This month's Challenge

If anyone's still sticking with this website, I have a new challenge to raise money for the victims of malnutrion and war in Africa.

Without changing your weekly budget you can afford to donate, here's how. Change your diet for a week, remove the luxury items and try toasted sandwiches, noodles and baked beans. For my family we think we can strip $100 from our bill and that will then be donated to one of the agencies listed below. This one is not too hard for most.

Could we get 1000 bloggers to commit? It would add up fast.

Any takers to join me?

Also you may wish to check out the cards at Amanda's site. Amanda has joined in with her own contribution of personally created cards from her own experience in Africa. Grab some for Christmas and birthdays.

Did you do it? - Share your story

I guess I am obliged to be first up since I issued the challenge. We just completed our 3rd garage sale in 4 weeks. The first two went really well so we were inspired to continue and source more goods. The final week I emailed around the office at work, asked for donations to a fund raising sale for Sudanese refugees and was surprised with the results. On my desk the next morning was an anonymous envelope simply addressed to the refugees and a donation of $50 inside. there were several people with items to donate with others saying they would have been more prepared but needed more than a weeks notice. I

My wife and I managed to raise just under $800 and it's being donated to the refugee community group we belong to that sponsor the relocation of refugee families to our town from their camps Africa. When they arrive I will be able to take the Sudanese children to my workplace and have a morning tea for them so that my colleagues can have a face to face with those they contributed to. Its one of those rarae opportunities that people get to see the results of their giving.

The appeal for garage/yard sales is by no means over. It is suggested that they occur this month but it really doesn't matter when. There simply needed to be an impetus for people to join in. So grab a gang of friends and family, have some fun, raise some money, make a day of it, and let us know how it went so we can feel part of what you did too!

We will give it a rest for a while and do another later ...this time for the victims of starvation and malnutrition.

God Bless!

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The Project

Our blog community while global is intimate enough that we notice each other as links or in comment sections the world over. Some we feel camaraderie with as we track each others’ journeys, others we know of as the global voices for Christian blogging. We watch and comment as an unprecedented need presents itself in Africa.

While we wait on the G8 meeting, thousands continue to perish daily, 3.5 million face starvation in Niger, 400,000 Sudanese have been slaughtered and 2.5 million are homeless and on the run and also face an urgent need for food while Western Africa has suffered a locust plague that ruins potential crops.Now here’s a way we can connect on a very significant level and engage with the needy in Africa.

Personally, I am but another blogger but confident that in this new climate of experimenting with the ways we ‘do’ our faith, I am challenging our blog community to unite and connect globally and make a difference for Africa.Being part of a larger cause tends to be more appealing as there is synergy in unity rather than individuality which motivates involvement. So the proposition that we do something that is culturally appropriate to us that raises money. It is pretty basic but if its promoted across your blog and your readers run with it in their blogs, the multiplier could be quite significant.

What: (Believe it or not) A Garage Sale/Yard Sale at your home or church hall. Find some items that you could do without and sell them. Find some items you can’t do witout …and sell them! Source goods from friends, work colleagues, family and neighbours. Put a banner up on the day that describes the cause. If you’re feeling generous, donate the float kitty as well! If the garage sale doesn’t appeal then you may want to contribute an alternative idea or simply donate.

When: The first one will start this weekend and it is proposed they occur throughout August.

Why a Garage Sale/Yard Sale? Rather than making a donation, a garage sale can be a great relational tool for those selling together and is a great promotional for the African crisis for all who donate or buy goods. Its certainly different from simply writing a check.Which Agency? You decide which cause. It was the Niger famine that initially caused me to run with this but I now find that Niger is the epicentre of what is a larger famine. Sudan of course with its atrocities and hungry refugees are another worthy cause for. I will put up some suggested links at the bottom of this post. Decide which issue you feel most passionate about and send your money to that agency.

Register: In order to feel connected we need to track the spread of this communal action. So as not to promote my own site I have set up this site so we can that we can simply record all who have taken up the challenge, so place a comment, let us know what was raised etc. At the end of the day it will be great to see how many of us have connected over the one cause.

How does this spread?: Cut and paste this post into your blog or alternatively link directly to this post. Within a couple of days this appeal has the potential of widespread impact throughout our blogging community. Shrink the banner and whack it in your sidebar and link it to ‘Bloggers Unite for Africa’.

Register here!

If you have decided to become part of this fund raising event, please leave a note in the comments section to that effect so we can be aware of each others involvement. You don't have to be specific about who you are, but just leave your blog name and think of this page as a pledge that you will embark on your garage / yard sale in the next month or so.If you can't manage a garage sale but still want to donate and be connected with this please leave a note to say you have donated to an agency and have networked with us in that speacial way. If you have ideas for fundraising in a different way please promote that here as well, so others can be challenged by your creativity!