Out on a Limb

I visited this classroom during a recent visit to Haiti. This picture was taken in the early afternoon. These children had had nothing to eat yet that day. Same as always.

The next project need is significant and urgent and big. And, while I know I am way over my head on this, it occurs to me that I have sort of lived there, (way over my head, that is) for a while now. And, while my life would be much easier without all this Haiti hyper-involvement, I feel the need to press forward in this God-adventure. Because for all the second-guessing and sheer terror I've gone through these last five months, God has not failed to win the day. He has provided... every time.

The way I see it, to NOT move forward might be to risk NOT seeing a miracle that God really wants to do, if only someone is crazy enough to ask the mountain to move.

The way I see it, who ever said, "the safest place to be is in the center of God's will" is dead wrong. I mean, who says "safety" is what following God is all about? Heck, if I wanted to be safe, I wouldn't be going to Haiti every time I turn around. If I wanted to be safe, I certainly would not, at the age of 53, be going out on a limb by forming a non-profit organization. If I wanted to be safe, I'd choose smaller projects... safe projects... projects I could pay for myself if the funds didn't come in. And, dear friends, if I wanted to be safe, I certainly would not choose feeding one thousand children as my first feeding program project. I mean, that's just silly.

I have truly gone out on a limb. But friends, here's why...

On Monday, October 4, 2010, some one-thousand children will gather for the first day of school in one of the most desperately-poor places on this planet. And if we don't do something between now and then, these thousand kids will have nothing to eat. For the entire school year they will not eat. Simple as that.

And, simple as this....

72 cents would cover the cost of gas to drive to the grocery store. 72 cents would also cover the cost of one hot, nutritious meal for a hungry child in Haiti.

$15 would buy lunch for two at Applebee's. $15 would also feed a hungry Haitian child for an entire month.

$180 would buy a nice digital camera. $180 would also feed a child every school day for a whole year.

$720 is about what the average garage sale makes. And that's what it would cost to feed 1000 hungry kids on any particular school day in Haiti.

Now, to fully fund this project would require nearly $190,000, and I am fully aware that right now, unless I have some closet bazillionaires out there, my own personal sphere of friendships and acquaintances is probably not wide enough to get this gargantuan job done. That said, I am asking any of you who are touched by this need if you might consider a fundraising effort of your own to feed "x" number of kids. And to share this vision with yet others who might be inspired to raise funds to feed their own "x" number of kids.

Within the next couple of days, we will be adding to our site a downloadable project facts sheet that you can print off to use for your own fundraising purposes. If you want it sooner than that, contact me and I can email it to you.

One last request: I am collecting stories of all the different fundraising efforts going on and will post them on our website. Send me what you can: stories, pictures, and of course results of your efforts. It will be fun to see the different ways folks raise money for this good cause.

I am nervous.

Steve