Soles 4 Souls

Soles 4 Soles' goal is simple – to use social media (blogging, other social network tools) to raise awareness and have 50,000 pairs of shoes donated in 50 days. For just $5, you can donate two pairs of shoes to people who are hurting around the world.

What a great way to live out Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

To keep up with this great cause, you can check out S4S' blog here.

Being Nice Freaks People Out

by Curtis

Why do acts of kindness freak people out? Why is it that people think they're getting Punk'd when a stranger offers to help them?

Watch this video from CNN.com. This guy offers to pay for gas for total strangers. Their reactions are hilarious. What a great idea. My favorite part is that there were no strings attached; the guy buying the gas didn't say, "Oh, and by the way, here's a tract that proves that dinosaurs were on the Ark...all Bible references KJV".

No. He didn't pull the bait and switch. His only instructions are, "Pay it forward. Do something nice for somebody else."

If this video compels you to commit some random acts of kindness, here are a few ideas of things to do:

--Offer to help an elderly person with their groceries in the Wal-Mart parking lot
--At the drive thru, pay for the person's order behind you
--Go buy some inexpensive flowers. Walk around and hand them out in a busy public place.

These are just the first few ideas that I could think of. What random acts of kindness do you like to do? Leave a comment with your favorites.

World On Fire

by Curtis

Many of you have seen Sarah McLachlan's music video for her song "World on Fire", and it gets me every time. If you haven't seen it, watch the video above.

What gets me about this video is how much of the stuff we buy and pay for is completely unnecessary. When you look at your monthly budget, how much of it goes towards things that are superfluous? How much of it goes to help other people?

I don't bring up those questions to guilt anyone, but I think we can all live our lives with fewer things. Barry's most recent post really got me thinking about how much I waste compared to how much I give back. I believe we can live our lives more simply in order to free up resources so we can help others--not to hoard and keep for ourselves.

So think about it. What can be cut from your monthly spending? Do you have a $50/month line-item for Starbucks? Maybe it's time to reconsider a few non-essentials.

What's your footprint?

by Barry

Think for a moment. If every single person on the earth lived the way you did, what would the earth look like? Would it be possible? Imagine if everyone in the world ate as much as you, drove as much as you and threw away as much as you. Yikes!

If you're like me, that isn't exactly a comforting thought. I know for a fact that my lifestyle isn't sustainable. At least, not when put in those terms!

And now I've found an online quiz which quantifies just how many earths it would take if everyone lived the way I live (and does a great job of making me feel lousy about it!). But it's really worth it. Head over to www.ecofoot.org and check it out for yourself!


According to this short, 5 minute quiz (which is, I admit, a little simplistic), it would take 4.4 earths to sustain the entire human population living the way I do! 4.4!!!

So what does this have to do with social justice? Well, lots actually. You see, even if I don't actually see the poor and marginalized of this world, a lifestyle like mine is sure to influence them somehow. Because the truth is, we're all connected.

Well great. Now I feel all cruddy about the way I live. *sigh* Maybe it's time for me to go and do something about it...

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Heifer International

by Barry

When I think of cows, I picture huge animals penned up in some stockyard somewhere, waiting around to become a big-mac. I picture rustic cowboys bringing a herd home from pasture. And now, after being in India for 3 months, I picture traffic jams.

But one thing I don't picture is wealth. Cows don't evoke images of prosperity in my mind. But for more than 2 billion people around the world, that is exactly what cows represent. Riches, security, and abundance...

Cows provide nourishing milk and plentiful meat. They give birth to more cows, and can quickly become a herd. In the developing world, once you own a cow, you're set for life.

But who can afford a cow? Making 2 dollars a day, it would take years to save up enough to buy one. And so for most poor people around the world, owning a cow or goat or even a chicken, becomes an impossible dream.

That's why there is an organization called Heifer International. They take sustainability-creating livestock, and give them to people around the world who need them. And the cool part is, these recipients must agree to give the first calf or chick or kid to someone else who needs it, spreading sustainability from one family to another!

And you can be a part of this process! There is a whole online gift catalog that allows you to purchase everything from heifers to chicks to honeybees for a needy family around the world. It couldn't be easier to make a difference in someone's life.

And what an awesome gift idea! "Honey, I bought you a cow." Perfect!

So check it out, and who knows? Maybe you'll start to see cows just a little bit differently...

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Everything Small

by Barry

Here's a trustworthy saying: If you live in a Malawian village for an entire summer, taking bucket baths and hiking miles through the bush each day, you're probably going to come back a little changed.

Well, that's exactly what happened with my good friend Maeven Mendoza. She lived for two months in Malawi, and she has definitely come back a different person!

And get this... Maeven has decided to share her journey with us!

On her blog Everything Small, Maeven writes about the joys, struggles and memories she is living with as she re-enters American culture.

One recent post is about her new perspective on intelligence and another is about her recent dilemma of wanting to buy a $6 shirt. Beautiful stories, thought-provoking narratives, and a refreshing level of honesty.

And the best part of all is that Maeven's a really good writer!!!

Hey. What are you still doing looking at this boring blog? Check it out!

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Kiva.org

by Barry

Do you ever get frustrated at how huge problems like poverty are? You read stats like 1 billion people live below a dollar a day and 2 billion people on less than 2 dollars a day. A billion people? I can't even imagine what a million people looks like.

These women in Mumbai, India earn pennies to cut this grass by hand.

Or you visit a third world country and see it for yourself. Row after row of corrugated metal shacks, destitute people lying on the streets, entire orphanages filled with AIDS orphans. It's too much to handle.

We'd love to help out... to give our money to the problem. But it's just too big!

So we give nothing.

Well, for the last year or so, I've been contributing to an amazing website that seeks to change all of that: www.kiva.org. Kiva is a not-for-profit micro-loan company that allows you to loan money directly to a person who needs it.

When you make a loan to someone, you see their picture and read their bio. You see exactly what they need the money for. You're not sending $25 to some multi-national "global poverty initiative." You're sending $25 (or more) to Betty Kagwa, a Ugandan woman who runs a general store. Or to Hoeun Korng, who sells cows in Cambodia. You get the picture.

And the best part of all is that it's a loan. Kiva has had, get this, a 98.6% successful repayment rate! And when you get the money back, you can instantly re-loan it to another entrepreneur or withdraw it and use it for something else. It's easy.

So, stop being so overwhelmed... Check out Kiva and get into the game!

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