I’m Giving Away My Birthday!

I turn 29 on Friday, October 23.  Bottom line:

1. I don’t need any more stuff.  And there are people all over the world who live in crushing poverty.

2. Microfinance is the single best way to end systemic poverty, to teach people to pull themselves up out of generations of poverty.  Bar none.

3. HOPE INTERNATIONAL is an amazing organization that is making real, significant change in the Two-Thirds world right now.

What can you do?

CLICK HERE to give right now to support HOPE.  You can give as little as $1.00.  Or as much as you want.

Please give in honor of my big 2-9.  I’d love to raise $2,900 this week.  That would be 29 families lifted out of poverty in the next six months; 58 by my 30th birthday.  Nearly 60 families whose lives would be utterly transformed.

Once you’ve given, PLEASE TELL MORE PEOPLE!  More details below:

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Here’s the whole story:

I’m turning 29 this week on Friday, October 23.  My wife, Amanda and I moved to Dayton, OH about 2 1/2 months ago (a week after getting married) to work for Beavercreek Church of the Nazarene.  It’s been amazing so far (short version).

In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how outrageously blessed I am right now.  And then, about one month ago, I read Tim Sanders’ blog about a guy named Ken Hertz who gave away his 50th birthday to CharityWater.org.  Ken raised over $50,000 by asking everyone he knew to donate to Charity Water instead of giving him anything.

I’ll all about copying a great idea, so I decided to give my birthday to HOPE INTERNATIONAL.  HOPE is a micro-finance organization, which basically means that they give very small loans (usually $50-$200) to persons in the two-thirds world.  I won’t bore you with the details (though you absolutely should research this for yourself), but here’s the bottom line:

Microfinance is the single best way to end systematic poverty in the world. That is not an overstatement.  I had the opportunity back in May to travel with a group to the Dominican Republic to witness first-hand what HOPE can do.  HOPE’s programs lift people out of poverty and give them dignity.  Their motto is “A hand UP, not a handout”, and they live this out.  This is a grassroots, hardcore, 110% committed company whose staff and president utterly embody the values and vision they’re communicating to their clients.  I got to watch what they do first-hand, and I can tell you that they are utterly transforming entire communities with what they’re doing.  This really works.

Check out their site, decide what you want to give and then CLICK HERE to give!

Thanks so much everyone, for helping to make my 29th Birthday my best yet.  Please spread the word about HOPE!