Eugene Cho

Monday, March 22, 2010 • 6:19 pm 10

“vacationing” in a place with the 4th highest murder rate in the world

Hey everyone. Thanks for your love, support, and prayers.

Minhee and I (and one of my ODW volunteer staff) are currently “vacationing” in an “urban ghetto” marked with the 4th highest murder rate in the world. We’ve taken some personal vacation time to travel to Guatemala as invited guests (for a few days) to do research, learn, and network with some NGOs for some possible future partnerships. We are spending the bulk of our time with an NGO called Lemonada International.

We’ve heard and partly witnessed some painful stories of violence, drug abuse, broken families, and the ugly cycle of extreme poverty.

There is an estimate of 60-100K people living in the urban ghetto known as La Limonada. It is an urban slum community built Read the rest of this entry »

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Sunday, November 8, 2009 • 3:24 pm 8

odw featured in the seattle times!

picture by Jim Bates of the Seattle Times

Thanks for your support. Only together – literally – can we ensure the end of extreme poverty. I know there are so many worthwhile causes.

Let’s celebrate, support, and cheer on these efforts and the people behind them.

We’re not here to compete w/ others. We want to celebrate the work and efforts of so many different causes and the people and communities behind them. And so with that, I hope you can help support, cheer on, and even celebrate the work of One Day’s Wages.

Here’s the article: Local Charity Based on Donating a Day’s Salary (or click on image above).

The compelling aspect of ODW is that 100% of your donations (minus transaction costs) go to projects on the ground YOU CHOOSE to fight extreme global poverty. While we may not be able to fix the world, our investments can help change the life of a child, a mother, a father, a family, and even a village.

Here’s three other 5 PRACTICAL things you can do to give us “a bump’: Read the rest of this entry »

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Thursday, August 13, 2009 • 12:01 am 24

is overpopulation our world’s greatest threat?

over population

* Update: Today (October 31, 2011) is the official day that the world’s population hits 7,000,000,000. Not sure how you feel but as my post points out, there are legitimate concerns that need to be addressed, but I also see this from a different perspective.

I was reading an article from CNN yesterday (and also covered in other news sources) about the growth of the world’s population. It is speculated the the population will hit 7 billion people in 2011  - with the vast majority of the growth happening in developing nations. While the article doesn’t specifically call it out, I read “over-population” between the lines. In fact, the article reminded me of another article I read last year controversially entitled, “Time for them to die…”

In short, the question needs to be asked:

  • Is overpopulation our world’s greatest threat?  And what is the role of the [C]hurch?
  • Are we for birth controls?
  • Are we really committed to education?
  • In light of the fastest population growth taking place in developing nations (aka: the poorest nations), shouldn’t we be more proactive than reactive?
  • Is there another example of hype rather than substance? Isn’t there enough resources to go around in the world?

I’m sensing that while folks don’t want to openly admit it, more and more folks lean towards the view that OVERPOPULATION is a serious threat and something has to happen.  I wonder if it’s a threat to our existence or an inconvience to our way or style of life.

Your thoughts:  Is overpopulation our world’s greatest threat?

Here’s the article from CNN: Read the rest of this entry »

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009 • 12:15 am 32

$700,000 in debt and never been so excited to hear from the IRS

eugene matrix

Last week, I shared a post about fear entitled, Do Not Be Afraid: Dream, Pursue, & Jump.  And one of my readers, Matt S., doctored one of my photos to give me Neo-like skills.

For the past year, my biggest fear has been this burden and conviction that I feel God has placed upon my soul to engage the fight against extreme global poverty through the birth of a new organization.

I have been kicking myself for going public with the vision about a year ago. There’s been hiccups, setbacks, criticisms, and plenty of self doubt but after a year since sharing our vision and starting a group on Facebook, I’ll finally be sharing the name of our organization, current logo, and our vision and fundraising letter this Friday.

As usual, I’m both excited and scared and covet your prayers.

I came home yesterday having doubts if I was ready to share the vision but lo and behold, Read the rest of this entry »

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Wednesday, May 6, 2009 • 12:01 am 7

ONE sermon challenge

I’m a supporter of the ONE Campaign.  I support them and thousands of others – regardless of their age, gender, religion, ethnicity, or organizational background – if they are fighting, singing, writing, advocating, and working towards eradicating extreme global poverty; If they are loving mercy and pursuing justice.  This isn’t just a Christian issue, it’s a humanity issue.  Everyone needs to be involved and NO ONE gets a free pass. Please read this loud and clear:  we have the capacity to eradicate extreme global poverty.

Recently, I spent some time with the ONE Campaign in Washington DC.  They interviewed me in this video talking a little bit about the opportunity that we have as pastors and leaders to utilize our voices to speak for the voiceless, poor, and oppressed.  Here’s what they wrote on their ONE blog about the ONE Sermon Challenge: Read the rest of this entry »

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Saturday, December 6, 2008 • 2:15 am 16

an update on our global poverty initiative

from flickr

I hope that while this entry topic might not be as alluring as your top search engine topics like Britney Spears and Barack Obama, you’ll take a few minutes to read up the progress of our global poverty organization.  This has been one of the most humbling seasons of our life.  When we went public with our vision to give our year’s salary to start this poverty initiative, we had absolutely no idea about what was in store with the financial crisis and meltdown.  Our convictions have been tested but each time we think about how “bad” we have it, we’re reminded of the grave situation for the poorest of the poor – those affected by “extreme global poverty.”

Here’s 5 Updates on our Progress:

  • FACEBOOK.  On Friday, December 5, our Facebook Group – which can be accessed at http://fightglobalpoverty.com – surpassed 200,000 members.  It’s pretty amazing considering we started the group on May 15, 2008.  While there are no guarantees if folks will ultimately support our organization, it confirms our aspiration for our initiative in helping change the world:

Human Relationships + Technology + [Vision] = Movement Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: seattle, technology, , , , , ,

Thursday, July 31, 2008 • 4:50 am 34

if [my daughter] had $100,000…

As Minhee and I work towards launching a humanitarian organization later this year [once the 501c3 is officially issued], we’ve been enjoying opportunities to speak to our children about why we’ve made the decision and how it will impact our family.  We share with our kids about our faith in Christ and our desire to be agents of mercy, justice, and humility – both locally and globally.   But in many ways, our children are the ones that often challenge us with their sense of compassion.

[During my current sabbatical, I'll be reposting some old posts for your reading pleasure.]

My oldest daughter who’s in 4th grade had a homework assignment this week where she was asked to write an essay about how she would help others if she had $100,000.  What a coincidence since that’s the amount we’ve pledged.  Anyways, I read it on Sunday night and was floored.

Read her essay below and check out the “vision plan” that she drew out.  Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: family, religion, ,

Monday, July 14, 2008 • 8:56 am 42

fighting global poverty f.a.q.

As most of my blog readers know, my wife and I [and our three children] are starting an organization for the purpose of joining the fight against global poverty.  We are not the first, and thankfully, we will not be the last.  People – acquaintances, strangers, blog readers and stalkers, Twitters, Facebookers, internet surfers, and our church folks have asked us questions and so this entry is our attempt to answer those questions – in hopes that it may intrigue and inspire you and also to excuse myself from answering countless personal emails.

Recent Updates: Dec. ’08 / March ’09

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions: Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: family, health, , , ,

Monday, June 30, 2008 • 12:24 am 24

video introduction to fight global poverty

We know that global poverty exists. We also know that it will always exists on some level but it doesn’t mean that it gives us a free pass to do nothing.  Apathy is the enemy.  Our vision for the soon to be made public organization focused on fighting global poverty seeks to invite and inspire the global community to join the fight against global poverty by creating a viral, grassroots, and global movement.

The video is a glimpse of what we’re envisioning and created for folks that don’t know who and what we’re hoping to do.  Let us know what you think of the video.  [Much gratitude to Mr. Roboto for helping put this video together]. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: family, religion,

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 • 12:47 am 18

strategically fighting poverty

Please take a few minutes to read this.  We can’t save the world but we can make a difference. 

It’s in the news all around us:  the situation in Darfur; the cyclone catastrophe in Burma/Myanmar; unfathomable hunger in North Korea; the food crisis in numerous places around the world, and the list can and do go on.  Over 3 billion people live on less than $2/day; About 1 billion live on less than $1/day; Nearly 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean water; About 27,000-30,000 children die daily due to poverty.  Staggering and numbing statistics.

While it’s awkward to make a public appeal and broadcast of our vision, that is the decision that we’ve made – for better or worse.  Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: health, religion, , , ,

Thursday, December 6, 2007 • 1:55 am 37

fight poverty 3 – a vision of compassion and redistribution

This is the third and final part of a short series entitled, Fight Poverty.  If interested, you can read Part I [An Introduction] and Part II [A Broken World].  We want to do our part so Minhee and I have decided to give up our annual salary next year to join the fight against global poverty.

Global poverty is a very painful and complex situation.  But, it can also be seen in a simple angle:

  1. There are people and countries around the world that are suffering, dying, and in grave need.
  2. There are people and countries with abundant resources that can benefit the “have nots” around the world.
  3. The solution is simple:  Redistribute resources from us to them [since we are part of the same global community] and in that process, help create sustainability and build up/equip local leaders…

I know it’s too simplistic but we must see ourselves as part of the solution.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying the material goods that most of us have access to but we can easily cross the line into gluttony and overconsumption.  My family and I have everything that we can possibly need but there are times I still struggle with wanting more.  When is enough enough? Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: family, health, religion, ,

stuff, connect, info

one day’s wages | video

my tweets

  • Love wins in the end but in the meanwhile, it fights for & pursues the things that matter. Love isn't sentimental, it's fierce. It endures. || 6 hours ago
  • Dear Hong Kong: I'll be preaching this Sunday @TheVineHK at all 3 services: 9.15, 11.30, 4pm. Hope to see you there: thevine.org.hk || 18 hours ago
  • "Justice is the grammar of things. Mercy is the poetry of things." - Frederick Buechner || 1 day ago
  • Proud to support the work of @thesoldproject & @raegoble as they fight human trafficking in Thailand with dignity: onedayswages.org/donate/org/sol… || 1 day ago
  • Don't underestimate the impact of our purchasing power. May our spending and investing be consistent with our values and convictions. || 2 days ago
  • How quickly people forget some of Abercrombie & Fitch's t-shirt designs from 2002 including these racist classics: http://t.co/vF5eGW0x80 || 2 days ago
  • The best way to make a statement against Abercrombie & Fitch isn't to exploit the homeless for a publicity stunt. Rather, just boycott AF. || 2 days ago
  • "My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ & I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it." - Brennan Manning || 2 days ago

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