This Thanksgiving…Serving Gogo Grandmothers & Helping the Poorest of the Poor

THIS THANKSGIVING…find a way to give back!!! Being thankful is a very important aspect of life. When we acknowledge all the good things that bring JOY into our lives, we open up our emotional and spiritual barriers that regulate our ability to bless others. When gratitude, love, peace and contentment fill our lives we open the floodgates and can overflow with JOY to the people around us. As some of you know from a few things I have shared …I am involved in a ministry in Malawi, Africa that serve the poorest of the poor. The group is called SAFE/Gogo Grandmothers. (SAFE stands for Sub-Saharan African Family Enrichment and Gogo Grandmothers is a subset of that broader ministry). This is a registered NGO, approved 501(c)3 non- profit organization that reaches out to African grandmothers raising the orphans of AIDS in the sub-Saharan country of Malawi. There are over one million orphans in Malawi, which is now the POOREST country in all of Africa. There is also a famine occurring in this area which puts these orphans at even greater risk. GOGO Grandmothers are reaching out to an entire generation of lost children providing the grandmothers with basic needs like seeds, fertilizer, mosquito nets, blankets, preschool and feeding programs.

This Thanksgiving season, I would like to challenge each of our followers to find a way to take action and show gratitude for all the ways you have been blessed. Spend some time with your family and pick an organization or ministry where you can go and volunteer for a day. Help out a neighbor or visit an assisted living facility and drop off treats or just go talk to the residents. It is amazing how a little bit of love can bring so much JOY into a lonely or needy person’s life. Make a meal for someone who is sick. Open your home to a friend who has no plans for Thanksgiving day. Offer to babysit for a tired and overly busy mom so she can go to the grocery store by herself. Help your kids find odd jobs around the house and pay them for their work so they can donate their hard earned money to children less fortunate. Be creative and have fun!!!

I would love your prayers and your encouragement as my small group from church helps me put on a night of information gathering and an opportunity to share my passion and vision about Gogo Grandmothers. There will be beautiful African cultural and artistic things to buy (great Christmas gifts) and ways to get involved with prayer and donations. We are asking for your help in this worthy endeavor. If you feel lead to contribute to this group that would be wonderful but if not please come and hear their story, we would simply love to have your prayers for this organization and give you an understanding of the work that still needs to be done in Malawi. The event is Thursday, November 17th at 7 pm in Blackhawk at Debi Wallace’s home. It has been so wonderful to have a group of friends come along side me and share my vision and passion.
Please take a look at this flyer and feel free to share it with anyone who you think might be interested. Thanks for letting me share. And remember NO EXPECTATIONS or OBLIGATIONS to attend-just sharing my love for being the hands and feet of Jesus.

For those of you who can not attend the event but you would like to learn more about the ministry, you can watch this 4 minute youtube video called

Love in Action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5c_lndP6Y4

There is also a 14 minute video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLBqzy_tZa8

There are many ways to get involved in our Love in Action Campaign:

1. Pray for the gogo grandmothers and their grandchildren.
2. Donate to the Joseph Project to raise funds to purchase Maize to help the gogos during this season of famine.
3. Purchase some items as Christmas gifts for the Gogos and their grandchildren and a gift card will be sent to your recipient.
4. Sponsor a gogo and her grandchildren monthly.
5. Go to http://www.gogograndmothers.com for all the information you need to get involved or email Kerry Weisser weisserwomen@growingweisser.com
6. Thanks for taking time to put your Love in Actiion.

Some sweet words from our group leader…”Our group has never done anything like this in the past but our desire is to serve Jesus Christ as a Cornerstone Lifegroup and one of Our Lord’s principal directives is to go serve “the least and the lost, the widows and orphans” so that’s what we are doing! We believe our faith also calls us to take risks we might otherwise avoid and so even though we are uncomfortable doing a ‘fundraiser’, we decided to go out on a limb and give it a try!”

This Thanksgiving season, let’s be brave…”She who is BRAVE is FREE!” SHARE THE JOY!