Exciting Email today...

In September, I told you about a group of Canadian young people who started a website to connect struggling students with potential donors.

Today, I received an exciting email from Education Generation telling me that Sheila Atieno, a 17 year old girl from Ukwala, Kenya has received the funding needed to continue her schooling. Sheila is 17 years old, lives with her grandfather. She's an expert at cooking, fetching wood and water and giving love and care to her 5 younger siblings. She has taken on the role of mother and father from early on as both of her parents passed away, doing it all while getting excellent grades and being involved in her community... you can read all about her and the school she attends here.

The email reads... "Dear Jan & John,
Thanks to your support the scholarship for Shirley Atieno of $280.00 has been completely funded! We will forward the full amount to the partner organization to administer payment of school fees and expenses.

When journal entries, grades or other updates are received they will be posted to the profile and you will be notified by email.

When the academic year is complete, you will be presented with the opportunity to fund a further year's study for this student should you wish."

I am so excited... all we did was send $20 to add to the donations of 8 other people...

I can claim a Canadian tax deduction and this young lady can realize her dreams...
later man, jan

The Girl Effect

Yes, You can.
Yes, We can.

Spend some time at girleffect.org...

Watch all 6 videos on YouTube...

For more information download Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda

(hat tip to my friend Good Dogg at KivaFriends.org)
later man, jan

Bless God...

Posted October 10th, 2008 by Gaye Sharpe on the United Church Emerging Spirit Website.

"I sat in yet another all day meeting yesterday. We gathered to report on and wrestle with issues relating to Ministry and Personnel in BC Conference. As part of our gathering time, the Chair, Dal McCrindle, reminded us that prayers asking for blessing are not part of the Hebrew tradition. Jewish prayers "bless God" in recognition of all those aspects of our life that call us to give thanks.

As we enter this weekend of turkey, fresh cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, bless God for:

* Colleagues who will sit in an all day meeting committed to equipping our church with competent, faithful leaders
* Families that place heart in hand and "try" church
* Volunteers who prepare lessons, organize craft cupboards, decorate classrooms and welcome children
* Music directors that risk a "new" hymn because it fits the service
* The last ones out of the building every Sunday because they are making sure every dish is washed, every loonie counted, every concern heard, every hug doled out
* Those who respond "I'm going to church" when asked in the lunch room "What are you doing on the weekend?"
* A church that celebrates the 10th anniversary of its ordination of gays and lesbians AND advertises with a bobble-headed Jesus
* Those that read the "whole" church bulletin and don't need a phone call to be reminded of a meeting
* Those who give a concise, interesting church announcement lasting less than two minutes
* Those who laugh out loud, really loud in church
* The ones who say more than "Good service" at the door
* Parents who approach a font, place a child in our arms and commit themselves and the child to following Jesus
* Those who will not let us forget the call of God to respond to the needs of the wider world
* Youth who demand relevance in worship and programming
* Friends and family who remind us that there is more to life than church
* Children who ask questions through the communion liturgy, gaze spell bound at the Christ candle, search out the elder who needs the hug, drop picks into guitar holes, nurse during the service
* All those who will arrive at our churches this Sunday with gourds and wheat sheaves, pumpkins and muffins, red maple leaves and fresh garden produce to give thanks and bless God for family, the natural world and our church."

Happy Thanksgiving to all and find something of your own to add to the list above.
later man, jan

You Have A Choice

Check out the video that AnyoneButHarper.ca has launched on YouTube. Its a powerful, special-effects laden new video for the original song 'You Have a Choice' featuring Canadian artists united to defeat Harper and fight climate change.

The artists include K-OS, Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent, Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace, Sarah Harmer, Hawksley Workman, Darren Dumas of The Salads and Jason Collett of Broken Social Scene.

This is being promoted at VoteforEnvironment.ca where you can check your postal code and find out how to vote the Conservatives out.

later man, jan

HOPE - great - now it posts - see last entry :)

"Voices of HOPE" - Esperanza International clients...

I just made a Kiva loan to a group of women in the Dominican Republic. They call themselves the Unidas Para El Progreso Group In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee.

The microfinance organization that Kiva partners with to enable this loan is called Esperanza International (a partner with HOPE International). They focus on "serving the most impoverished families in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Programs enable families to help themselves through initiatives that provide income generation, health care and education – leading to a future free from poverty and dependence."

There is a short video on YouTube with interviews with 2 people who have been helped by these types of loans. But I can't get the #$%&* thing to post. sigh

later man, jan

Bruce Springsteen for Obama

Canada's election is definitely in the huge shadow created by what is going on down south of us. Obama has the backing of Bruce Springsteen and this is taken from three days of Vote For Change concerts on behalf of Barack Obama...

"I’ve spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.

I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I’ve continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of people’s hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.

They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama’s understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow citizens. That is where our future lies. We will rise or fall as a people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don’t know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back.

So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising."

My KF friend Eli cut and pasted this from: www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/10/06/bruce-springsteen-inspires-voters-with-passionate-acoustic-set-at-philadelphia-rally/

later man, jan

Education and Not Indoctrination...

as a follow up to yesterday's post about Marcus Borg - rlp today has given us a link to Drew Smith of Wilderness Preacher. He has written an article on Marcus Borg for the Society of Biblical Literature. He tells us what happened the semester he put Marcus Borg on his student's reading list.

"I am convinced that students should read scholars like Borg because their knowledge of more liberal thinkers should not be solely left to the interpretations of others. I shudder to think that we have come to the point where self-appointed answer-giving professors must shield undiscerning students. This is an insult to students and is not the mission of education where independent critical thinking is the hallmark."

thanks rlp, for encouraging me to think for myself, I am enjoying the journey...

later man, jan

Marcus Borg - a gentle man who makes it sound so simple...

There is this huge controversy in Christianity today. Many of us grew up in Christianity and have a history of reading the gospels in a very literal way. Many of us have tried to engage the gospels and have found the stories differ from each other. In trying to find meaning for my own life, I have realized that the gospels emerged from a genuine response of people who had an incredible experience of God and needed to put it in words.

A blogger I follow who calls himself rlp - as in real live preacher - has had the opportunity to have a conversation with Marcus Borg and he has posted an introduction and a recording of the conversation on CCBlogs (thinking critically, living faithfully). I found listening to this recording was a valuable use of a half hour of my time.

Quoting from rlp's introduction...
"Most of us ministers have made our peace with this. We understand that the gospels clearly reflect early Church theology. That’s okay because that theology was the present experience of the friends of Jesus. It has value too. Our approach is to preach and teach from the gospels, taking the text as given. Trying to distinguish what might be the actual words of Jesus and the actual events of his life from what might be slightly embellished Church tradition is something that would be interesting, but ultimately it a question that cannot be answered. Moreover, we are busy with the real lives of people in our world who are following the spiritual path of Christianity as a means of salvation and spiritual growth.

Marcus Borg and the Jesus Seminar scholars have, however, taken up that task and have sought to distinguish carefully between the pre-Easter Jesus, who was a man defined by what he actually said and did, and the post-Easter Jesus, who is the figure venerated by the Church."

If you have read this far, I encourage you to take the time to go to My Conversation with Marcus Borg - by Gord Atkinson and see what you think.

later man, jan

Come meet a Friend of mine...

Danali says she "is a 17 year old girl who loves to help the world."

She has created a lens at Squidoo.com and it's all about Kiva. I myself don't really understand how surfing from site to site on the web can generate so much money but it does. And Danali is making money for Kiva.

I gave her a 5 ***** rating :) Go check it out.

later man, jan