author intrusion

does it really get there?

Great Article! Check it out!

Link: - In Touch.

I love Christmas shopping. Especially since I came across a charitable gift catalog, and while casually thumbing through it, found that $25 would open the door for a girl in China to attend school. I could donate this gift in the name of my teacher-sister. Perfect! For $60, I could buy rice seedlings for a farmer in Cambodia to feed his family and generate income. What better gift for my environmentally minded agriculturalist son? And just $25 for a baby goat to almost single-handedly lift a family from Senegal out of poverty—who wouldn’t treasure such a Christmas present?

I had so much fun matching a donation to each person on my gift list. But later, as I began to see more and more statistics concerning misused funds by non-profits, I began to wonder: Did my hard-earned cash actually make it to that little schoolgirl? Did the farmer get his full allotment of seedlings? And what about the family and its budding goat business? Did my gifts really impact the people for whom they were intended? If I had such questions, I was certain others were also asking. So, for all of us, I determined to find out “the rest of the story.”  I would follow the donations all the way to the people who received them.

Because the catalog that first hooked me was Partners International’s Harvest of Hope, I asked them for permission to follow up on their projects—no strings attached. They agreed. So, toting tape recorder and camera, I set off—for North Africa, Senegal, and Sudan; India, Cambodia, Indonesia, and China. And, oh, the things I saw!

12 Days of Christmas at 5 for 50

Tom Davis is at our house right now so we can edit his next book! We're having a great time, but hearing about what's happening in Swaziland makes me want to just pick up and move there.  5 for 50 is having a huge impact and the first place they're heading with tons of food is Ethiopia. You wouldn't believe what even ten dollars will do! Consider becoming a part of this, as a way to keep Christ in Christmas by sharing food with orphans around the world.  Hey celebrating Christmas with "pure Christianity" is about as good as it gets!

Check out his post to find out how you can get involved!

Link: Tom Davis' Blog.

Every time we secure food for a child, we reduce the risk that they will sell their bodies and trade sex for food. Thank you. Also, 5 for 50 is funding 12 Christmas projects for orphans in 12 different countries. The first country we're helping is Ethiopia.

pro-life, pro-opportunity

a roundabout Advent musing . . .

It's easy to say you're pro-life because you vote pro-life. But when a woman faces an unplanned pregnancy she needs more than just rhetoric. She needs support, community resources and a whole lot of love. I get the regular emails from Feminists for Life and this letter from a former FFL intern sheds a lot of light on how far the pro-life community has to go in providing resources for women who refuse to choose. (Bless them all, Lord!)

Do you feel deeply about pro-life issues, including infanticide and euthanasia, more deeply than making it your single voting issue? Because, I've got a little secret, if all you do is vote about it, you may want to re-evaluate how deeply you really do feel.  This truly is something where our actions speak far louder than our words. Why not get involved with women in crisis? Crisis pregnancy centers always need help, as do homes for unwed mothers, or if you live in a college town take note of what Chaunie says in her letter below. Perhaps God has put adoption on your heart? However we promote life, whether through helping the infirm, the aged, those who weren't given a fair chance since the day they were conceived, those who don't "contribute to society" as some who regard other people as transactional units and only human if they contribute and not drain, as Christians promote life we must. As people of the Beatitudes, what are we doing to promote a culture of life from the womb to the tomb?

This Advent, let's welcome the Christ Child by helping those who seek to give birth, like Mother Mary, in the worst of circumstances; let's welcome the Jesus who comes to us in those who need life so desperately, on our streets, in our nursing homes, in poverty-stricken cultures--all those backward places of the empire where somehow, Jesus makes His home. Approach the manger and feel the light of His love.

Onto the letter:

Dear Serrin,

I left my Feminists for Life internship this summer fired up about helping pregnant students on my campus. I had no idea that in a few short weeks I would be one of them.       

Four weeks into my senior year I took a pregnancy test, sure that the result would be negative, that I was just easing my mind. I looked down to find two bright blue lines staring back at me. Frantic and disbelieving, I immediately took another test. Positive again.

In that instant, staring down at the two tiny lines that represented the most dramatic change in my life, I understood how women facing unplanned pregnancies can turn to abortion. In that moment of panic and fear, it does not feel like a new life, but rather the end of life as you know it. A million questions race through your mind—what will people think, what will I do, how can this be happening? You just wish it wasn’t happening, wish you could rewind time, wish it would go away.

It’s easy to understand women in crisis wishing that the baby isn’t real, so they can make it go away.

The next day, still in denial and in a very fragile emotional state, I went to the campus health service for confirmation.

A nurse practitioner called me into her office and gave me the results of my test. There was no doubt about it, I was pregnant.

When she started talking to me about telling my parents, I broke down.

I sat in the chair, crying hysterically while the nurse examined her chart. After a minute or two, she stood up and said “I have other patients to see, you can stay here if you want.”

She left me crying and alone to see the only other patient in the center, a young man with a sore throat.

My struggles continued after my visit to health services. I gathered all the information I could find about student insurance. Not one plan covered pregnancy. In fact, all of them specifically stated that they would not cover pregnancy.

Though the university used to have daycare on campus, I learned the President got rid of it a few years ago. Housing was another disappointment; once again, the university used to have family housing but dissolved those dorms for the better-paying first-year students.

I have to tell you, as president of my college pro-life group and an active advocate for women, it was frightening to see the complete lack of resources and support available for pregnant and parenting students at my school.

I understood how women in such a vulnerable situation could feel they have no choices.

In addition to physical and material resources for myself and my child, I needed emotional support.

My boyfriend was scared and uncertain, like me, but supportive. He could offer no words of wisdom, but took my hand and told me that it would be OK. He offered his love and stood by my side.

I was absolutely terrified to tell my parents. Every day that passed without telling them was even more horrible because I so desperately needed their support too.

When I finally worked up the nerve to tell my parents, their reaction was unbelievable. They offered me nothing but love and support, and they were even happy and excited for me! Word quickly spread in my close-knit family and, incredibly, every single family member was supportive, offering to help in any way they could and reassuring me that it was right to celebrate this new life.

I am now happily engaged, planning a beautiful Christmas wedding and eagerly awaiting my next doctor’s appointment, when my fiancé and I will hear our baby’s heartbeat for the first time.

While I have received so much support and love from all of my family and friends, it has still been a struggle adjusting to my new life. There is no easy way to get through an unplanned pregnancy, but with the support I have received, I am managing, and every day brings me more happiness and excitement. As FFL’s Honorary Chair Patricia Heaton says, “Women who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy also deserve unplanned joy.”

I am so fortunate to have received love and support. Sadly, this is not the case for many women who face situations like mine.

More than ever, I realize the vital importance of FFL’s work. I not only believe in Feminists for Life’s mission, I am living it.

I am grateful that FFL is changing the way people think about pregnancy, particularly in higher ed.

It is possible for women to continue with their educations, with their career goals, with their dreams. FFL refuses to choose. So do I.

Serrin, I wanted to share my story because I believe that there is a better way for women. There is a better way for me.

How reassuring it would have been for the campus nurse practitioner to talk to me, discuss my options, offer me support and encouragement, and connect me to community resources.       

Instead, she left me alone and in tears.

I can’t imagine how a woman unsure about abortion, uninformed about her resources, lacking support from those she counted on the most, feels she has a choice—what hope is there for a good outcome?

Thank you for helping mothers like me. I’m deeply grateful to the many people who support this important work.

I’ll keep you and everyone at FFL posted with photos and updates.

For women,

Chaunie Saelens
      Former Feminists for Life Intern
      President of campus Students for Life

PS Please feel free to forward this letter to whomever you think needs to know what is really like for pregnant students.

need a skirt?

Well, the time of shameless consumerism has begun! The headline of our paper last Wednesday read, WHY GIVE THANKS WHEN YOU CAN SHOP? I don't know about you, but that made me pause and feel a little sick. It's funny how the one holiday that hasn't been co-opted by consumerism may be simply overtaken by it. I mean, why encourage people to buy stuff for Thanksgiving when you can have people buy stuff on Thanksgiving?

I'm always in a quandary about Christmas gifts. It's so easy to just run out to Target or the mall. But for me, I'm so awful at shopping, I get overwhelmed and just pick up stuff that looks good enough. I hate that about myself. This year, I'm kicking back a little.

For the next couple of weeks, I'll be directing you to websites where you can shop in your jammies and slippers and help support people in developing nations who are trying to support their family. The items are fair trade and ethically made. (Just say no to Sweat Shops! :-D) This tree skirt was made in India through ASHA, an organization that represents 800 artisans. At the website, A Greater Gift, you'll find scads of beautiful holiday linens, teas, coffees, dishware, jewelry, home and office organizers, and more.

Why not make your Christmas shopping count for more?  Besides, some of this stuff is just gorgeous.

mercy story?

If you are involved in being the merciful hands and feet of Jesus, I'd love to send you some interview questions and share your story here on my blog. If you'd be interested, please email me at lisa@lisasamson.com.

mercy kitchen

Fourth and Final Part

Before I head into the last question, I'd like to thank Jimmy for taking time to answer these questions and for providing thought-provoking material for this blog for the past week! May God bless your church, your ministries, your family and your wonderful self, Jimmy. If this series meant something good to you, please let Jimmy know in the comments! Or visit his blog, Woodshavings.

Your honey is incredible. I'm drinking some in my tea right now! Would you tell us about the bees and being a beekeeper, Jimmy?

The buzz of the bee hive is God's voice singing a song of grace to me.  I can go into the bee yard in the middle of the day and hear God working in His garden.  I can almost capture the sight of Him tending His creation with the tools of His trade. 

The bees are a sacrament for me.  Caring for them, tending them, pours out a part of God's grace and mercy in my life.  There are times when the buzz of a colony places me in a spiritual position where I am born again again.  I connect with the finger print of God left on all creation by taking care of the bees.

I never tire of watching them, following them, wondering where they go. I watch the color of pollen change through the year and hope and pray they survive the dark cold nights of winter. 

The bee is an engineering marvel.  She is built to fly, carry food, create wax and turn sweet nectar into thick sweeter honey. She is the only insect that creates a food humans consume.  With every new thing I learn of the bees, I see a new mystery to be solved.

In the sting of the bee I am reminded that creation is far beyond the taming of man.  Every time I open a hive, I balance on the sharpest of razor blades, teetering between sheer terror and ecstatic fascination.

By keeping the bees, I am daily involved in God's words spoken at the beginning of time..."Let there be..."  His words still reverberate through all of creation and speak softly in the buzzing of the bees. As she flys out to gather nectar or pollen, she is moved forward by the rumbling vibration of the voice of God spoken eons ago.

The honey I gather has come from the flowers of plants and trees in my community.  Every flower touched by one of my bees has spread the pollen needed for fruit or fertility.  The bees bless by their presence in the garden and I am blessing my neighbors/community by caring for the bees.

While other men of God will pour over scriptures to gather understanding from Him.  I will look at the bees and see God and know His pleasure.

mercy kitchen

Part Three

Tell us about a few of the kids!

The average age of the kids is about 8-9.  There are one or two who would be 12-14, but for the most part, these are young school age kids.  They are in families that are attempting to make the bold transition away from poverty.  The parent or guardian is working at least part time and many have full time employment in the area.  If a parent struggles with employment, it tends to be because of illiteracy or several generations of poverty and educational failure. 

They are kids!!  They laugh easily and desire to learn, but have never had many of the opportunities we all take for granted.  Many have never traveled outside the county.  To travel in an aircraft is a fantasy.  Most of them do not have books of their own.  Xavier is big on wanting little kids to have and read books they own. He does attempt  to take them on trips if and when he has the resources.  Their vocabulary is more elementary then we would speak in our family. 

I was invited to attend the end of summer celebration.  An African drum troop living in Durham had been teaching them all summer at the community center.
the kids involved in the reading program could also attend a drum class.  They performed well and joy was the theme of the event ...we did experience the joy of children playing music.  I met the reading tutors and they gave me good reports of the advances made over the summer.  I believe reading well in one stepping stone to leaving poverty behind.

They are beautiful children who live in MY community.  We must do all we can to push them forward in this world.  Jesus would expect nothing less of us.

mercy kitchen

(The Chalmers Family)

Part Two 

Why do you feel feeding kids in the summertime is important. Isn't that "their parents' job?"

 It is important because if we as people of faith do not respond then children will go hungry during the summer. It is ungodly in a nation where wealth abounds that little ones who have no choice in being on the planet go hungry.

In the world where I grew up it was the parents who took care of their own children. My folks have been married 56 years. They have survived the death of a child and near bankruptcy more than once. I was fortunate to have parents that would risk and sacrifice all to care for me. We are foolish to think ALL adults who have kids are like generations of the past The poverty rate in NC averages about 14%. I cannot change that today or tomorrow, the reasons are many and varied; but in the meantime, children are going hungry. I believe there are parents who want to take care of their kids, but the past has dragged them down to the bottom. I believe there are parents who do not know how to take care of children. I believe bad folks have kids. In all these cases and more, I do not see a way for me as a person of faith and mercy to just turn my head and walk away. The "just get a job" mentality will not feed the hungry bellies of innocent children.
 

If each community of faith would find one family in need to help long term it could change entire neighborhoods in a generation. There is a real reason we will not. People who really need a helping hand sometimes have $h!++y lives and to help them, you have to get down in the $h!+ and pull them out. You end up with it all over you and for many of us, we love our comfort more than the grawling bellies of children.

A personal note from Jimmy regarding my question:

It was written very quickly to capture my thinking and feeling of the moment.  It may be a bit dis-jointed and in the end harsh, but remember, it is coming from a man who a few years ago had a "just get a job" attitude lying under much of what I though about poverty.

mercy kitchen

Part One

This week I'm featuring a friend of mine, Jimmy Chalmers; highlighting the experience he had this summer when he saw a need and said, "This one's up to me."

Jimmy lives in NC with his wonderful family. He is the pastor of a church called The Carpenter's Shop, a contractor and a beekeeper. I'm enjoying a jar of his honey these days in my morning tea and it's every bit as wonderful as he is.

Jimmy, tell us about what happened to you this summer?

This past spring I attended a one-day conference, attempting to synthesize food, faith and farming in the lifestyles of local churches. One of the speakers was Jill Stanton Bullard.  She is the founder of the Inter Faith Food Shuttle here in central NC.   During her speech she started to give the statistics for children, especially those who are involved in the school breakfast and lunch programs in this area. In approximately 8-9 counties in this region there are way over 50,000 kids who are involved in the school breakfast and lunch program.   My first question as a fiscal conservative was "how many people are scamming the system?"  I began to put a mental pencil on the mathematical equation.  I finally settled on what is a pretty high number – 50%.  So if 50% of the kids involved in the program are scamming the system, that means that 50% are not.  50% of the children who go to school in this region everyday are dependent on the school breakfast and lunch program for a percentage of their daily nourishment.  That means that 10s of thousands of children in one of the wealthiest regions in our nation need the schools to provide them one or more meals a day. 

After checking the numbers, I found several thousand kids in Granville County use this program.  That means that five days a week, during the school year, these children have an opportunity for a nutritious meal.  What about the weekends, holidays and the 12 weeks during the summer?   After coming home from that conference and I had a conversation with my wife and children.  We suddenly saw a large need in our community that needed someone to step in and take care of it. 

Several days later, I contacted Mr. Xavier Wortham from the Oxford Housing Authority.  I asked him one simple question … "do you have hungry children in your apartment communities?"

He gave me a very simple, shocking answer.

"Yes". 

Once I knew that we definitely had hungry kids and a contact within a community that we could help, it was then I went to our faith community and told them what I'd learned.  We began to put together a plan of how we could feed children during the summer break.  Xavier explained that during the summer he already has set up a reading program.  This program has children in the community who need and want help learning how to read and there was great opportunity to dovetail bag lunches into his program. 

So, after some prayerful consideration and concern we decided as a congregation that we would be responsible to prepare lunches for 24 children, 5 days a week during the summer break.  We did not have any idea how much food it would take, how much time and energy it would require, but we truly believed that the compassion of Jesus compelled us to do something.   

We started off with $100, asking our congregation and other people of faith to contribute food or cash to help us feed these 24 kids. 

So early summer our kitchen was transformed every morning into a bagged lunch assembly line.  Everyday, 24 sandwiches were made … peanut butter and jelly, cheese, bologna, lunchmeat.  All those sandwiches were then placed in sandwich bags. Those sandwich bags were then placed in a brown lunch sack.  Each sack would then receive a piece of fruit (apples, bananas, fruit cups, applesauce).  We always made sure that there was a juice box to go with their lunch as well as a sweet snack or salty treat.  We truly wished that we could have prepared these fancy, nutritious gourmet lunches, but we also knew that we didn't have the facilities or the resources to make that happen. 

Our first goal was to make sure that little bellies had a lunch five days a week.  The 24 lunches then had to be transported to the community center in downtown Oxford, where tutors were working with these children on their essential reading skills.  At the end of the class as they went home, they would each be handed a bag lunch. 

There were some weeks, at the beginning of the week, that we didn't have the funding or the resources to make 120+ lunches for the week, so we would purchase the items out of our family budget, but each and every time during the week someone would send us a check or hand us cash or drive across the county with items they just purchased.  By the end of the summer, we took the "leftovers" to the community center (6 bags of juice boxes and peanut butter and jelly). 

After the summer, Xavier contacted us and told us that this had been the most successful reading program he had ever had and he was thankful to us for helping him with the more than 40 kids that were involved in the program.  That was when we realized that he had more than 24 involved in his reading program.  To us that meant more than 16 kids went home everyday without lunch.  So, now we are trying to figure out how to feed all the kids involved in the summer reading program for 2008.  We don't have the slightest idea how we are going to do it!

Put Jimmy and his family on your prayer list, won't you?

what makes God sick

You can donate at the link below to help save some of these precious children from prostitution and being used for child pornography.

Link: Family Christian Center:: Project SafeHouse.

Up to one-million individuals are trafficked against their wills across national borders each year and sold into an underground market of slavery. Approximately 12.3 million children and young people are forcibly exploited, often within the borders of their own nations.

We think we’ve seen it all, but who could be prepared for this? Girls, some so young they could be in kindergarten, are all for sale!”
NBC Dateline Correspondent
Chris Hansen reporting from a brothel

In recent years there’s been an alarming proliferation in the demand for pornography. Users may mandate increasingly more intensity, more resistance, more violence, and younger victims to satisfy their unquenchable and uncontrollable addictions.

Child porn has become a $20 billion a year industry, and is among the fastest growing businesses on the Internet, with an increase of 1500% in only 9 years. It is estimated 100,000 child pornography Web sites exist on the Internet, presumably leading to the increased rate in abductions and the exploitation of innocent girls and young ladies world-wide.

Children are not only kidnapped from Latin American countries but from many countries such as the Ukraine and even the United States

‘Snuff Porn’ capitalizes on the atrocities committed upon the victim, including vile mutilation and asphyxiation, leading to the victim’s death.

In a Latin American city 430 corpses of girls and young ladies have been discovered, with an approximate 2,000 more missing. Jane Christensen of God 4 Girls is facilitating a Community Counseling Center where those who are being targeted may turn for help and be referred to this Safe House. There an array of specialized services will be administered under the four-fold provisions of God 4 Girls: Scripture, Sustenance, Schooling & Skill.

“They sold girls for wine that they might drink.”
Joel 3:3b NIV

 

Project Safe House

This November, we will take a construction team to an undisclosed Latin American location to prepare a Safe House for these children. Under the ministry heading of Project Safehouse, we are partnering with Jane Christiansen of God 4 Girls to establish through construction projects counseling and protection for the exploited. We will construct both a computer center and a sewing center where girls will be retrained with marketable skills. We are estimating that we may eventually need up to four houses to house the girls.

 

You can help by making a donation to Project SafeHouse today.