Whenever one person stands up and says, "Wait a minute, this is wrong," it helps other people stand up to do the same. -Gloria Steinem
Hi there, I'm Tara. I'm bringing a little piece of my personal blog over here today. I wanted to share a bit about our feeding program, how our initial number was 250 students, and somehow, just two years later, we are feeding 1,200 students and teachers every day. God has been nothing but faithful and we are nothing but thankful, but we could use your help. 41Day is coming up on April 1st and I would love to give you some very practical ways to change with world for one....
So, y'all know my word for the year is seek. I have been completely blown away by the amount of times, in a day, I am pointed back to this word or the fruit of this word. I told y'all recently that I have been seeking Him by spending time in His word, every day. Yesterday, in my reading, I came across the story of Jesus feeding 5,000:
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Mark 6:41
There are a few things that struck me. One, the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away to find food. It was getting late and they were in a remote place. Jesus' response was "You give them something to eat." (Mark 6:37, emphasis mine).
Two. Obviously, the men didn't have the means to feed 5,000, but Jesus asked what they did have and asked them to go and see. They gave all they had, five loaves and 2 fishes.
They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. Mark 6:42-43
People ask me all the time what scripture No.41 is named after. And it's not. But it could be. You see, I believe God dropped this little nugget, Mark 6:41, into my heart as I was seeking him and seeking guidance. This is what we do every single day in Rwanda. If I'm being completely honest, we are in way (waaay) over our heads. We don't have the money to feed these kids, we never have. Yet, somehow, someway, we do.
I believe that we give God what we have, He blesses it, and then gives it back to us to create the miracle, just like Jesus did that day with the disciples. He didn't wave His finger and mounds of food appeared. He didn't hand each individual piece of miracle food to each person. He gave His blessing and let the disciples do that. And I believe He is asking us, all of us, to do that, too. To bring what we have, to let Him bless it, and then to see, first hand, what we can do with His blessing.
I say all of this to say, we need your help. Would you bring what you have? Prayers, money, influence, awareness... We are gearing up for our, second annual, 41 Day on April 1st (get it?) and we have, what feels like, a pretty weighty goal, but we are so expectant. Just like last year, we are asking that y'all would partner with us on that day, or that week even, to fast, pray, and donate the cost of your lunch in honor of the millions of children around the world who go without food, every single day. It's a tangible chance to let our "little" have a massive Kingdom impact with His blessing.
Over the coming weeks I'll be talking about the different ways to get involved. Would you pray about how you can help? Do you have a blog that you would be willing to donate a post (or a couple of posts) to 41? Could you get your small group involved? Are you a teacher and think this could be a great awareness project for your students to get involved in? Can we take over your instagram? Be your cover photo on Facebook? Do you have a tshirt or a bag yet?
Y'all, our goal is to feed 41,000 meals this year on April 1st. That's $10,250. That's 1,000 people giving up a $10 lunch, for one day, to feed 41,000 meals. We've got this! HE'S got this.
Update: AND get all 1,200 students sponsored for $60 a year over the month of April!
And can I tell y'all one last thing? It's certainly not about this, but don't miss it: after everyone had eaten that day, there were 12 baskets of food left over. One for each of the disciples. God does want to use us to bless others but, I would be willing to bet that you will be equally blessed, if not more, in the process.
To make a donation click here. If you would like to set up a recurring donation (FYI just $5 a month takes care of one child) click here. If you would like to make a $60, one-time donation, to sponsor a student for the entire year click here.
If you would like to get involved, shoot me an email, tara@no41.org, and I would love to talk it through with you.
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