Tag: global poverty

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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’: Continue reading “odw featured in the seattle times!”

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

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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 Continue reading “an update on our global poverty initiative”

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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: Continue reading “fighting global poverty f.a.q.”

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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.  Continue reading “strategically fighting poverty”

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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? Continue reading “fight poverty 3 – a vision of compassion and redistribution”