Lookin Out My Back Door

This past weekend (as many of you know), Morgantown received a heap of snow. I have heard a varied range for total accumulations, but I feel like 16" is a safe bet. Before the initial snowfall, there were several hours of rain and sleet that became a layer of ice in the early evening hours Friday night. While the snow covered the ground and seemed to cleanse the area with a mat of soft quiet white wonder, it also did a fair share of damage.

Much of the region was without power over the weekend, and some locales will not have electricity until this coming Friday at the earliest. At the house, we only experienced a cable outage for the weekend, but it came back in time for the superbowl. Oh, and the internet was out until this afternoon as well (so I'm writing this blog from Starbucks).

The snow shut down most of town, and the University is going to re-open tomorrow at 6AM. Interestingly, while I was writing this blog, I heard reports of an additional 5-9 inches of snow are to be expected tomorrow, and snow is in the forecast every day for the next ten days . . .

Hope you like the photo, and and I hope you are staying warm wherever you are!

Wii Fit

So my blog posts have become a bit more infrequent, but I’m attempting to change that over the coming weeks. There’s been so much happening in my life, but there hasn’t seemed to be any time to write about it. So this blog post is one step toward changing my current blogging trajectory.

So, for starters, this one’s not so deep. (Be warned though, a few I have in mind for the near future will be). I wanted to take a minute to introduce you to my new trainer, Wii Fit.

Now you may be giggling a bit as you think “How on earth could a Wii game do anything for increasing fitness, let alone serve as a trainer?” Well, let me tell you, I was a bit of a skeptic too, but here’s what happened to me.

Over the Christmas holiday, I visited my best friend in the whole world, Willie. His family has a Wii Fit, and using it combined with a change in diet, Willie has lost over 20 lbs since October. As a skeptic, I decided I would give the game console a try during the four days I spent with Willie and his family. And do you know what I found out—I was actually sore and tired after working out with the Wii as my trainer.

When I returned to Morgantown, I realized one of my roommates had a Wii Fit complete with balance board, and now our whole house (as well as a few friends) have started using the Wii for working out.

What are the benefits? Well, aside from a solid core body workout and a series of functional exercises and balance games, there are a few. One of my biggest problems with developing a consistent fitness routine is that my schedule is erratic. Wii Fit helps me make sure I get a workout in, even if it is late at night or early in the morning. The weather doesn’t impede me either because I do my workouts in the house. Beyond all of this, each time I work out, I see a score that tells me how I’m doing in the area of balance and development of strength as I do the exercises.

And, I can do this with my friends and roommates even though we all work out at different times. I can see how my roommates are progressing, and I can attempt to beat their scores and set goals with them. We can monitor each other’s workouts and trainings, and give each other a little accountability and encouragement along the way too.

And beyond all of those benefits, I’ve found my posture, core muscle strength, balance, alertness, and diet improving as well. Wii Fit has made exercising fun, and has allowed me to join a few friends to set short term weight loss and fitness goals for the new year as well.

If you have a Wii, I highly recommend using this program to increase your balance, posture, and core muscle strength and have fun while you are doing it.

Regardless, I hope you are setting and achieving some great goals as we are ending our first month of 2010.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

This is my first blog post for 2010, and I apologize in advance that I haven't posted for quite some time. I really wanted to share some perspectives on the new year, and other sundry thoughts, but I need to inform you about a major issue affecting our world right now. I don't know if you knew this or not, but today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Did you know that this month has also been designated National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month?

Actually, I don't know if you know what human trafficking is. Let me start by laying out a definition. Human trafficking is the practice of people being tricked, lured, coerced or otherwise removed from their home or country and being compelled to work with no or low payment on terms which are highly exploitative. You can find out more about the issue by reading this wikipedia article too.

Many of the victims of trafficking are women and children. They are sold, enslaved, and forced to work for next to nothing. There are some great websites with resources for reporting this issue to others as well. A quick google search is extremely helpful, as is this blog post by my friend Charles Lee. He has listed 11 practical ideas to combat slavery.

I'm writing this post because I believe we all really need to be more aware of this issue. I think sometimes we can be guilty of thinking that this kind of thing happens only in big cities like Amsterdam (where some reports state that up to 75% of the prostitutes "working" in the red light district are victims of human trafficking) or Los Angeles. The truth is that this is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it could be happening in your neighborhood. I was in a small town not far from Morgantown late last year when I saw a "business" that looked like a text book case for a trafficking and slavery operation. After doing some further research I called the National Human Trafficking Hotline. 888 373 7888. If you have a cell phone, store it in your phone in case you see something that looks suspicious.

I also recommend tuning in to television programs/news today that may have a focus on this issue. It is estimated that there are over 27 million slaves in the world today (as I have blogged before), but we can reduce that number by understanding the issue better, and taking steps to combat the problem.

I hope you will join me in taking a step today and maybe starting a conversation at work, at school, or at home about this issue, and what everyday people like you and I can do to prevent this problem from growing.

Happy New Year everybody! Let's make 2010 the year of fighting injustice!

Advent Conspiracy 2009

Back in October I attended a conference called Catalyst in Atlanta Georgia. Over 12,000 church leaders from around the globe were in attendance in the Gwinnett Arena. When I I say that I attended the conference, I didn't actually go to the conference itself, but rather had the privilege of representing Nuru alongside about a dozen nonprofit organizations of varying types. Among other nonprofits represented were Invisible Children, Compassion Intl, Hope Intl, and a really cool organization called Advent Conspiracy.

Advent Conspiracy is a really brilliant idea (if you couldn't tell from the video above), that encourages people to re-allocate their funds and their time during the holidays. Last year, this organization raised $500,000 that was invested in the drilling of wells and brought clean drinking water to thousands of people. Not only is this a brilliant idea, but the people who are running this organization are top-notch. While at Catalyst, I was able to talk with them at length about the work they are doing and it really is exciting to see what happens when people change their spending habits just a little bit.

Don't get me wrong, it is great to give and receive gifts during the holiday season, but what if we made gifts instead of buying them. What if we gave our time instead of lots of stuff we don't need. Buying gifts for friends and family isn't horrible thing, but what would happen if we spent a little less on gifts, and instead gave some of that money to save lives and bring a little joy to a stranger. Imagine people having clena drinking water for the first time because of you! Imagine people being rescued from trafficking because of your gift! Imagine entire communities being empowered to lift themselves out of extreme poverty because of you!

To me, that's a celebration that can keep going long after the holiday season. By spending less on ourselves and our families, we can be part of bringing lasting change to others. And beyond that, if we spend less money AND time shopping, we could actually spend some of that time with our loved ones.

If we become part of this "Advent Conspiracy" it means . . .less sitting in traffic, less standing in line, and less money owed on a credit card bill. And this can mean, more lives changed, more quality time with others, and more joy during the holidays!

It's really hard though. We feel badly if we don't spend money on gifts. We feel like there's something missing around Christmas if there aren't lots of packages to open. We can fill that space with our time. We can fill that space with our love. We can cook together and laugh together and make and share stories together.

I hope you enjoyed the video, and that you join in the Advent Conspiracy this holiday season!

Managing the Non Profit Corporation

A couple months ago I had a facebook conversation with one of my mentors, Jeff Kern. He was the CEO of Great Commission Ministries for many years, and he’s an extremely organizationally savvy guy. During the conversation, I asked him if there were any books he would recommend for learning how to work/manage a non-profit organization that consisted mainly of volunteers.

Immediately, he recommended Peter Drucker’s Managing the Nonprofit Organization and I was really thankful. I was thankful because I had heard of Drucker (he was an organizational/business guru), and I had just ordered the book from Amazon two days before so I was glad I didn’t pick a lemon.

So I started reading the book, and there is so much great stuff in it’s pages. Not only does it share great principles and practices, but each section includes interviews with individuals who have led some massive nonprofits like the American Heart Association and the Boy Scouts of America.

I really enjoy the book because it doesn’t just keep principles in the world of the theoretical. It gives very tangible examples of how organizations have grown and thrived in an environment where the bottom line isn’t products being sold, but rather lives being changed.

As I read the pages of this book, I could hear echoes of this book in virtually every other book I’ve read in the last ten years on the subject of leadership. This book is great, and it is among a handful I would recommend to anyone working in the world of non-profits. It’s not edgy and hip, but it is very principled, sensible, and helpful for folks trying to make a tangible difference in this world through their endeavors.

Just thought I’d share this brief review and recommendation for anyone out there who might be interested.

Ending Terrorism and Extreme Poverty? Jake's Story

The End (Jake's Story) from Nuru Media on Vimeo.

Today is Veteran's Day, it's a day when we honor those who have fought in the past, and we look toward a time when war will end. Veteran's day actually started as Armistice day and commemorates the end of fighting in World War I on November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m., known as the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Today is also the day that Nuru chose to launch our latest video. The video tells the story of one veteran, Jake Harriman, and how he was forever changed by the link he saw between terrorism and extreme poverty. This video is being featured on a number of websites today (most of them much more well known than this blog), and many others are coming to similar conclusions to Jake. The end of terrorism is intrinsically linked to the end of extreme poverty.

Here's an ugly truth. If we don't do something about the issue of extreme poverty that makes a sustainable difference, not only are we choosing to ignore our neighbor instead of love them, but we are setting ourselves up to reap consequences through providing breeding grounds for terrorist organizations. We really need to stand up and do something about this issue.

And that's really the good news. We can actually do something about this issue. On this Veteran's day, will you join Nuru's efforts and get in the fight to end extreme poverty? What if we were able to say that our generation was the one that brought an end to extreme poverty?

One of the biggest ways you can help right now is by getting Jake's story out there. Will you take just a moment, and share a link to the video on your wall on facebook. Tell a friend about Jake's story. Blog about it. Write about it. Tweet about it. And then encourage your friends to get more involved as well. Will you join with Jake and others around the world who are fighting this fight to end extreme poverty?

I'll end this blog with a few words from Jake that he shared on the One Campaign's website.

"There is hope for those without choices. We can end extreme poverty in our lifetimes, and in so doing, answer the cry of the desperate, give a voice to the voiceless, and provide choices to impoverished men and women who have been struggling for so long.
A revolution has begun…a revolution to wake up and mobilize a generation to end this fight once and for all. There is no room in this fight for egos, partisan politics, or ideological differences. One sixth of humanity cries out to us today – asking you and me to simply put our differences aside and use our talent, skills and resources to empower them with choices. This Veteran’s Day, I ask you to step forward and get in the fight with us. In so doing, you will ensure that thousands of brave veterans and countless global citizens have not sacrificed their lives in this war in vain. Join the revolution. Be hope. Be light. Be Nuru"--Jake Harriman

I AM NURU

I Am Nuru from Nuru International on Vimeo.

I am completely blown away from the latest video installment coming from Nuru's media team. They connected with people all over the United States as well as people in Kenya and recorded folks saying "I am nuru" . . . along with reason's why. It's hard for me to watch this video with tears welling in my eyes. It thrills me to see people take a stand and work together toward solutions to problems, and this video is utterly inspiring to me.

What I love most about this video is that it features people from all walks of life. It features people in Kenya who are being empowered and trained to lift themselves out of extreme poverty--for good! It also features people from all walks of life who are being Nuru in their respective fields. Doctors, school children, pastors, college students, business executives and politically minded individuals are all being Nuru in their respective areas. Also, there are a few celebrities who have gotten involved with Nuru too. If you have ever watched, the World Series of Poker on ESPN, you've probably seen Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson before. Also, prominent author and leadership guru Nancy Ortberg shares some of what she loves about Nuru too. It's also thrilling to have the members of the up and coming band, Green River Ordinance making a cameo. Not only that, but the original score for this video was composed by Kendall Combes of the Charlie Hall Band.

It's so exciting to see just a few of the names and faces who are getting involved in this work to end extreme poverty by empowering communites to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. Personally, the reason why I'm so involved in this issue is because I believe that this is the biggest humanitarian crisis of our generation. I also believe that the collaborative and empowering model that Nuru is using to engage in this work is absolutely incredible. Extreme poverty leads to other problems like terrorism, human trafficking, and slavery, and it doesn't have to be this way. I believe future generations will judge ours by what we did or did not do to end extreme poverty when we have the potential to eradicate it, one community at a time, together.

Will you join the people who have linked together in this endeavor? You can help today by joining the IAMNURU campaign on Nuru's website.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope you will join me, and many others in confronting the crisis of extreme poverty.

Be Hope. Be Light. Be Nuru.