Building Something Bigger Again – The Big Ask
Yesterday, I mentioned about another leap of faith decision that my family and I have made to return to Xenacoj in Guatemala this summer. I wanted to share some more details about how you can help make our trip possible. And I’m also excited to share about an opportunity to build something bigger.
If you recall from last year’s trip, The Stretched Community joined together to pay for the construction of a house that we built in Guatemala. It was an amazing experience to see how we could join together to change the lives of one family in Guatemala.
Guatemala is a beautiful country, but it deals with incredible poverty. Guatemala has the fourth highest malnutrition rate for children under five in the entire world.
As I’ve been communicating with Dave Sgro from GO Ministries, we came up with another idea for a way that The Stretched Community could have an impact in the town of Xenacoj. Together we can feed children in Xenacoj. Dave’s family is trying to set up a feeding program for 200 children in the town. While we are in Guatemala this summer, we will have the opportunity to be a part of this feeding program.
Here’s where you come in. Imagine with me. GO Ministries is trying to feed 200 children lunches five days a week. Lunches cost about $0.35 per child. They are talking about running the feeding program for 50 weeks per year. I’m a math/engineering guy, so I love to put this into numbers, so it makes more sense to me. Here are the figures:
- 200 children
- 5 lunches per week
- 50 weeks per year
- $0.35 per meal
- 50,000 total meals per year
- 25,000 total meals per half-year
- $17,500 to feed 200 children lunches for a year
- $8,750 to feed 200 children lunches for half a year
- $350 to feed 200 children lunches for a week
- $70 to feed 200 children lunches for a day
- $1.75 to feed one child lunch for a week
- $87.50 to feed one child lunches for a year
- $43.75 to feed one child lunches for half a year
- $17.50 to feed 10 children lunches for a week
I’d like to do something crazy. Last year, we raised $8,000 to build a house. I’d like to see if we can raise $8,750 to feed 200 children lunches for half a year. And I’d like to set a STRETCH goal. Wouldn’t it be amazing if The Stretched Community could buy lunches for 200 children for a whole year? I know that sounds crazy to me, but I believe that all things are possible through God.
And so here’s my challenge: I’d like to ask you to consider making a difference for the children of Xenacoj. Maybe it’s paying for one child’s meals for a month. Maybe it’s paying for a day’s worth of meals for all 200 children. I’d love for you to consider how you can get involved with reaching this goal to feed children in Xenacoj.
If you are interested in giving, it’s pretty simple. To give to the “Stolpe Feeding Program Challenge”, go to goministries.info. At the bottom of the page, choose option 3. After you enter your payment information, enter a special note to the seller. The note should read “Stolpe Feeding Program Challenge”. This will ensure that your donation is counted towards the goal. It will also ensure that your donation is registered as a tax-deductible donation. (You can also give money to us, which we would turn over to GO Ministries towards this target.)
Once we start seeing money donated towards this challenge, I will post a target “thermometer” on the side of my main page to give you an idea of where we stand in meeting the goal (and the STRETCH goal).
As I shared yesterday, our family is also looking for support in funding our trip. This trip will cost us approximately $5,000. Of this, $2,600 goes to GO Ministries to pay for our meals, our lodging, and our transportation in the country. (We are estimating that it will cost approximately $2,400 for our airfare.) To give towards our trip expenses, go to goministries.info. At the bottom of the page, choose option 1. After you enter your payment information, enter a special note to the seller. The note should read “Stolpe Family Mission Trip”. This will ensure that your donation goals towards our GO Ministries expenses. It will also ensure that your donation is registered as a tax-deductible donation. (You can also give money to us, which we would utilize for our airfare or we’ll turn over to GO Ministries to pay for our expenses in Guatemala.)
I know this is a lot to ask, but it’s also exciting to imagine what God can do through our family, through GO Ministries, and through The Stretched Community. Thank you in advance for your generosity and prayer support.
What are you doing to leave a legacy in 2013? When was the last time you missed a meal?