Birthday Wishes

That photo is of my good friend Meghan Baird. Not sure if you know her or not, so I'm going to give a brief introduction. Meghan received her undergraduate degree in Art from Shepherd University. She then proceeded to come to WVU and added a degree in International Studies with a specialization in Africa and International Development. While here, we became friends through the college ministry of Chestnut Ridge Church. It's called 17three and if you are ever in Morgantown, you should check it out.

Anyway, Meghan went on to spend a year teaching in Sudan after graduating. While she was in Sudan, some other friends were starting Nuru, and so I told her about the organization. She applied for a posiition working with Nuru when she came back from Sudan, and was hired as the first education program manager for Nuru's project in Kuria, Kenya. Now part of Nuru's model is that anyone serving on the ground in the developing world will do so for a period of six months, and then will return to the USA for a period of about 10 months and work in one of three areas. Meghan is working with me in Morgantown on our grassroots team.

So why all of that introduction? Meghan's Birthday is in a couple of days. And she, along with a couple of other friends, Tara Rickard and Stuart Godwin, have decided to use their birthdays (all are happening this month) as an excuse to fight extreme poverty (which, if you didn't know, is exactly what Nuru does!). So they joined Nuru's cause page on facebook. This cause page has a cool feature. It allows you to "make a birthday wish" and invite people to give to your favorite cause instead of giving you a bunch of presents.

So if you want to join in celebrating Meghan's, Tara's or Stu's birthday, here's an opportunity to give. Here are the links to follow. For Meghan's wish click that link. If you want to help Tara's birthday wish come true, then click this link. And if you want to pass on birthday wishes to Stu, well, you know what to do.

Or, maybe you have a birthday coming up pretty soon. Ever thought about using the day you were born to bring hope to the lives of others? Now is your opportunity. If you are on facebook, join Nuru's cause and invite others to contribute. If you aren't on facebook, you could still do something creative like this with your birthday or another holiday. Think about it.