take 2
Okay I want to give this one more go to see if anyone that reads this has stories to share. This time I will be more specific in hopes that it will generate a little more feedback.
Many of us are passionate about helping those in need so please share what you do to help those who are without. Do you sponser a kid, send out missionaries, go yourself, buy random people lunch, serve at a food pantry, etc etc? The options are nearly endless and it would be awesome to hear what others do to make a difference in the world around them. Don’t think of this as bragging, since no one will likely know who you are, but instead as a chance to encourage and challenge those who read this (or maybe just me).
If this is a bad idea or just annoying I will give up soon if there is no response.
I want this to have only two guidelines for sharing stories:
1. All posts need to be anonymous. It is good to share what we are doing but we need not run the risk of this being a place of pride.
2. You can only share ideas for others if you have tried it yourself.
posted by Jon at
1:38 PM
6 Comments:
It's a small thing, but I check the box for the electric company to add a few dollars to my monthly bill. That money goes into their fund that helps families who have difficulty paying their winter heating bills.
I spend time talking to the homeless people on state street and on the bus (and sometimes just listening to them and nodding a lot). All it takes is a genuine smile in their direction and that little bit of human dignity opens the door up to friendship. Spending time just talking to people who go ignored every day, who don't even get eye contact or a smile, well it just seems like something Jesus would do. Plus, more than anyone else I know, homeless people see the world with such clarity- it's so refreshing to get their perspective.
There isn't any one thing for me but I encounter a lot of immigrants in my work and many times they have problems with understanding bills or credit cards and I have been able to explain a little about how our society works and therefore help them make good choices. Once or twice someone has come to me in need of money (once for a sudden, necessary operation for someone's mother in their home country) and I've been able to lend it until htey got paid. It's not very tangible, but I think the fact that an American would help them understand and assimilate a bit here makes them feel more welcome and included in our society, and I think God would like that.
i encourage people to update their blogs regularly so that they don't feel the weight of disappointment from a growing readership eager to peruse the words of someone so great as, say, yourself.
:)
in an effort to identify with the poor, i fasted for several days and donated the money i would have spent on groceries to the poor - half to the poor in my community, and half to world vision. and since i really like food, i spent a lot of time thinking of and praying for the hungry. that week i also wrote a few letters to reps in congress about issues relating to the poor.
Thanks all for your stories. I really do love hearing what others are doing and I wish I took more time to learn more about these sorts of things from other people.
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