Cup Creative Team

I just wanted to give some love to the group of people that help run Children's Cup in the United States. Pictured below are Dan, Vicki, Tyrone and myself.

We have been meeting a lot lately to come up with ways that will creatively tell the need and stories that Children's Cup runs into in Africa.






My Life, is a project the three of them have been working on the past month or so. We want to capture the stories, struggles, courage and victories of those living in the midst of poverty, AIDS, malaria and internal conflict in Southern Africa. Check out the Children's Cup website if you want to give towards their trip to capture the first stories of My Life.

A Question, Responses needed

Four of us from Children's Cup were meeting last night to come up with creative ways to communicate what's happening in Africa and what the need is. So, I ask you:

What would you like to know about African Aids orphans? When you see a picture or video of a child, what would you like to know? What part of their story?

Please leave comments or email me at patrick@childrenscup.org

Family moment

Cutting Rob's hair. Alright here is what's going on in everyone's mind:
Rob - Straight up praying for his ear and thinking, "He has no idea what he's doing, why did I get myself in this situation"
Colleen - "Yes, he's getting a haircut, Life is great, God is good! I need to encourage someone"
Pat - "Man, I have no idea what I'm doing, I really might cut his ear if I'm not careful"

What's on my mind

Alright, so sitting here on a warm afternoon and this is what's on my mind.

I think about returning to Africa and how it is less than 3 months away. I am excited and I am ready and yet I am not. I want to and need to seek out God for his vision and his purpose for my return to Africa. I know I need to walk by His Spirit and go with his purpose or I might as well stay here and send money. God's been speaking to me about focus and the importance of staying intentional. I want my two years to be intentional, to be on purpose, to be of God.

The second thing I think about is how I have failed to be very useful to God while I've been home. God has planted and blessed me with so much...yet I have failed to step up, call out and lead while I've been home. Pray that I would be obedient, that God would use me at Starbucks, at church and as I travel.

Another thing is my fundraising. I have over 80% of my money for two years in or pledged. That's over $23,000 that is pledged or given. Yeah, God showed up. I still need another $240 a month pledged or $5,800 given. If you want to help me return to Africa please click here. Pray about it, maybe God is asking you...all I can ask for is your obedience.

Finally, I think about how blessed I am to have a family that cares and loves for me. So many of those kids I get the privelege of serving in Africa lack even one person who loves them, let alone a family.

Last couple weeks

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks. The first is of my Mom serving up some food at a Block party organized by the Baton Rouge Dream Center. Check out the HPC Serve blog if you want to get involved.

Then the rest of Memorial Day weekend was filled with this Washers game...I have yet to find out the real name of it but I think in Louisiana it's called Cajun Horseshoes. Whatever the name, it is a great BBQ/Braii game. You stand about 10 feet away and throw oversized washers at board with three holes in it. You get 3 points for the 3rd hole, 2 for the 2nd hole and 1 for the first. First to 21 and exactly 21 wins. Good game, JP and I are pretty much unbeatable.

Marriage as it relates to poverty

So came across this interesting poverty reduction article which basically talks about how broken families significantly increases the risk of a child growing up and staying in poverty.

Here are some of the interesting facts:

- A large majority—92%—of children whose families make more than $75,000 a year live with two parents (including step-parents). At the bottom of the income scale—families earning less than $15,000—only 20% of children live with two parents.

- Those who marry “till death do us part” end up, on average, four times richer than those who never marry.

- A study by Adam Thomas and Isabel Sawhill concluded that if the black family had not collapsed between 1960 and 1998, the black child-poverty rate would have been 28.4% rather than 45.6%. And if white families had stayed like they were in 1960, the white child poverty rate would have been 11.4% rather than 15.4%.

- If she does find and wed the man of her dreams, Miss Ballard will encounter a problem. She has never seen her own father. Having never observed a stable marriage close-up, she will have to guess how to make one work. By contrast, Ashley, the criminology student at the nearby university, has never seen a divorce in her family. This makes it much more likely that, when the time is right, she will get married and stay that way. And that, in turn, makes it more likely that her children will follow her to college. (dang, changing a persons culture, experience, worldview)

-A survey of teenagers by the University of Michigan found that 64% of boys and 57% of girls agreed that “it is usually a good idea for a couple to live together before getting married in order to find out whether they really get along.” Research suggests otherwise. Two-thirds of American children born to co-habiting parents who later marry will see their parents split up by the time they are ten. Those born within wedlock face only half that risk.

Americans expect a lot from marriage. Whereas most Italians say the main purpose of marriage is to have children, 70% of Americans think it is something else. They want their spouse to make them happy. (wait, isn't it that we're suppose to love like Christ loved the church, give you life for that person, love in a pure way...selflessly, unconditionally, for the purpose of building the other person up)

**I thought this was cool, want a poverty reduction strategy, build healthy marriages.