9.27.2010

give it away

i get paid every two weeks at my work. this is almost always 2 times per month. but 2 months a year, the days of the week fall so that i get three paychecks in one month. it's not like i am actually getting paid more, but it feels that way since i do our budget on a monthly basis. the end result is an "extra" paycheck which also amounts to some extra tithe money.

september was one of these months. add to it the fact that jesse has been giving tons of guitar lessons and all the orders that people have been requesting from me for sewed stuff, and we had a tidy little surplus to give away this month on top of the regular ministries that we support. it was like christmas. and i am santa, baby. i went on a giving spree.

to start with, one of the things i knew i wanted to do with this money was to support this girl, katie, a single, early-twenty-something year old american girl who has moved to uganda and adopted 14 (yup) orphaned daughters. her ministry feed and sends to school 350 ugandan children and runs a feeding program for 1200. what she does blows. my. mind.

through her devastating post here, i found another young american girl being jesus in uganda, and so some of our september money went flying out of "our" pockets and straight there too.

and then finally, katie wrote this post about a group of 20 grown women (she helps EVERYONE of all ages...seriously, she is jesus) who had formed a group that would get together and make paper bead necklaces as a way to try to earn a legitimate, sustainable living in seriously horrific conditions.

these necklaces cost $20, which pays the women who roll each individual bead by hand and then half of the profits go to supporting katie's ministry. i bought 2 of these. i am keeping one and giving one away as our giveaway 90 (for reaching 90 followers).


colorful? yup. since they have every color of the rainbow, they go with everything. and they are suuuuuper long so you can double or triple them up

sitting on my counter

this one is actually going to require more from you than a normal giveaway might and it's on the honor system. to enter you need to read the 3 things i linked to above as well as this one and this one (which actually links to background stories on this little boy that you'll wanna read).

so, yeah, that's a lot of reading for you just to enter a blog giveaway. but that's not even all you have to do. and seriously, after reading that stuff, you'll want to do more.

after you have read these stories of real, live, hurting people please pray for katie and the people she encounters and consider donating something to her ministry (there's a paypal link on the sidebar of her blog). considering that 42 cents gives a kid in her program two solid meals a day, it is not an overstatement to say that literally anything you can give would help them.

so yeah, that's a lot to do to win a necklace. but i am pretty sure it will have way cooler and farther-reaching ramifications than anything else i've ever given away on here if just one person enters.

i hope that someday soon i will have the courage and faith that she does to be jesus in incredibly real ways in incredibly dark places.

so to enter:

1. read the posts i have linked to above on katie's blog.
2. pray for or donate to her ministry.
3. leave a comment saying that you did both (you don't have to say how much or even if you gave money, just commenting will signify that you did 1 and 2).

extra entries for (leave a comment after you've done each one, for up to 3 total comments/entries):

-becoming a follower of her blog
-tweeting or blogging about her ministry

the computer will randomly pick a winner to receive the necklace on friday morning.

y'all are awesome about supporting me and the random stuff i write about on here so i know you will show up big time for something truly awesome like this and spread the story and the love even farther. and i know there are tons of other amazing people and ministries out there who are literally being jesus' hands in some tough places on this earth, and i would love to hear about any that y'all are passionate about.

11 comments:

  1. alright I read it all and I'm now crying in the school library. and I sent elliot the blog. those really made me want to do something other than complain about being in grad school. thanks for posting that. love.

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  2. W-O-W!!!!!!!!!! This girl is AMAZING!!! My church has the "Uganda Thunder" twice a year come and perform...they are AWESOME kids and so very talented! I actually ordered some of the paper beads from a lady at church, but still have not received them...I think she forgot me!!! ....so, maybe I will win YOURS! YAY! Anyway, I am now a follower and supporter of this chick! It's awesome to have great people in the world like Katie!!! I have and will continue to pray for her!

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  3. That girl Katie is Jesus for sure. I wish I could give to her cause, but we had some extra money this month too and gave it to LUO. But I will definitely keep her in mind in the future. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. So this comment doesn't really go with this specific post but I wasn't sure where else to comment so here is where it shall lye. I realized I have never officially become a follower of your blog, even thought I've been stalking you for a year now. When I was on maternity leave I checked your blog more often than you posted. So I decided it was time. And guess what, I'm number 100. Woo Hoo. Kind of excited about that one. Okay now I'm going to go back to my annotated bibliography and as I get bored I will read all about Katie.

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  5. I have so many words and so few words. I am in awe of Katie and the stories of Uganda.

    thank you for posting this.

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  6. Thank you for reminding me of the privileges that we enjoy. I was moved by these stories and am thankful that my boys were put to bed not having a care in the world as they were placed in their warm beds tonight. This brought up a great discussion with my Hubs about giving on an uncomfortable level and also what else we can do. Thanks for adding to an ongoing discussion!

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  7. as you probably already suspected...I am already a katie blog reader. so I had already read her posts and LOVE those beads. did you read the latest one? incredible. so I'm entered...I read and I pray! and if I don't win these beads I am buying some for myself. and some 147 million orphans shirts. feed 1!

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  8. I actually went to Katie's page the day you first posted this and got so wrapped up in her posts and story that I forgot to come back to comment. Some of her stories are just outrageous. I wonder if I would have the strength/courage to do half of what she does (like figuring out how to do dental work on a child bc the dentist is too anxious to get home to help??? Unbelievable- both on the dentist part and Katie's part).

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  9. Okay, thanks for gripping and complaining. I finally read Katie's blog and I am blown away. Makes me think twice about complaining about anything in my life. Thanks for introducing her to me. I'm following her blog now, too. :)

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  10. Keight, I have already copied and pasted one of her paragraphs and sent to Tricia...the paragraph about starting a journey, which are similar words T is using as she realizes she has one more semester at UGA and then to Augusta for the internship and then...wherever God leads. Thank you for recommending the blog. I couldn't figure out how to subscribe, but through your site I will keep up with Katie and as funds permit, will send $$. One of T's friends has a heart for Africa and feels God is leading her there. I sent the link to T to send to her friend Amber. Who knows? Amber and Katie might one day work together? I love you and your tremendous heart.

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  11. keight, you were SO right, this girl IS jesus! i'm blown away by her stories & her faith... and how funny that i just bought my friend sammi one of those necklaces this week from a place up here called "feed my starving children". y'all definitely need one in atl! i read, i prayed, became a follower... she makes me want to sell everything i have and send her all the money. thank you for sharing! ps: happy birthday, welcome to 28!

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