Monday, January 10, 2011

You're not alone.

For those who feel as if you give until there's nothing left.
For those who never see the result of your giving.
For those who feel alone in a group of 30 so called "Christians".
For those who try to stay in communion with the Lord and believers, but it just seems impossible.
For those who think you are the only ones who read your Bibles every day.
For those who are overly committed and underly prayed up.
For those who view the world as evil waiting to happen.
For those who tire from waiting on Jesus.
For those who are confused about religion, and just want the relationship.
For those who feel that there will never be anyone good enough.
For those who feel that you will never be good enough for anyone.
For those who rarely see a man or woman lead the way God intended us to lead.
For those who feel poor, and therefore useless.
For those who's dream career is too far out of reach.
For those who have chosen love over money.
For those who have chosen singleness over settling.
For those who can't see the impact you are having in the world.

Last Monday, I stood in an arena packed with 16,000+ students, with a little over 6,000 in the next room, who all just wanted JESUS. With hands raised high and hearts fully open, we were worshipping the King who will return one day to save His people. No matter the race, gender, or denomination, we all praised the One who made us and enables us to breathe. And we gave. Check out this info:

Giglio updates the results:

Over the four days of Passion 2011 Atlanta, over 22,000+ were rocked to the core and united for the world. We were challenged to partner with amazing organizations to fund ten local/global causes at a cost of $470,000.
Here’s what happened:

Cause//Goal//Given

Homeless//Towels and Socks for Atlanta area shelters. Given: 18,400 towels and 88,000 pairs of socks!
Clean water//$75,000 for 15 wells in villages in India. Given: 24 wells!
Micro-finance//200 small business loans for Afghan entrepreneurs totaling $40,000.
Given: 387 loans!
Bibles//20,000 New Testaments to unreached in Colombia at $20,000. Given: 31,554 New Testaments!
Feeding Children//Feed 1,000 at risk children in South Africa for one year at $50,000. Given: Feeding 2,225 children!
Homes//Build 15 homes in Haiti at $54,000. Given: 39 homes!
Sponsor Children//Sponsor 150 children and provide family essentials at a cost of $100,00. Given: 442 children sponsored!
Human trafficking//Restoration and a future for 10 girls trapped in sex slavery in Bolivia at a cost of $36,000. Given: 22 girls rescued/restored!
Surgeries for Children//$50,000 to fund 50 Hydrocephalus surgeries in Uganda. Given: 141 surgeries!
Rescue women//$45,000 to fund 10 rescue operations to free sex slaves in the Philippines (each operation frees 15 women on average). Given: 29 rescue operations!
Plus, College fund for Haitian earthquake survivor, Therissa Leo. Given: $23,106!
(This was not planned beforehand or factored into the $470,000 goal.)

Total Given at Passion 2011 Atlanta: $1,167,249.24
If you are wondering if your eyes are playing tricks on you, students/leaders/volunteers at Passion 2011 Atl gave over $1.1 million for the last and least of these in Jesus’ name. While the dollar amount is staggering, we cannot begin to quantify the intangible value of students connecting with those who will benefit from these gifts by writing a note/prayer to women being rescued, praying over a Bible or weeping for a family or a nation.

Do Something Now = worship + justice, what we believe God wants most from us. Something beautiful has shifted and we will never be the same. Stay connected and share Do Something Now with your friends and family who were not a part of Passion 2011 Atlanta at our new site: DoSomethingNow.com.

This gave me so much hope. There are people who care, and there is a movement for Jesus happening all over the world right now. You are not alone in this. There are at least 22,000+ people along with you proclaiming the Gospel. Don't give up.