“2010 - ARK”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 21, Issue 01       January 2, 2011


I would like to talk to you about changing our world – “What man is a man who doesn’t change for the better the world he lives in?”  Changing the world starts with one simple act, everyday acts, things so simple that we could all easily contribute.   

Micah 6:8  “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what the LORD requires of you, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

We will hear about people who saw an injustice, a void or someone down-and-out who needed a little help.  If their stories inspire you, why not let God know that you are willing to take action.  Who knows….your ripple of kindness might become a wave of change.

Abby’s Lemonade 
When 8-year-old Abby Enck frequently accompanied her 6-year-old brother, Cameron, born with cerebral palsy, to Lutheran General Children's Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, she noticed that the other paediatric patients liked to color, but many of the crayons were broken.  She wanted to buy a few new 24-count boxes of crayons and her parents agreed to match any number she could buy herself.

The act…. 
Abby, with help from a friend, decided to raise the money through a lemonade sale.  Abby loved the idea of creating bottled-water lemonade kits with a packet and homemade tag.  Her slogan: “When life gives you lemons, color!”   In that first summer selling to her Chicago neighbors, she raised enough money to buy 18 boxes of crayons and donated 36 to the hospital.

The ripple….
This summer Abby assembled 52 water-bottle lemonade kits and recruited family and friends to sell them for $1 each.  The local press publicized Abby’s efforts and the response was incredible.  After raising $551, she and her parents purchased 1,009 boxes of crayons,140 boxes of markers and 125 boxes of pencil crayons.

Educational magazine ‘Weekly Reader’ wrote about Abby’s project, sharing her message and method with more than 250,000 teachers & 8 million students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12.  Other children in the community, including Abby’s Brownie troop, are brainstorming ways to give next summer.

Abby’s mom has learned from Abby too, saying, “Children don't see the obstacles.  Adults create obstacles that stop them from achieving their goals.”


Daily Ocean 
For as long as Sara Bayles could remember, she’s loved the ocean.  When she took a trip to the big island of Hawaii, Bayles leapt at the chance to swim with the sea turtles and dolphins. After her trip, she was taken aback by the Santa Monica beach, where birds pecked at plastic bags and rubbish was strewn along the sand.  After more research, she was shocked to discover the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area in the Pacific Ocean where the currents swirl together, collecting about 10 million tons of trash.  Of her home beaches, she says, “I saw so much trash on the beach and thought, What could I do?”

The act….
In between book writing and teaching art for a local non-profit, 34-year-old Bayles set a goal to pick up trash for 20 minutes a day for 365 (non-consecutive) days.  Collecting and weighing and then blogging her findings on her website, “The Daily Ocean” with every blog including a tally: garbage weight and a countdown to day 365.

The ripple….
More than 165 days along, Bayles has collected more than 665 pounds of junk.  Across the country, Danielle Richardet started collecting cigarette butts in Wrightsville Beach, NC, for 20 minutes at a time and posting the results on her blog.  She writes: “We all impact each other. Sometimes we don’t even know we’ve made a difference in someone's life.”

KidSwing 
Ben Sater was 3 years old when he received his first surgery for trigger finger.  When he was 10, he had surgery on three other fingers at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, an orthopaedic facility that treats about 40,000 patients yearly, at no charge.  “He thought we forgot to pay the hospital bill after his treatments,” chuckles his mother.  She explained that the hospital relies on the generosity of donations.  “I was more confused than amazed," Ben recalls.  I didn't understand how this huge hospital could run on donations and charity events, so I wanted to give back.”  He  later pledged to himself that he’d donate a million dollars to the Dallas hospital before going to college.  Despite his big thinking, his initial attempts to raise money were modest: car washes and lemonade stands.  Sater’s parents inspired him to think a little bigger.

The act….
Golf enthusiasts, Ben and his father came up with the idea of holding a children’s charity golf tournament at the   sprawling courses of Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas, Texas.  They formed two committees, adults and children.  Kids aged 7 to 18 were asked to raise $100 to participate.  The tournament became so popular that organizers added another at the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in McKinney, Texas. 

The ripple….
Local golf professional Cameron Doan was inspired by Sater’s efforts and organized “KidSwing” to continue the charity fundraiser.  In the fourth year, the number of kids who took a swing on the green tripled.  The running total: just over $500,000.  In July 2010, “KidSwing” surpassed the goal with $1,026,000 plus change.  From his dorm room, Sater is still in awe of the journey.  “I can't really explain how I got to this day. I was just a 10-year-old kid with an average GPA.

I just wanted to do something simple to give back.”


Operation Beautiful 
Caitlin Boyle was writing environmental compliance documents for a land developer.  But writing legal docs and analyzing the development’s environmental impact from the confines of her home office was too technical and too solitary for her taste.  The 25-year-old yearned to do something more creative and self-directed, and wanted to connect with people on a more personal level.  Boyle was taking night classes, hoping for a career change, and on one "really bad day" felt completely overwhelmed by work and school.  Boyle realized that her own self-image was holding her back: “I thought I wasn’t smart enough to go to work and take night classes at the same time.  I’m going to fail my chemistry final.  I’m bad at math and can’t do this.  I was suffering from negative self-talk”, she admits.

The act….
So what’s a woman to do?  Brighten up someone else’s day.  She scribbled “You Are Beautiful” on a piece of paper, posted the note in the ladies room at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Florida, took a photo and blogged about the moment.  She wrote, “If this little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic negative self-talk is.  It hurts you emotionally, spiritually and physically.”  In three days, 75 notes with  photos of people posting their own messages flooded her inbox.  On the fourth day, Boyle launched her site, “Operation Beautiful”.

The ripple….
The viral message has inspired tens of thousands of anonymous, positive notes, posted in public spots: bathroom mirrors, libraries, hospitals and gyms.  Boyle blogs six days a week, sharing stories with heartfelt messages of hope.  Her favourite is from a gym: “Scales measure weight, not worth.”  Others include “This is not a trick mirror, you look this awesome” and “Take a diet from your negative thoughts, fill yourself with positive ones.”  Boyle’s mission has touched girls on every continent except Antarctica, sparking impassioned online discussions on the notions of beauty.  A girl headed to the roof of a parking garage spotted a note: “If there’s no you, someone else will be as alone as you feel now.  Turn around.  Operationbeautiful.com”.  She turned around and called a friend to pick her up.  The friend wrote this email to Boyle: “Thank you so much for starting this project.  She’ll never admit it, but she owes her life to this project.”

Boyle’s positive message continues to multiply: The Today Show, The Early Show, the Oprah Winfrey Network and many other mediums are spreading the compassion.  As for her career, Boyle is literally writing the next chapter of her professional life.  She continues to blog for a living and has been commissioned to write a book, appropriately titled Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-It Note at a Time”.  “It created a circle of random acts of kindness, proving you’re never alone, you can change a life and you can do something nice for strangers,” says Boyle.


Wonder Capes 
Like many superheroes, Amy Pankratz, a stay-at-home mother from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, discovered her powers by accident.  One cold winter day, her then four-year-old daughter Isabella said, “Mommy, I want a  superhero cape”.  Pankratz says, “I told her OK.”  But when she couldn't find capes for little girls at the store, she sewed her own.  Months later, when Isabella fell ill with a double virus and had to be hospitalized, the power of the cape multiplied and transformed into Wonder Capes.

The act….
During a brief hospital stay, her daughter, Isabella, begged her mom to pack her pink princess cape.  On the third day, Isabella asked if she could wear it in the hallway.  Pankratz says kids with IV poles looked on in awe.  That’s when Isabella put the cape on another hospitalized child.  Every other child on that hospital floor wanted to soar through the halls.  Pankratz started creating, sewing and donating customized superhero capes: more than 4,000 and counting.

This mom has full days, but at night she sews capes. It takes her three or four hours to customize a cape, she considers each child and gives their capes a special blessing.  I read their stories, think about them, their hobbies, favorite colors; I pray over them,” she says.  “If even for a moment, the cape brings some relief, comfort and hope to them, it’s worth it.”

The ripple….
The “Wonder Capes” project inspired Angie Kappenman, a mother from Madison, South Dakota.  The cape made my son Nicholas feel strong.  He’d fly through the hospital halls to receive his treatments.”  The cape inspired the Kappenhams’ backpack donation program, “Stay Strong, Carry On”, at the local hospital.  The backpacks include coloring books, toys and activities and can be used as organizational tools for the formidable amount of hospital paperwork.  The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Children's Miracle Network and St. Baldrick’s Hospital are teaming up with the supermom to give her special capes to sick, injured or disabled children and their siblings around the world.


Phoebe’s Food Bank 
Five-year-old Phoebe Russell asked her mother, “Why do the homeless live that way?”  In Phoebe’s city, San Francisco, the homeless population ranges between 6,200 and 15,000. Phoebe’s mother explained about hunger and homelessness and that led to another question: “Who helps them?”  Phoebe also took this question to her preschool teacher, Kathleen Albert.  I explained to her how some people don't have homes and jobs and some people have really bad things happen to them.  Phoebe was determined to help.  Her family would often take cans to the grocery store and  recycle them for cash.  She asked her parents, “We collect cans at home - can we do that for the food bank?”  Her goal: $1,000 in two months when the school year ended.  Phoebe also recruited her preschool class in her new project.  Albert didn’t think it could be done.  “At five cents a can, one thousand dollars….a bit unrealistic.”  But Phoebe was adamant.

The act….
Albert and the classmates were onboard.  Phoebe spent her recess crafting a handwritten letter and sent them to 150 friends and family members.  In neatly written, oversized letters, she wrote: “My charity project is to raise lots of money for the food bank.  They need money.  Please give me your soda cans.”  Phoebe’s enthusiasm was infectious. People dropped off checks, cash and cans at Phoebe’s classroom door.  The first couple of weeks, a few bags filled with cans showed up.  Over the next few weeks, thousands of cans poured in. Once a week for two months, Phoebe counted every single bill and coin herself.  She stowed the cash in a box she decorated with shiny star stickers and hand-drawn flowers, dollar signs and the words “Phoebe’s Project - SF Food Bank”.  A local columnist got wind of the project and wrote about her efforts.  Word of mouth also carried her message.

The ripple….
By the two-month deadline, just before summer break, Phoebe nearly quadrupled her goal, raising more than $3,700, equalling 18,000 meals.  A social networking site devoted to inspiring stories posted an online video about Phoebe’s project and it went crazy.  Six months later, the total reached $20,202 or about 80,000 meals.  The video was submitted to Tyson Foods’ Hunger Relief Challenge, which led to a donation of 15 tons of chicken, bringing it up to 120,000 meals.  Phoebe’s determination to feed the hungry created a “Yes, we can” preschool campaign.  Phoebe, now 7, is in first grade, and her family and friends volunteer at the San Francisco Food Bank. Perhaps more importantly, she inspires her preschool protégés and fellow classmates to pay it forward.  Three students at her former preschool raised more than $5,300.  That makes a total of more than 135,000 meals served in her community.  “It makes me feel good,” she says politely.  Her first question - “Why do the homeless live that way?” - may never have a good answer. That second one - “Who helps them?” - she answered on her own.


Secret Agent L 
By day, blogger Laura Miller, 32, worked as an administrative assistant at Duquesne University in  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Her busy workload, booking schedules, managing projects and fielding inquiries from students and the public didn't allow much time for another important thing she neglected on her to-do list: good will.  The “Secret Agent L” idea blossomed in July 2009, after she asked one of her blog readers, whom she had befriended, what she wanted for her birthday.  Her friend replied, “Don't send me anything; just do a random act of kindness for someone else”.  Caught up in the excitement, Miller even made Secret Agent L business cards with her blog address on it.  Miller attached a card with thick green ribbon to her first gift, a stem of lavender hydrangea, and left it on a stranger’s windshield wiper.  The first blog “Unleash the kindness” said, “Today we start to unleash anonymous acts of kindness and day-brightening all over Pittsburgh.”

The act….
Her gifts, about $5 to $10 each, fit her admin salary: coffee gift cards, a roll of quarters wrapped in pink and green ribbons at a Laundromat, sunflower bouquets at graves of fallen soldiers on Memorial Day, colourful cards filled with inspirational quotes in public parks and bathrooms.  The first three weeks she carried out and blogged about her mission every day, signing her entries “Secret Agent L”.  Quickly, words of appreciation filled her inbox.

Nearly a month into the project, though, she realized that giving every day would bust her budget.  She called for backup and encouraged readers to execute their own secret missions across America.

The ripple….
Soon, Miller recruited more than 80 worldwide secret agents in Canada, Denmark, Germany, England, Japan and Mongolia.  One agent gathered a note, a coupon and enough cash to buy a bag of diapers, then left the items at an  diaper-changing station in a public bathroom.  Miller blogged about her drop-offs and Affiliate Agents’ good deeds.  A local Pittsburgh TV news station featured the secret project.  Then other TV networks, bloggers and websites helped  her message go viral at Kirtsy.com, the Huffington Post, Reader's Digest, CNN and Fox News. 

Miller receives about 1,000 daily blog hits and she’s received more than 2,500 email testimonies about these simple, thoughtful, inexpensive gestures.  Nathan in Pittsburgh emailed,  “I sat down on the park bench next to the package and read the words on the front of the envelope over and again: ‘For you! Yes ... you!’  But, surely, it couldn’t have been for me.  Why would it be?  But then, what if it was...?  I was touched by this random act of kindness.  Just when I was losing hope in myself and life’s purpose, something like this comes along.”

George from Massachusetts wrote about finding a card in a restroom on top of Mount Everett, the fifth highest peak in Massachusetts.  “When I first opened the card, I was overwhelmed.  I sat there and cried, wondering how did you know, how wonderful it was that you thought to leave that card for me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

One year after “Secret Agent L” launched her project, she revealed her identity.  “I saw the positive response the project was getting.  I wanted to get out in the community as a real person to see what I could do to spread kindness,” said Miller.  So far, she and her Associate Agents have completed more than 300 missions.  “How easy it is to pay attention to the people around you,” Miller says. “Imagine what 2 to 3 minutes could do to brighten someone else’s day.”


An Angel in Queens 
Every weekday, Jorge Munoz starts his shift at 5:15 a.m.  He drives a school bus, picking up  elementary schoolchildren at a bus stop and dropping them off at a few schools on Long Island in New York.  As part of his regular route home, he passes a food factory.

Something always bothered him: “These guys, they were throwing away a lot of food.”  One day in 2004, Munoz
couldn’t stand seeing good food go to waste.  He pulled over and asked if they would give him the goods.  He knew some families having trouble.  Two weeks later, he got some food and gave it to about 10 families that didn’t have food.  Only two people in those families had a job.

The food he received from the factory turned out to be a one-time thing.  Munoz scrambled to continue helping the hungry families.  He collected small food donations from local businesses, but those weren’t enough.  He started to use money from his own salary to buy food, brown-bag meals, and handed them out to eight day laborers, three times a week.  The eight soon tripled to 24.  A few months later, Munoz and his mother started cooking meals for 45 people in his shoe-box-sized apartment.  The economy worsened, and the hungry population grew.  More than half of his weekly salary of $700 went to buy food, drinks and packaging.

The act…
For the past six and a half years, Munoz has been delivering home-cooked meals every night out of his white Toyota pickup.  He has missed only one night, when a snowstorm shut down all lines of transportation.  These days, about 140 people - many of them homeless, jobless immigrants - line up some times stretching nearly one block.

His makeshift meal program has turned into a well-oiled non-profit called “An Angel in Queens”.  A handful of volunteers, including his mother and sister, begin prepping the food around 1:30 p.m.  When Munoz returns from his day shift, he switches gears from bus driver to good Samaritan, with a 10-minute break for coffee in between.

The volunteers have learned to work in a tight space, shuffling past each other in the apartment turned soup kitchen. The kitchen and living room look more like food pantries, stacked with crates of small juice cartons, produce bags and trays of hot food.  There’s always the smell of onions cooking in oil, beans and meat, but the menu changes nightly, ranging from ham and cheese sandwiches to beans, rice and chicken.  The family multiplies whatever they’re having for dinner by 140.

 Munoz attributes his motives to God.  “God and my mom.  Since my childhood, my mom taught me to share and that’s what we are doing here.”

And he shares the family spirit with every person who receives a meal.  “They feel like a part of the family.  Most of them, they are alone.  I have my mom, my sister, my nephew, my friends, a lot of members of my family are out here, but they are alone.  At least they feel like they have a small family taking care of them.”

The ripple….
Munoz’s generosity has been contagious and his friends and the community have chipped in.  “A couple of times a week, I go to collect food from my friends.  Some buy extra oil and rice.  Other friends, some have restaurants, tell me to go pick up extra food they cook,” Munoz says.  “Whatever I don’t have, I go to stores to pick up.”   In June of 2008 a  couple of volunteers helped him set up his website and non-profit.

Soon word about “An Angel in Queens” spread through local, national and international media.  The blogosphere blasted his message.  His selfless act has been featured in the New York Times, CNN,    Univision and Telemundo.  That coverage has inspired the global community to reach out with support: monetary donations, appliances, food, drinks and lots of thanks.

Munoz has received personal recognition as well.  Renowned chef Jamie Oliver featured him on his cooking show, “Jamie’s American Road Trip”.  He also got a presidential nod.  Munoz, his mother, sister and nephew visited President Barack Obama at the White House in August and received the Presidential   Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian honour behind the Medal of Freedom.

His biggest reward comes from those he serves.  “You have to see their faces.  When they smile, that’s the way I get paid,” Munoz says.  “When they smile, I thank God, this guy got something to eat tonight.”








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