Beaconhill NW

-The founders of ODW, Eugene and Minhee Cho, were inspired to start ODW after traveling and seeing for themselves the disparity in the world. They are driven by the belief that we have the capacity to end extreme global poverty.
-Eugene and Minhee felt compelled to donate their one year’s wages and wanted to invite their family and friends to contribute by donating their one day’s wages or another amount.
-The vision is to inspire people around the world to simply donate one day’s wages, or any amount you wish to invest; and to renew that pledge monthly, quarterly or yearly on their birthdays
-ODW does not need or want to reinvent the wheel. Instead ODW partners and collaborates with other organizations and movements that share similar values and a mission to end extreme global poverty.
-The strategic plan is to combine human relationships, technology/social media, and ODW’s vision to create a movement to end extreme global poverty.
-ODW is a movement of people, stories, and actions of compassionate justice to fight extreme global poverty

The Movement of One Day’s Wages from One Day’s Wages on Vimeo.

Consider the impact of your one day’s wages, which is equivalent to about 0.4% of your annual salary.

* $20 can provide clean water for one person for 20 years.
* $10 can purchase a bed net to help prevent malaria.
* $45 can pay annual school tuition for one child.

One Day’s Wages is you, me, us, them: giving, dreaming, and working together to end extreme global poverty. Join the movement.

http://onedayswages.org
http://twitter.com/onedayswages
http://facebook.com/onedayswages

Credits: Video: Justin Pae. Music: Cinecue – http://cinecue.com & Joshua Myers – http://joshuamyers.com

Do you remember what it feels like to return home after being gone for a long trip? Maybe that trip took on an unexpected detour with some ups and downs, surprises, and realizations.

I was talking to a friend recently and the notion came up that in our current state of connectivity we are not allowing ourselves time to process what is happening in our lives. When I say process I am talking about grabbing some  time to think and figure things out.  The fact that we are denying ourselves time by being occupied so much may have long-term effects.

Here are some thoughts:

Do we understand the implications?

How do we measure our growth?

Are we developing some safeguards to protect what’s important?

Are we desperate for our connectivity?

Do we experience withdrawls from it?

What about our families, careers, relationships that stand outside of the hyper-state of connectiveness?

Here are some suggestions from someone who manages and mis-manages:

-Take some time off for the holidays…unplug…

-Manage your online prescence using tools and a timeline

-Develop key relationships that support and encourage like-mindedness

-If your family is not part of an online community,  then you know what I might say here.

-Start your day off with time to read and restore, if the first thing you do is check your status’…chances are, that’s the first thing that will be on your mind.(believe me I struggle with this everyday)

I know many of us are involved with online ministries, web-stuff, etc.

What do you think? Am I just preaching to the choir?

Let have a conversation…

This is a comment that I left on the Deadly Viper post “Toward Reconciliation”
(Some context…I stayed out of the comments and tweets intentionally.  I shared posts from all parties through my Twitter stream.  I also shared updates from all parties.  I asked others to do the same.  I am a volunteer for Deadly Viper Blog.  I was given no instruction, nor did I ask for any.  My job is to function as an online community manager.  This often means that you have to keep dancing even when the music stops.  The online community management piece and managing volunteers is fun, but often difficult without precedent.   The outcome is that I want to have more conversations about how to develop some precedent for the future.  I’m not sure what looks like just yet.  I’ve got some decisions to make about my own projects such as Commenting Ninja, who’s goal was to develop a forum for this type of conversation, but I want to make sure that it doesn’t offend.  I will be seeking some counsel from some friends on that issue.  )

Here is my comment from the Deadly Viper post:

“I have been moved by this process. In watching and observing blog posts,comments, tweets, etc I found myself wondering how it would work itself out. My wife and I have had several conversations about it. Mike and Jud-you did the right thing. It is difficult to know what to do. Fortunately, you have a lot of friends who support you and know your heart. It was also encouraging for me to see others come alongside you, even when they were offended.
It is our differences and giftedness that make us unique in the body of Christ. Each one contributes to a part.
I have a deep respect for the leadership and voices of the Asian American community. Many have been gracious and forthright in their conversations. (Although there have been those overall in the online spectrum that might have looked at this as an opportunity for blog content.)I was grateful that this blog became a forum for discussion. With over 100+comments(119 as of this posting) on the “I’m Sorry” post, I was certain that something was stirring the hearts. In years passed, this discussion would not have occurred…sadly, it would have been missed. There are some of us who are called to oversee the process online and make sure that updates were inserted with the intent that understanding could be found. That is the beauty of social media.”

One Day’s Wages = 0.4% of our annual salary -> Impact against Extreme Poverty

* $20 can help build a well to provide clean water for one person for 20 years.
* $10 can purchase a bed net to help prevent malaria.
* $45 can pay annual school tuition for one child.

If you can, give us a lift with your support. Here’s 5 things you can do:

1. Visit the website and create an account. Just creating an account is a simple great way to support us.

2. Make a donation. Calculate your day’s wages on the website or make another donation. You can choose to invest in one of the 3 incredible organizations/projects highlighted on the website. 100% of your donations (minus transaction costs) go directly to these projects.

3. Be a FAN on Facebook. Stop by and show some love. There’s a lot of mean people out there!

4. Spread the word. Use the tools on our website (like Twitter), share the video on your FB profile, email this link, or use the SHARE button below.

5. Link this post via your stuff.

photo via strongbad email and evernote

Lately I’ve been running full-throttle and sometimes on fumes with new clients, campaigns, soccer practices/matches, not enough sleep…and an addiction to the interwebs…I’m doing what I love to do and I’m having a blast and learning so much.  But it’s not healthy for me to do too much.  And after several weeks of constant work I felt like I needed some time to re-calibrate to make for the long-haul.

Here are some things I’m testing out to see if they will work for me (a few of these ideas were inspired by Jesse Rice’s book The Church of Facebook)

-in the morning-i eat breakfast and read first…I am trying to break myself of checking my Blackberry, Twitter, Facebook, and GooReader first thing in the morning.

-when I go to bed-i read or watch tv to relax…I am turning my laptops and other devices off after a certain time.

-breaks during the day to have lunch away from my desk and my laptop

-taking advantage of offline meetings to get out and breathe.

-scheduling time during the day to check email,tweets,FB, for personal use. I’m on there a lot managing client stuff

-Blogging and writing are therapeutic for me

-interaction via skype/tokbox/tinychat have been key

-investing in time to mentor others, including my kids

-scheduling time to focus on youth ministry

-developing my own projects

I’d be curious to see what you do to decompress.  There are some days that I feel like I need to work with a snorkel on.

photo by blistered.skies

Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness {who} utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”

My pastor told a story to illustrate how strife is spread:

A woman who had been gossiping about her pastor came to ask for forgiveness.  The pastor said that he would forgive her, but he needed her to do something to help.  He asked her to go and collect a bag of bird-feathers and then come back to see him.  She gave him a puzzled-look but shrugged it off and went about the business of collecting a bag of bird-feathers.  The next day she returned with the bag of bird-feathers.  The pastor smiled and thanked her for helping.  He then asked her to go out and place a feather on a different street corner until the bag was empty.  She again went out and did what he asked.  When she was done several days later she returned to see the pastor.  He thanked her for her efforts.  He then asked her to go and collect all the feathers into the bag and bring them back.  She told him that it would be impossible since surely by now many of the feathers had blown away and could not be recovered.  He then told her that the same thing happens when we lie, gossip, slander, or commit libel, purgery, or fraud.  We might be able to ask for forgiveness, but the consequences and damages often spread farther than we’d imagined.

photo by hdrdoc

Last week in youth group, one of the students asked for prayer for their friend who had been stung by bees after his little brother pee’d on the bee-hive.  I laughed hard at this one.  But I was pretty sure that both boys needed some prayer…

This story made me stop and consider how my actions affect others.  I can take a risk (I really like to take risks) and it may not affect me directly, but it can hurt others, even those around me.  When it comes to sin, we can come back to God, repent and turn from it.  But we must realize that there are consequences for sins committed against other people.

I fully believe in radical grace, but not without some price.  I recently heard someone tweet  that

“God will love me if I foul up, but would be disappointed if I do nothing.”

Shaun King and Courageous Church need your help to rebuild Atlanta flood victims. If you watch this video please ReTweet or Share on Facebook. Or, if you find yourself inspired…go the http://hopeATL.com and volunteer or donate today.

Today I was talking with a friend about the danger of our new addiction to social media.  We were sharing about how it can easily become a distraction to our relationship with God, marriage, family and ministry.

A few months back I had a conversation with my wife about how I shared personal information on Twitter and Facebook.  She used the example of how I might go to a movie with her and then share with all my friends and followers how great the movie was even before she and I could talk about it.  And I realized that I needed to share in person with those most important in my life.  I don’t need to report real-time news.  The urge is all in my head.

The Bible has a great principle on this issue…”put God first in all things…” The term “put away” is action-oriented.  It’s not a request, God is expecting this of us.

As leaders, pastors, fathers, or whatever you are…we have a responsibility to model this principle to others.  There are friends, followers, fans, family, that are addicted to social media.  They spend countless hours on Facebook, just waiting for interaction.  We are missing a key component…a balance.  I’m not saying that social media is evil in itself.  I am saying that like anything else in life, it can be a vehicle of the extremes.  Mashable wrote and article on a new rehab center in Seattle,WA just for internet addiction.  I can only imagine what problems have arisen in churches.  Are we training our leaders on how to counsel on this issue?

Are you addicted?

photo by escapetowisconsin