I don't know about you, but I have found that it truly is better to give than receive. That is not just a cliche. This past Christmas, my husband and I decided to donate the money we would have spent on gifts for each other to Sweet Sleep so some sweet children in Uganda could have beds and Bibles. It was the best Christmas either of us has ever had.
I am going to highlight 3 organizations that I believe strongly in because their work is so important and effective. I donate to these organizations regularly myself and would highly encourage you to pray about what you could do to help them out.
1. Sweet Sleep....Oh what can I say about Sweet Sleep? Just that I love the lady that founded Sweet Sleep. Her name is Jen Gash and she is amazing! You don't want to know what I am about to share with you because it is something that is unimaginable.
I never once in my life have had to sleep on a filthy, broken, bug ridden mattress. But orphan children in poor nations do it every night. I never would have even conceived that orphan children of the world have to live in such dreadful conditions, but they do. Once you know how bad it truly is for these poor children, you won't feel better until you do something to help. That's where Sweet Sleep comes in. They are on the ground doing the work. I couldn't do it myself. But Sweet Sleep does. This is directly from Sweet Sleep's website:
Sweet Sleep is a faith-based nonprofit organization which exists to share God’s love by providing beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children.
According to UNICEF, there are more than 210 million orphans worldwide. Today, 5,760 more children will become orphans.
Orphaned and abandoned children around the world suffer from lack of sufficient or healthy places to sleep. These children often sleep on old, broken and soiled beds or have no beds at all – forcing them to sleep on paper-thin mats or cold, hard floors, making them susceptible to crawling, biting insects and disease. In these conditions, it is nearly impossible to get a good night’s sleep and the effects are staggering:
- 1 in 5 of all childhood deaths is caused from malaria. 90% of these children are in Africa alone.
- A sagging or misshapen mattress may add tension to a child’s joints because their bodies rest on the mattress for hours at a time. Even if a child sleeps well on a bad mattress, these injuries to their bodies only make them weaker.
- Old mattresses or scraps of foam are breeding grounds for bed bugs and allergens that contribute to startling increases in respiratory diseases, including asthma as well as rhinitis, eczema and bed bug bites.
- When children continuously do not get enough sleep it affects their health, makes them tired during the day, hinders their ability to do well at school and leaves them more prone to disease.
2. Compassion International. Compassion is another great organization. Compassion goes into the poorest areas of the poorest countries and provides a life line to children and their families. They feed, educate and even give basic medical care to the children they serve. Often, the meals Compassion provides are the only thing they eat all week. Compassion is making a difference in some of the darkest, disease infested, poorest slums in the world. Have you seen MckMama's blog lately? She went to Kenya on a Compassion blogging trip. Her pictures made me cry. But Compassion gives me hope. You can sponsor a child anytime by clicking on one of the banners on the side or at the bottom of my blog. Or you can go to their website here:
3. Last, but not least: K-LOVE. I heart K-LOVE. I decided several years ago that secular radio and music just has no place in my life now. If music is not glorifying God, it really serves no purpose, at least in my opinion. The only radio station I listen to is K-LOVE. And because they are listener supported, they don't play traditional commercials. Sure, they promote their own stuff and a minimal amount of time is given to other ministries...but did you hear what I said? NO COMMERCIALS! I love not hearing commercials all the time. I admit, I did switch to AM radio for a short time, but I am glad to be back in the land of COMMERCIAL FREE!
Besides just playing music, K-LOVE also ministers to people with a prayer program that receives thousands of emails per month. They have pastors on staff who take phone calls that include counseling, referrals and resources. They had over 8,000 Salvations in 2009. They intervened in over 300 suicide cases in 2009. And they had more than 395,000 prayer requests in 2009.
K-LOVE is positive and encouraging! Here in Anchorage, they are at 88.5 FM and even if you don't donate financially, I recommend listening to them! You can check them out at:
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