Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Irrational Campaign

Here's a short story of the kind of impact that we did not expect to have when we took our trip to Liberia. 

We were featured in the United Methodist Great Rivers Conference newsletter before we left, and a pastor who read that article and had been to Liberia got in contact with us.  We didn't get a chance to meet with him face to face before we left, but we when we got back he was going to be speaking at Quest church here in Champaign. Quest church was beginning a campaign to build a church and a well in a village in Liberia and wanted the pastor to share about his experiences.  They are building a church in Liberia before they build their own - we currently meet in a Holiday Inn lobby.

A couple months later, the church (who we now had become involved with) invited us to speak after they had raised about $6,500 of their $13,000 goal (which they later changed to $15,000 to include scholarshps for 40 village students).  

Raising $6,500 in a couple of months is impressive enough.  But after we spoke and provided some personal inight into the lives of the people they would be helping, and after a few people in the congregation gave some big gifts they had been saving up for...this was announced this morning - the last official day of the campaign.


Donations will continue to come in during the next couple of weeks.  On January 8th, the Pastor and another member of the church will fly to Liberia and have the opportunity to personally present the gift to a village that will never be the same.  Their children will have clean water, they will go to school, and the community itself will have a building that can be used a school, church, gathering place and source of pride and togetherness for years.  

Glad to be a part of it.