Our Best for the Least
Well, this week is going to be a bit different. This blog is always all about you. These articles are free, accessible, and ask for no engagement from you. Today, I’m turning the tables, but no, it’s not about me either.
In early 2014, after the completion of the Think, Act, Be Like Jesus book with Randy Frazee, I sensed the Lord was telling me that each title that He allowed me to be a part of should produce something physical, tangible—to leave something behind as an altar, a monument to Him, involving Matthew 25—feeding, clothing, water, etc. to the “least of these.”
Literally within 48 hours, I received an email from my old friend, Andy Perkins of Bestwa, Inc. who has an amazing ministry in Africa, that a delegation of leaders from Buchanan in Liberia, had come to a nearby community where Andy had two feeding centers for children. They begged them to open a center in their community because they had kids who were literally dying of starvation.
Andy’s words reached out and grabbed me by the collar and the call was clear—this is it.
To cut to the chase, my ministry, 517 Resources, Inc., partnered with Andy’s and six weeks later, a feeding center was opened in that community where, today, 317 children are being fed daily. Words cannot express the privilege of, and my gratitude for, being a part of this miracle. My family, aside from my ministry, got on board and we personally help support the monthly cost of food and employees there.
At Christmas, Andy always provides each child with a set of new clothes and a special meal as their gift. This is a big deal, because some of these kids don’t even own a shirt and certainly wouldn’t get a gift. Because of Andy’s efficiency, the cost of this is just $10 per child. Yeah, ten bucks.
Bottom line—I’ve committed to raising the $3,170 for the Buchanan feeding site’s Christmas gifts. That’s 317 kids X $10.
I want to ask you to partner with me to accomplish this. Let this be an “us” thing. Let’s show some kids in Africa, who were literally saved from starvation, ebola, and the like, what a handful of Christian men in the Western culture can do to fulfill Matthew 25 this Christmas.
Imagine Christmas morning, in the sea of wrapping paper and the latest gadgets, smiling because you know $10 of that budget clothed a kid on the other side of the world. “I was naked and you clothed me.”
I promise I’ll go back to free, no-commitment 400-word discipleship, but this week, I’m asking you to help me. If you’ve been blessed by anything here on these digital pages, here’s your chance to show it has meant something.
You have my word however many $10s you choose to give, every dime will go to those kids—none to me and none to Andy. No middleman, no administrative cut. How often can you guarantee that in ministry?
So, Robert, what happens if you raise more than the $3,170? Great question. After thanking God profusely, the balance will go toward the education program we have started at that same site, where $125 puts one of the children there into Christian school for a year. You mean for $135, I could do the Christmas thing and put a kid in school? … Dang, you are so smart! Yes!
And here’s the bonus, in the U.S., any gift to 517 is tax deductible.
The fastest and easiest way to give is go to theknightscode.com and click on the Donate button on the right. If you need another method or have questions, email me at info@theknightscode.com. As Home Depot says, “Let’s do this.”
Thanks for allowing me to “break the 4th wall” this week. I promise I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t a literal life-changing opportunity for the “least of these” and, trust me, a great blessing to you.