Live Beyond Fund Raiser

We've just finished our first Live Beyond Fund Raiser and it was a great success.  Hall of Fame Head Football Coach, Gene Stallings, was the night's lead speaker.  After having travelled to Haiti the month before with the Live Beyond team, he was passionate about leading the charge to raise funds for the suffering in Haiti.

Rudy Kalis of Channel 4 news did a wonderful job emceeing the evening and brought a unique perspective to the night as only a reporter with his experience could.

Big Daddy Weave provided great entertainment for the packed house with their new top hit, "Love Come to Life".

The silent auction was particularly lively with items from Sheryl Crow, Brad and Kim Paisley and Dolly Parton driving the bidding through the roof.  One of the highlights of the night was the live auction of a quilt made by a group of Haitian orphans in the area in which we work.  It was so exciting to see A-list Nashvillians bidding on a quilt made by poor Haitian orphans!

The 562 people who turned out on a rainy night underscores not only the important work that is being done by the MMDR and Live Beyond Teams but also how generous and passionate Middle Tennesseans are about helping the poor.

MMDR.org

Hunger in Haiti

Two hours off our border, to the southeast of Miami, lies an earthquake ravaged country forgotten by the world in the rush of new news, new disasters and new financial meltdowns, that continues to suffer in the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster.  

After sustaining the loss of one thirtieth of its citizens, Haiti continues to slowly die.  Subsequent hurricanes have claimed thousands in smothering landslides, cholera continues to drain the population of life with possibly 20,000 lives claimed by this preventable disease.  Now a bean crop failure has produced protein deficient starvation that further threatens the marginal people of the Artibonite Valley.  

As we provided medical care to the people who streamed to our mobile clinics, we saw the devastating effects of a marginalized people without food.  The cries of, 'Mwen grangou!' filled our ears as the desperate mothers filled the mouths of their starving children with mud pies to keep them quiet and lessen their grief.  

Repeatedly, our nutritional assessment team returned with the cold hard data: 

age 2, weight 9 lbs; 

age 5, weight 19 lbs; 

age 21, pregnant, weight 60 lbs; 

age 65, weight 67 lbs.  

We distributed tons of food to the hungry but needed much more.

As we drove away, our food stores depleted, I wondered how many of the hungry we had missed and how many of these faces would be absent from our clinic next month.

Only $300 will feed a family of 8 for a month.

Isn't it time to open up our wallets, our influence, our lives and remember our neighbors in the Caribbean?

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief, http://www.mmdr.org, is a Brentwood, TN based 501 c(3) non profit organization that provides medical assistance, clean water, nutritional support and micro finance solutions to those affected by man made and natural disasters.  

Significance

Choosing Significance. Lot versus Abraham

Genesis 19:19-22
19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there( is it not small?) that my life may be saved. ” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. ” Therefore the name of the town was called   Zoar.

When Abraham and Lot parted company, Lot selfishly chose apparently the best land for himself. Abraham, on the other hand had faith about the future and chose eternal inheritance. When God chose to destroy Sodom, he delivered Lot because of the righteousness of Abraham. Lot's lack of faith was demonstrated by his weak leadership of his family. His wife, walking behind him, was turned to salt when she looked back to see her prized possessions burned up by the wrath of God. His daughters, believing that their were no men left to marry, got their father drunk and raped him resulting in creation of one of Israel's primary enemies, the Ammonites.

Finally, he chose the small insignificant route when God was delivering him from the evil of Sodom.

Abraham, in contrast, chose faith in obeying God's call to leave his home and travel to a foreign land. He chose faith in the sacrifice of Isaac because he knew that God would honor his promises and resurrect Isaac.

Which will you choose: big or small. Significant or insignificant?

GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Starvation in Haiti

We just returned from our 27th medical mission to Haiti since the earthquake.  We had 23 wonderful team members working in the medical clinic, dental clinic and sewing school.  The children at the Children of Hope Orphanage looked great.  They were healthy and happy and loved for us to show them attention.  The couple in charge of the orphanage, Bobby and Lourdie Toussaint do a fantastic job taking care of these wonderful children.

As we worked in the surrounding village, however, we saw a much different picture.  Due to a recent crop failure, many men, women and children were starving.  Because they live at the margin of life on a regular basis, a small decrease in their food supply is devastating.  We identified 200 families who wouldn't survive the month without additional food and we bought and distributed enough food to them to last until we return next month.

Isn't it amazing that two hours from the United States, where obesity is the norm, there are people who are living so precariously close to starvation.

Second Anniversary of Haitian Earthquake

Today marks the second anniversary of the crushing earthquake which hit Haiti.  

At 4:53 pm 330,000 people were killed and close to one million were injured in the worst natural catastrophe in recent history.   While billions of dollars and man hours have been spent, Haiti still lies in ruins.  Close to a million people are still living in squalid tent cities with insufficient water, food and hope.  UNICEF estimates that there are 380,000 orphans in Haiti, most of whom receive insufficient care. 

There is still no clean water, minimal electricity, no sanitation, no jobs and scarce food and medicine.  Cholera is still rampant, claiming the lives of thousands of people who have no choice but to drink contaminated water.  

As we go about our day today, eating more than we should, drinking clean water from our faucets, enjoying easy access to the best health care in the world, let's consider our neighbors in Haiti living desperate lives and dying horrible deaths only two hours from our border.  

Pray for the mothers and fathers who are losing their children to the painful death of cholera.  Pray for the grandmothers who are slowly losing the battle to starvation.  

Make a decision to help.  Live Beyond...

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief

MMDR.org

Connecting Forprofit company's with Nonprofits

Why CSR'S Future Matters to your Company
Susan McPherson, Harvard Business Review

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/why_csrs_future_matters_to_you.html

Great article on why it is important to connect for profits with non profits.

New Criteria for Success

Here we are at the start of another year.  

So, how did you do last year?  

Were you happy with your outcomes?  

What criteria do you use to evaluate your performance?  

Was it

How much money you made?

What size house you built?

How much stuff you accumulated?

Where you went on vacation?

How about a different set of criteria?

How much money you donated?

How much stuff you gave away?

How many hungry people you fed?

How many homeless people you housed?

How many poor folks you clothed?

How many sick people you cared for?

Jesus said, ”Give and it will be given to you... for with the measure you use to give, it will be measured to you.”  Give big, get big.  Give small, get small.

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor...for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”

MMDR.org