Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Fill Your Feed Challenge: Sole Hope


Today, I want to begin a series on Filling Your Feed.

I'm talking about intentionally filling your news feed on facebook and twitter or your RSS feed from blogs with news and information about what is going on in The Church around the world. Not just your church or my church: The Church. 

Fill your news feed by liking and following organizations and ministries. Then pay attention to what they are doing and find  creative ways to support them or lend a voice. It's not always monetary contributions but that's always helpful, too).

So, here is a way for you to get started if you think you might want to take some next steps in Filling Your Feed.

I came to know Sole Hope through some pretty random connections including an Instagram photo, Keystone in Indiana, an "old" high school friend stirred by two social media buffs. 



As I dug into learning about Sole Hope, I discovered an extraordinary organization flat out doing ministry right. They are the real deal. Asher and Dru Collie are the founders and directors of this incredible organization.

Their website ministry bio sums ups exactly who Sole Hope is and what they are doing. Sole Hope is:

"A group of passionate,

committed people who are putting closed toed shoes on African children, one pair at a time.

It all started with a chance encounter with a YouTube video--a video that broke our hearts, took us WAY out of our comfort zones, and lead us to Uganda and Zambia. Along the way, we realized we could not only help African children,  
but we could help African men and women by teaching them a simple trade—how to make shoes. And so we began.  

Then we realized we could teach others—homeless, unemployed, recovering addicts, and nonprofits—how to make shoes, so they could earn a decent living and raise funds for their causes. So Sole Hope is touching lives in the U.S. and Africa, and we’re only getting started"

To find out more about them visit their website: SoleHope.org 
 



Fill Your Feed: 4 Week Challenge

But, in the mean time,

I'd like for you to consider Filling Your Feed with their

Twitter and/or Facebook updates. 

And...

 
Four Weeks of Intentional Social Media by asking you to join Travis and I in voting every day for Sole Hope in the Cultivate contest.

Yep, everyday, vote for Sole Hope to win a grant of 50K to continue and expand their work for the next 4 weeks.


You in? Great! Here is what you do:

Set an alarm daily to vote. 

It's easy to log in with your Twitter or Facebook account on the Cultivate site, too.

Take it a step further and tweet or post about them a few times a week. Send the link to a handful of friends that you know are on social media. Don't spam anyone; but get the word out.

Also, check out their Shoe Cutting Parties!

They involve church groups and ministries or social groups to come together to invest in the plight of the orphan and widow and impoverished in a tangible way while continuing to invest in the sustainability of the group they are supporting.

This is not just feel good about your own serving project ministry stuff. This project supports a community by helping them learn and grow and support themselves. This is called sustainable ministry! 

I'm gonna tell you right now, if you ask me to host a party for food products or accessories or jewelry, I will probably always gracefully decline or stumbled over my words in ways you've never seen this fast talked stumble. But, besides Noonday, this is the first party I have been eager to host for a cause in years! This is on my list and um, sort of on the list of our missional community... 

Here is a video of their workshop:




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