know if you have ideas of how we can help these children at risk.

Tent City

A Night for Tent City - Ministry Moment Video from David Woodard on Vimeo.

I am looking forward to a special evening tomorrow night when our church welcomes Phil Keaggy in concert along with a tribute to some of the residents of "Tent City" and special guests from The Temple. It's not every evening that Christians and Jews welcome homeless men and women to a concert. We're hoping that this is just a small glimpse into what the Kingdom should truly look like and how love is to be expressed here on earth. Today there was an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal about Tent City in our city and how the rest of the nation is responding to their homeless neighbors.

Barefoot Week

You may not have realized it but this week is Barefoot Week! This special week is sponsored by Soles4Souls. The U.S. government estimates that 300 million children around the world don't own a single pair of shoes, and yet Americans threw away the same number of shoes into landfills last year alone. Soles4Souls has a simple mission -- to collect new and "gently worn" shoes to donate to victims of natural disasters and those living in extreme poverty. Our church is going to participate in the 2nd Annual Barefoot Sunday this Sunday, June 7th. If you are looking for a way to donate your shoes, you can find a partipating location here.

Mary Morris Award

These are our dear friends Andrew and Lindsey. This Tuesday they are being awarded the Mary Morris Award, which is the highest award for service to the community at Lipscomb University. Andrew and Lindsey exemplify what it truly means to love your neighbor, especially your homeless neighbor. They serve the homeless of Nashville in so many ways and you can read more about their work in this article (picture from this article).

International Day of Peace

You might not know that today marks the International Day of Peace. Though our first thoughts may go to our own country in conflict, I would like to take this opportunity to share about children around the world who are being forced into soldiers.

Today, there are approximately 300,000 children serving in government forces or armed rebel groups. Some of these children are taken from their homes as young as eight years old. To date, approximately 2 million children have been killed and 6 million have been left permanently disabled while serving as soldiers in their country’s conflict. Currently, 18 countries involve children soldiers in armed conflict.

International Day of Peace is also a Day of Ceasefire –both personal and political. Consider taking this opportunity to make peace in your own relationships as well as impact the larger conflicts of our time. Imagine what a whole Day of Ceasefire would mean to the planet and the number of lives that would be spared as a result. Today (and even after today) I ask you that you pray for these 300,000 children who have been so brutally robbed of their innocence.

Shaun Groves

(picture from Shaun Groves blog)

Last night, our church hosted the muscial guest, Shaun Groves. He was part of a series we have had on Wednesday nights, where the muscial guest shares songs related to one of the Fruit of the Spirit and then a host and the audience have an oppurtunity to dialogue with the muscial guest between songs. Shaun's focus last night was on "gentleness." His songs spoke of the Kingdom of God that is NOW and how as Christians we are to become poor in Spirit first so that gentleness may be displayed in our actions. His main message was about our responsibility as Christians to take care of the poor and how our churches are failing to prepare us for this. We are more often taught on being "saved" so that we will go to heaven (and not hell) when we die but we are not being taught that Jesus was sharing a bigger message that many of us have missed. Jesus' message was that you are "saved" so that NOW you can act and bring about what He calls the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom where mercy, peace and justice reign! Not a popular topic we hear from the pulpit these days and that is unfortunate. Shaun tackled this hard question from an audience member on why do we not hear this message in our churches (of any denomination)? Shaun gave a great response that convicted me and brought me to tears. He even took the time to sum it up on his blog and you can read his response here. I hope you take the time to read his comments and share with me what you think.

TIRRC

Last night David and I attended the American Dream Banquet that honored "two individuals who have worked to build mutual understanding and respect between immigrants and U.S. born Tennesseans." At this banquet, we were introduced to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). I was amazed to learn that between 1990-2005, Tennessee has the fourth fastest rate of immigrant growth in the US. The main focus of TIRRC is to (1) build a statewide voice for immigrants and refugees, (2) empower immigrants and refugees to be active community particpants, (3) actively promote diversity through public awareness, (4) defending the American Dream. You can learn more about TIRRC here.

The two pictures above are examples of billboards that are being placed in Tennessee and are a good reminder to all of us on hospitality to the stranger. After living in Kenya for 6 months, I can in a very small way relate to those who are coming to the US as immigrants and the difficulties that they are facing. I remember the culture shock that I felt in a new country and trying to adjust my "ways" to the "ways" of Kenya. I remember feeling lost at times in the Swahili conversations around me and wondered what our neighbors in Kenya thought of the white, American couple living among them. During our six month stay, we learned a variety of Swahili words and a few phrases but were never close to being fluent. I never felt judged or "less than" those around me because I could not speak their native tongue. Every Kenyan we met made us feel welcomed and comfortable in their country despite our vast different backgrounds of culture, language, and even food tastes. From the experience, I can transfer that same hospitality shown to me to those that I meet here in the US who are trying to make this strange new land home. I can do that not only because of my own experiences but also because that is what we are called to do as Christians and as it says in Matthew 25:40, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."