Cultivate Hope With Nuru International On #GivingTuesday

This year Nuru is working to raise $300,000 to expand its efforts to 1,500 new households in the southern highlands of Ethiopia. And today, on #GivingTuesday, a generous donor from West Virginia has stepped forward to match every donation received up to $15,000 today. Will you make a donation to help maximize this match and help Nuru serve even more families in 2017? Every bit helps!

Since the summer of 2007, I have had the incredible honor of working together with a few of my friends from my undergraduate days, namely John Hancox, Jake Harriman, Andy Cogar, and Trey Dunham to make our own unique contributions to a massive global problem. The problem is global extreme poverty. And, while the problem by itself is huge, the very fact of its existence leads to the proliferation and thriving of an array of other problems including global instability, violent extremism, child soldiers, slavery, and human trafficking just to name a few. 

Back in 2007, we had no idea what might be in store in the years ahead, but we had a plan, a ton of passion, and a number of really smart and committed leaders contributing their skills to building an organization that could make a tangible impact in the lives of others. As we launched Nuru International in September 2008, a number of our friends had thrown their lot in with us and committed time and money to helping spread the word about the issue, and Nuru's unique contribution to the problem. In a matter of months, Nuru had grown from an idea to an actual organization that was serving approximately 2,500 people in southwestern Kenya. 

And as of this year, that number has grown to more than 100,000 people. That's more than 100,000 lives changed for the better because people like me and you stepped into the arena and chose to do something rather than stand by idly as our global neighbors suffered. And we are just getting started. In 2015, our western staff left Kenya for good, and local leaders are continuing to adapt and improve their efforts to address extreme poverty in their country. They are cultivating hope in areas of the world that are all too often forgotten by most.

Earlier this year, I had the honor of traveling with Jamie to visit our second country project in Ethiopia. The area where Nuru works is high up in the mountains of southern Ethiopia, and it is about a 2.5 hour drive from the nearest city to the area. Together, Jamie and I listened to stories from farmers and their families about the transformation that had taken place for them since Nuru's arrival. They talked about increases in crop yields and being able to feed their families. They talked about improving their savings and their health, and they talked about things I didn't think about with regard to programs. They talked about how their marriages were healthier because they were not frustrated by conversations about money or frequent discussions about children being sick. Their marriages were healthier because they were developing skills to improve their livelihoods. There are so many aspects of our lives and our relationships that improve when people have the ability to make meaningful choices for their future! As we walked along and talked with these families, we also witnessed how Nuru had equipped these families to be able to cope with one of the worst droughts in Ethiopia to occur in many years.

Farming is risky business, and farmers are inherently risk takers; it’s always been that way. All over the world, our food supply relies on farmers taking risks. All over the world, parents want a better life for their children than the one they had. Amarech Sama was among the first individuals to enroll in Nuru's programs in Meteka Mele Ethiopia in 2014. Her community was deeply affected by the drought, but because of Nuru, she and her family are thriving. In fact, Amarech just gave birth to a baby boy, and has not only improved her own financial literacy, but she is participating in programs to learn to better care for her newborn in Nuru's healthcare training programs (and teaching others) ways to better care for their infants as well! Please watch and share this video to learn more about Amarech and the work of Nuru in Kenya and Ethiopia as well.

This holiday season, you can help change the lives of thousands of our global neighbors, and cultivate hope in the southern mountains of Ethiopia and beyond. Will you share this post and make a gift to support women like Amarech Sama and move Nuru's mission forward today?

Labor Day and Linking Together To End Extreme Poverty

I remember so vividly the summer of 2007. I had recently watched my mom leave this world to be with Jesus and had been laboring together with a number of friends to start a coffee shop in downtown Morgantown during a time when ideas like "fair-trade" were just starting to get traction in the US. I was leading out the college and young professionals ministry at Chestnut Ridge Church and had just finished my Master's degree in English at WVU. My friend John Hancox and I had chatted a couple of times about our own passions for social justice and the many great tragedies our generation was witnessing in the world, along with what another mutual friend, Jake Harriman, had been doing since he left the Marine Corps. Jake and I were starting to talk as well, although we were literally about a half-a-world apart. He was doing an internship with an organization called One Acre Fund in southwestern Kenya.

Jake and I had not been in as frequent contact after our undergraduate years, but through technologies like g-chat and Skype, we began to reconnect. He shared a blog he had started to capture some of his experiences in Kenya, and sent a business plan for an idea he had to make a significant impact in fighting extreme poverty called Nuru International. The business plan was the culmination of work of  several of his classmates, professors, and friends at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. 

During our undergraduate days, there was was a group of us dreaming big dreams about changing the world--the group was much larger than Jake, John, and myself, and amazingly we had all stayed in touch by varying degrees. We had moved forward in our various career paths with passion and a deep desire to make our lives count.  

Jake and I had committed to meeting up on Labor Day 2007, to talk in more detail about Nuru, and how it might make sense to work together. We discussed different movements we had grown to appreciate like Invisible Children and ONE, and how they were helping generations move forward in fresh ways to make a difference in the world. We had originally committed to meeting for about an hour, but we ended up meeting all day. Jake, John, and I drove from Morgantown to Hancock Maryland to meet with another board member to discuss the process of taking this idea and making it viable by legally registering as a nonprofit. The day was filled with laughter, dedicated thinking, and meaningful conversation. It was a wonderful reunion among like-minded friends looking to work together to do their part to make the world a better place. 

And now, nine years later, many of the ideas discussed back then have moved from abstract concepts to concrete realities. Nuru is no longer just an idea, but an organization filled with dedicated and hard working individuals from around the world who are passionate about seeing the end of extreme poverty. Together, with the support of thousands of supporters in the US and abroad, we have been able to see literally thousands of households in Kenya and Ethiopia take tangible steps to begin lifting themselves out of extreme poverty permanently. When I think back on what has been accomplished, I am filled with joy, and when I look forward I am thrilled about the potential legacy for my soon to arrive child--if we can keep moving forward and building momentum, together, we will see the end of extreme poverty, and a brighter world for everyone!

May we never forget to pause and reflect as we move forward to make the world safer and brighter for everyone!

Sustainable Development Goals: The Global Goals And What You Can Do

This image represents the world that is possible if we hit just ONE, of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.

Fifteen years ago, world leaders came together and set array of goals toward building a better world. Among the foremost in these goals was to cut in half the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. Any time an individual or group sets a goal, the initial goal setting is met with a mix of hope, expectation, cynicism, and critique, and justifiably so. People make commitments all of the time, but what is often lacking is follow through. At the same time when people make bold commitments, our imaginations are enlivened as we visualize a different world coming into being.

Last Friday, the United Nations came together to set an array of new goals for the year 2030. Again these Global Goals have been met with a mixture of cynicism and hope. Personally I choose the perspective of hope, and here's why. Without a bold goal and a vision of what is possible, we can get satisfied with the status quo. We can get caught up in "this is the way things have always been and this is the way they will always be." I believe we have been given our imaginations to dream of a different world, and we have been given our bodies and our wills to take steps toward making those dreams a reality.

There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals that were agreed upon. Want to learn more about what they are? My good friend Aerie Changala, Nuru's Director of International Operations, recently wrote a post listing these goals and how Nuru has already been working toward many of them. That's another part of the reason I'm hopeful. These aren't goals that have come out of nowhere. They are attainable, and if we increase the level of our commitment toward these goals, and more people choose action over apathy, these goals are well within reach. We, regular people like you and me, could be part of seeing these goals become reality. We each have a part to play.

So what can we do? To start, I recommend checking out the ONE Campaign's website. ONE is a movement of more than seven million members who are taking decisive action to see the end of extreme poverty in our lifetime. ONE advocates using your voice to keep these goals in front of our governments and on the minds of our neighbors.

In addition, I recommend looking into organizations that are doing great work toward hitting these seventeen goals. Commit yourself to getting involved in this worthwhile work. Join our efforts at Nuru and help raise funds and awareness for Nuru to take its model to even more households that are needlessly suffering in extreme poverty. (Ending extreme poverty by 2030 is one of the seventeen goals.)

Third, take decisive actions to lower your ecological footprint. I believe a large reason why we are seeing global injustice on the rise is because we seem to be focused on the pursuit of excess and ongoing self-indulgence. What if each of us chose to make do with a little less? What if we gave more of our time and resources to the betterment of others? What if we chose to walk or ride a bike instead of drive sometimes during our week? What if we made it a habit to turn off lights and appliances when not in use? Not only would these activities be good for our health and well-being and that of the planet, but they would also allow us to save money too.

One other thing you can do is nothing. You can choose to be a spectator, sit on the sidelines, and watch as the rest of the world takes action and sees these goals to their completion. But where is the joy in that? I believe each one of us is at our best when we not only make a commitment, but we take decisive actions toward improving the lives of others and choosing toward reflecting a little bit of the hope and light that comes from living with a diminished focus on ourselves.

So what are you waiting for? The clock is ticking,  and we have less than 5,480 days to see these goals become a reality. Let's do our part to hit these goals and build a better world for everyone!!!

Jake Harriman and Nuru International on ABC News

Last week, Jake Harriman, my friend and fellow West Virginia native, made an appearance on ABC News and was able to share the story of Nuru  International with a whole new group of people. This video has already been liked on Facebook over 3,200 times since it was initially posted early last week.

I would love your help spreading the word about this win for Nuru. Would you take four minutes and watch this video, and then share it with your own network? Everyone at Nuru is thrilled about what this means for the people we serve and for the vision of a future world without extreme poverty globally.

Thanks for helping share this story.

Remembering Nelson Mandela

Yesterday, Nelson Mandela passed from this world to the next, and the world is brimming with tributes to his life and legacy. And there is good reason. Through his life, Madiba became a symbol of freedom, of forgiveness, and justice being lived out by a human being.

The first time I remember hearing about Nelson Mandela, I was in junior high school, and I saw a music video called "A.F.R.I.C.A." by a band called Stetsasonic. At the end of the video was a chant to "Free Nelson Mandela." While I was in high school, Mandela was released from prison. Unfortunately, in my teen years, I didn't know much about the life of Mandela. I couldn't do a google search or anything like that. But the idea of someone being in prison for trying to help people and end an injustice really bothered me. And the idea of striving to work to make the world a better place really inspired me. Thankfully I was not alone.

There are quite a few aspects of Mandela's life that have been inspiring for me to live to see, and if you were not privileged to listen to the Stetsasonic song I heard in the late 80s, or maybe, like so many of us, you have not been attuned to world events and leaders, you may have missed much of it and find yourself wondering about this man.

In the time since his imprisonment, he has been an example of radical forgiveness of his oppressors, and after his release from prison, he served as president of South Africa for a season and helped bring great unity to a nation torn by racial segregation. He became a modern example of the power of loving others, even our enemies, and the power of never giving up.

And, freed from his prison cell, he became a champion for justice. And one of the greatest injustices he saw in our world was the injustice of extreme poverty. As he spoke on London's Trafalgar Square in 2005, "Like slavery, and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings." Later in that same speech, he challenged his listeners to "Let their greatness blossom."

Around the time of this speech was the same season in my life that I was awakened to the issue of extreme poverty as the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, and I also became burdened with the necessity that we become dedicated to seeing the end of it.

And as I write this morning, my resolve is hardened, and I find myself even more inspired to live a life filled with radical forgiveness, radical love, and a passionate pursuit of the end of extreme poverty. I hope you will join me in this pursuit and that each of us can honor the life and legacy of this incredible human being. May we be the great generation that sees the end of extreme poverty.

Rest in peace Nelson Mandela.

#GivingTuesday $15,000 Match For Nuru International Donations!!!

So today is #GivingTuesday. Even thought I'm writing this toward the end of the day, I am thrilled by this idea. Giving Tuesday is a trend that started recently as more and more people were taking a look at the spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and feeling like a new trend needed to get started, a trend of giving back.

Today, literally thousands of nonprofits are encouraging people to volunteer, give, and serve as part of Giving Tuesday. Folks are looking for opportunities to help, to give back, and to make the world a little bit brighter during the holidays.

And Nuru is among those groups with something special happening. One of Nuru's donors stepped forward and committed $15,000 to match every donation we receive today. Right now we are $3,880 away from maximizing this match. I am daily blown away by the generosity of others that helps take Nuru's life changing programs to even more people. Will you help us close the gap by donating or sharing our latest video celebrating five amazing years and 30,000 changed lives through Nuru? 

Thanks for reading, and thanks for being Nuru!

Help Nuru Celebrate 5 years and over 30,000 Changed Lives

Well, it has been far too long since I have written, but today I am writing to share some incredible news and asking for your help. This year, Nuru International is celebrating 5 years since we started fighting extreme poverty. Five years ago, Nuru was an idea. But now, we are able to look back and see over 30,000 lives that have been changed because of that idea. And now the idea is becoming a movement.

Because of people like you, there are literally thousands of families in Kenya, and soon Ethiopia, who are beginning to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. Thank you for your willingness to believe in this idea and help Nuru bring lasting change in the lives of many.

And now, I want to ask for you to help us celebrate these last five years and help us bring Nuru's programs to even more people in 2014. Two donors have stepped forward to match every donation we receive this month up to $75,000. Will you make a financial contribution to Nuru? Will you take a minute and share this video and post on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, and whatever other social media you use? We want to invite even more people to join this movement to bring lasting change and end extreme poverty in our lifetime. We've got a challenging road ahead, but together, we can do this. Together, we can change lives. Together, we can be the generation that sees the end of extreme poverty!

Thanks for believing in this idea and contributing to it becoming a reality. It is inspiring to see what we have accomplished together during the last five years, but is even more invigorating to dream about what we will be able to do together in the future.

Thanks for being Nuru my friends!

What percentage of the US budget gets spent on foreign aid?

I really love the efforts of groups like the ONE campaign to raise awareness and increase advocacy for our global neighbors who live in extreme poverty. ONE was started in 2004, and cofounded by Bono, lead singer of the band U2. Over the last few years, I have had the privilege of getting to know some of the staff at ONE and learn more about their efforts to increase awareness about global extreme poverty, and I have been thoroughly impressed. Back in 2004, approximately 2000 people attended their launch rally. Now they are a movement of over 2 million people. When a friend at ONE asked me to share one of their latest videos, I readily accepted. And I hope you might do the same.

As I travel the country sharing Nuru's story and inviting individuals and communities to join us in our efforts to end global extreme poverty, sometimes I hear objections similar to the ones reflected in this video. People wrongly assume that efforts to maintain or increase foreign aid is somehow hugely detrimental to our economy here. The fact is that an incredibly small percentage (less than 1%) of the US budget is dedicated to development efforts, and in many ways this budget allotment serves multiple good purposes. Not only does it help people globally in general, but it also decreases desperation and increases opportunities for our global neighbors. In many ways, everybody benefits when we help our neighbors who are suffering. Of course, looking out for others is also just the right thing to do.

In a time when in the US we are being compelled to take a hard look at where we are spending money and we are looking for places to cut, I personally believe that efforts to care for those living on less than the buying power of $1.25 a day should be among the last to be cut. In my limited travels internationally, I have personally witnessed that desperation that one in six people on our planet live in. And living here, it is hard to comprehend that anyone would live in the conditions that I have seen. Make no mistake, we need our leaders to make cuts in our budget. We need to learn to limit our spending. I am not going to make suggestions of what needs to be cut, but rather make one suggestion of an area I hope we do not cut until conditions change so that this small percentage of our budget is no longer needed.

Thanks for reading, and may we as individuals, and as a country, never yield in our commitment to serve the most vulnerable members of our world through life saving initiatives around the globe.

Passion Conference and the #EndIt Movement

My good friend Cameron King, his wife, and about 60,000 other people gathered in Atlanta Georgia earlier this month to attend the 2013Passion Conference. This is one of the best conferences I know of for college students and young professionals who are passionate about their faith as well as serving others. The conference over the last few years has raised milliions to fight global poverty, human trafficking, slavery, and many other issues.

This year, they began a new initiative called #enditmovement. The goal of #enditmovement is to work toward the end of human trafficking and modern day slavery and to mobilize others to take a stand to end slavery. I love the fact that more and more people in our world are being mobilized to take tangible steps to love their global neighbors as well as their next door neighbors.

May we each continue to take steps to make a difference in this world, and look for opportunities to truly love tangibly. I'm proud of my friend Cameron and the growing movement of people I've been able to connect with over the last few years who are dedicating their time, their talents, and their resources toward ending slavery, trafficking, systemic poverty, and choosing to pursue justice in this world. 

Martin Luther King Day 2013

For the last few years, as this holiday approaches, I like to take time to read speeches watch videos and reflect on the outcome of the efforts and life of Dr. King and other activists and ambassadors for justice in our world.

I remember reading a few years back that Dr. Martin LutherKing Day was initially meant to be dedicated as a day of service in our communities and in our world. And as I write this note, it is my hope that more people will take the day as an opportunity to either serve actively immediately or begin reflecting on where they may be called to serve.

In the words of Dr. King, “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Those words echo the teachings of Jesus, “The greatest among you will be the servant of all.”

So today, I encourage you, look for opportunities to serve. As we celebrate the life, mission, and vision of Dr. King, may we each find a place to serve. There are many great needs in this world, including extremepoverty, slavery, and the environment. The world needs passionate and purposeful people who will make daily commitments to justice and to service.

You and I may never have the platform, the reach, or the impact of Dr. King, but that isn’t why we should ever do anything. We should pursue justice because it is the right thing to do, and, again in the words of Dr. King, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

May we all be people who resolve to follow the example of Dr. King and others, and to strive to faithfully live out the words of the ancient Hebrew prophet, Micah and “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”

Help Nuru Expand To 1750 New Families Now And Get Your Donation Matched

Earlier this year, my wife and I visited our work in Kenya and received update after update from individuals who for the first time ever were able to feed their families, and were also learning to save for the future. Their children were going to school, and they were learning about preventative health and sanitation interventions that were reducing the incidence of illness in their homes. So much has happened since this was just an idea being talked about. In 2012, nearly 3000 families were benefitting from Nuru’s programs, and we even began laying groundwork for starting an initiative in a second country.

I’m deeply grateful for what we have been able to do together over these last few years, and I’m excited by the prospect of accomplishing even more together in the future. It has been inspiring for me to have so many friends join us in this work by donating, sharing Nuru’s story, and inviting others to get involved with this work.

In 2013, Nuru is preparing to expand programs to 1750 new families which will mean even more people in southwestern Kenya being equipped with the tools and knowledge to lead their communities out of extreme poverty for good. As 2012 approaches its end, a very generous donor has stepped up to match dollar-for-dollar every donation that is received during the month of December, up to $100,000.  There are less than 96 hours left to take advantage of the opportunity, will you help us hit our goal?

Thanks so much for being Nuru!

The Last Hunger Season by Roger Thurow

Earlier this summer, I was able to acquire a copy  of Roger Thurow’s new book, The Last Hunger Season. The book chronicles one year in the lives of four families who are working with an organization called One Acre Fund (OAF) to improve their livelihood as small shareholder farmers.

My initial interest in the book was because One Acre Fund is an incredible thought partner for Nuru International, and our CEO, Jake Harriman, did a summer internship with OAF in 2007 in order to learn more about their model first-hand. If you have not heard of One Acre Fund, I strongly recommend you look into their work to improve the lives of farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi.

But now for more about the book. Thurow starts off by explaining what is meant by a “hunger season” or “wanjala” in Kiswahili as this is a foreign concept to people who have never set foot outside the United States. In the West, we have access to food year round. For people in the US, it is hard to fathom that anyone on the planet would ever run out of food, or that food prices could double and triple during those times of year when there is a shortage. Even more difficult for our minds to imagine is that people grow most of their own food. While we know that farms exist, most people here buy their food in a supermarket.

Thurow does a masterful job of allowing the reader to enter into daily life for people in remote rural Kenya who are living in extreme poverty.  Unless one has witnessed it firsthand, it is hard to imagine whole communities who lack access to electricity or running water. It’s hard to imagine healthcare that is "distant and meager at best." Beyond this, Thurow helps readers get a better understanding of what access to high quality seed and fertilizer and improved planting techniques can do for these agrarian communities.

Too often, in the West we have been given distorted images of people living in extreme poverty. Too often, our global neighbors are portrayed as helpless and unable to fend for themselves. The truth of the matter is that our global neighbors are incredibly resourceful, but they have largely lacked access to tools and knowledge that could mean massive improvements to their livelihood.  Too often, these people are portrayed in a way in which we do not see their full humanity, their brilliance, or the daily choices they are compelled to make. Roger Thurow helps us to get a more accurate image of who these people are and what their dreams are, both for themselves and for their children. During each chapter, he allows us to walk through the lives of four One Acre farmers, and experience the challenges they bravely face during the course of a year. I believe that through Thurow's detailed chronicling of one year in the lives of the families of Leonida, Rasoa, Zipporah, and Francis, we have been given a true treasure. 

Through the innovative work of organizations like One Acre Fund and Nuru International, literally thousands of families are taking the first steps toward lifting themselves out of extreme poverty and dealing with chronic hunger. In the book, one gets a vivid image of the challenges that a family might face in a year, challenges like paying school fees and paying back agricultural loans. Thurow reminds us of challenges like insuring that a family has enough food to eat through the wanjala, or even challenges like dealing with health emergencies like malaria. 

Beyond his detailed description of one year in the life of four farmers, Thurow offers a primer to the history of sustainable agriculture and international development from Norman Borlaug's work in India and Pakistan in the 60s and 70s to renewal efforts being led by groups like Bread for the World, One Acre Fund, Nuru, and many others in this generation. Throughout the book, he also details the work of advocacy groups like ONE (an advocacy organization started by Bono, the lead singer of the band U2) and even the work of the Obama administration's Feed The Future initiative and agencies like USAID to bolster food security and production. He even quotes US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack's reminder that, "just one lifetime ago the United States was a country of subsistence farmers...there are no better innovators than those who farm the land." Thurow allows us to not only read about the lives of farmers, but his book is filled with opportunities to learn more about the history of sustainable agricultural development, as well as learn how others, like former representative Tony Hall and Christian writer Jim Wallis, have taken tangible action steps to speak and take action about the unnecessary injustice of chronic hunger.

I really loved the book for a number of reasons, and I believe the book is a must-read for anybody interested in sustainable agriculture as well as how our global neighbors who are suffering in extreme poverty may be able to chart a better future for themselves. If you take the time to read the stories of one year in the life of the families of Leonida, Rasoa, Zipporah, and Francis, I hope you will be able to move past the statistics you may have heard, and come to the conclusion that there is hope, and that we stand on the threshold of an amazing opportunity to work together toward helping farmers like the ones mentioned above provide a better future for their families. Thank you Roger Thurow for your engaging and inspiring work open our eyes to parts of our world from which so many in the West have been insulated.