What’s your favorite post?
One of the students asked me that last night before I spoke at the Clemson Fellowship for Christian Athletes. And it’s a good question, but I think I gave them the wrong answer.
The truth is, I haven’t written my favorite post yet.
But I’m about to.
In a week. In a month. In whatever timeframe it ends up becoming, I’m about to write my favorite post of all time and I already know what the title is going to be:
“We raised enough money to build two kindergartens in Vietnam!”
We’re on the doorstep of that moment. At almost $48,000 of our $60,000 goal, we are teetering on the precipice of that post and I don’t want you to miss it.
Soon, when you’re at a holiday party and someone asks what you did this year, you’ll be able to say, “I helped build two kindergartens in Vietnam.
Soon, when someone asks about your New Year’s Resolutions for 2010, you’ll have to say, “That’s a tough one. You see last year I helped change the future of two entire villages in a country halfway around the world.”
And that’s the truth.
The reality is, if you want to help 1,000 people, help 1 kid.
Because when you help a kid, you start a generational change that can ricochet for decades. The kindergarteners in Vietnam are growing up in a world that is more connected than it’s ever been before. Each of those kids is going to interact with, talk to, work with, dream alongside and meet more people on this planet than you can even begin to fathom.
And don’t think for a second that the fact that strangers turned an empty field into a school for them is going to fade from the place inside where each of those kids keeps their hope. Whether through the interconnectivity of the Internet or a cross village conversation they have with a friend when they’re 38 years old, a gift to a kid carries exponential possibilities.
Experiences like this, like the one that we’re all in the middle of right now at Stuff Christians Like, tend to create their own gravity both for the recipients and the givers. Yesterday I told a guy I’ve worked with for years about the project just on a whim when he came to my cube to ask about a QA issue. You know what he said?
“I got baptized last week with my son. Whoa, I can’t believe you just told me about that. Wow God.”
Don’t be surprised at how God can use the simple act of helping someone else or what conversations He makes possible as a result of this whole thing.
I hope we finish soon. I am so proud of you it’s almost silly. Someone gave $5,000. Lots of people gave $1. And both gifts mattered. On top of that, the prayers of people who couldn’t give did too. Although technically if you’re ever going to raise money you have to by Christian law say, “If you can’t afford to give I would really appreciate your prayers,” this time I really mean it. And here’s why:
You don’t raise your first $30,000 in 18 hours without prayer.
That wasn’t me. That wasn’t us. That was prayer and God.
My favorite post ever is coming soon. I hope you’ll have a chance to be part of it, whatever that looks like for you because something wild and God glorifying is happening right now and I don’t want any of us to miss it.
