30 IN 50
Written by Faith Gregg… Faith works for Arise Africa USA offices and is in charge of our sponsorship programs.
I recently read something that really began to stir in my heart:
“The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth proclaim to be Christians. The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left.”
Crazy right?! It made me realize that I have a lot to do on this Earth and I don’t take God’s call to care for His people (James 1:27, 1John 3:17-18) as seriously as I should! I started to think of ways I can be more intentional in loving others in action and in truth. I began to think about the sovereignty of The Lord and how I can utilize the resources he has given me to work harder for His Kingdom. I immediately thought, “well Faith… He has given you a job where you get to connect people in the U.S. with kids in Zambia. Use that as tool and work harder there!” DUH. So, I thought, “Okay Lord, what exactly can I do differently? I can try to get more kids sponsored faster but that seems like a stretch.” In which He replied with “Can my reach only stretch so far? Aren’t these my kids anyway?” Okay He probably wasn’t that sarcastic but I did need a good talking to. I can have so little faith sometimes even though that’s my name…
So, here is what I came up with. I have been working at Arise Africa for seven months and I leave in March for my first trip to Zambia. At the time I created this challenge, I had 50 days left until leaving and I decided to try and get 30 kids sponsored by the time I step onto the plane. At this point, I have 36 days until I leave and 21 more kids to get sponsored. HELP ME REACH THIS GOAL! Please pray that God would provide sponsors in America with the heart to help the children in Zambia. Please pray that the kids currently in sponsorship and those who will be sponsored develop a love for The Lord and for His word. Pray about a friend who may want to sponsor or even about sponsoring another kiddo yourself! Take a look right now!
We are blessed enough to be able to change someone’s entire world for 35 dollars a month. That’s the equivalent of the receipts piled up in my car door from Starbucks, Chik-fil-a, and the peanut butter I just bought from Trader Joes. If we can make a difference, then why wouldn’t we?!
Faith