Sometimes we are inspired by friends in ways we never thought we would be. Until recently, my opinion of helping those in need was a little narrower than it is now. I used to think that it was kind of silly to spend so much time, money and effort in third world countries when we had SO MANY people in need here in our own communities. Then Jessica gave me a different view point on it, as did my Pastor. Jessica pointed out that even though we have homeless people, and hungry people, in general they are not starving to death here in America. Third world countries around the world have people starving to death, dying of disease from drinking the only water they have available AFTER they walked 5 miles a day to get to that contaminated water. They are living in conditions that we don’t even let our animals live in. In fact, most would give anything to have a “house” comparable to what my chickens live in.
My Pastor also shed some light on the subject recently. He compared our normal lifestyle here in the states to third world countries. Compared our salaries. Who am *I* to complain about my high electricity bill when there are people that are living in these poverty stricken countries? Especially considering that most people live on the same amount of money for a whole year that my family makes in less than a week, what we make in just a DAY in a lot of cases.
So my opinion has changed. Yes, we still have poor, homeless and orphaned kids here. Yes, there is still a need for outreach in our communities. However, our beautiful country has pretty decent opportunities for these less fortunate people to be clothed, fed and sheltered. Other countries do not. In fact, not only are they deprived of basic human needs, they are deprived of religious freedom.
I cannot say that I came up with this passion all on my own. In fact, I didn’t come up with it at all. With some help from a couple very important people in my life, I’ve come to realize that this world is bigger than me. Bigger than my country. Bigger than my selfishness.
While I wish I could be there to run (walk…..) the marathons that Jessica is preparing for with her to raise money for this cause, this baby on her way and logistics just wont let it happen. So I’m going to do what I can from here. Which (and try not to be completely surprised) is BAKING!
Jessica is involved in a fundraiser for poverty-stricken African communities. She is bribing…..er……enticing people to donate $10 to make her goal of $300 by January 16th with a dozen sugar cookies! I told her I would match her baking offer here locally in ID/UT!
So for the first 30 people to donate a minimum of $10, I will deliver a dozen sugar cookies OR a dozen cupcakes to you personally! If you would rather donate the cookies/cupcakes to a friend, hospital, coworker, etc, I would be more than happy to do that also!
I will put a couple links down at the bottom here. The top one will be for Jessica’s Team World Vision page to donate the $10 to. The others will be links to her blog about why this is important to her and then some other Team World Vision sites she has shared.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Jessica's Team World Vision page. Donate HERE!
Jessica's Blog, New Realities!
World Vision Uganda Video
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