Today we’re visiting with Pastor T, the mission team leader
from Jennifer Slattery’s novel, Never
Forsaken. He’s here with one of his youth kids, Aubrey Dicky, and a couple
who run an orphanage in El Salvador. After our little chat, make sure to listen
for how you can help two important orphan ministries. Aubrey will tell you all
about that, I’m sure.
Good morning, Pastor T. Thanks for stopping by.
Pastor T: Hi, thanks for having me.
God’s really drawn your church members to El Salvador
orphans, hasn’t He?
Pastor T: Yes, He has. Not just orphans in El Salvador, but
orphans in general. God would rather us live out our faith than act it out on
Sunday mornings, and according to James 1:27, “Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by
the world.” So that’s what we’ve been trying to do.
Aubrey,
was this your first mission trip?
Aubrey:
Uh … I’m not sure if I can answer that. Pastor T, will that give away the
story?
Pastor
T: I don’t think so.
Aubrey:
Maybe we should call Jennifer. I’d hate to breach our contract or anything. It
could get us sued, you know.
Pastor T: (frustrated) We didn’t sign a contract, Aubrey, and Jennifer’s
not going to sue us.
Aubrey: You sure?
Pastor T: I’m sure.
Aubrey: Still … I’d rather not risk it.
That’s okay. We can talk about something else. Like what
you’re doing now.
Pastor T: Looks like we’ll be talking lip gloss.
Aubrey: Yay! My favorite subject! Well, my second favorite
subject. Maybe third favorite.
Pastor T: (clears his throat)
Can you tell me about this Mary Kay Make-over contest
you’re part of?
Aubrey: Actually, I’m not part of it, per say, although I did receive
some awesome samples. But I never got my photo taken or anything. That was
Jennifer. And I think I’m largely the reason she did it. Well, she did it for
the orphans, but I think my jewelry making sort of motivated her, along with
all her research. I guess she read some pretty sad human rights reports about
child labor, articles on sex trafficking, that sort of stuff.
Such a sad realty! So many children suffering from such
unspeakable evil!
Aubrey: Yeah, it’s pretty overwhelming. I mean, when I first
learned about child labor and sex trafficking, I was like, “What can I do???
I’m just a kid!” But then I learned about Fair Trade, and this Mary Kay
contest, and I realized there’s a lot I can do!
Amen, Aubrey! By ourselves, it can seem like we’re not
making much of an impact, but we must remember God has many others working
alongside us. Combined, we can help bring about great, long term change! So
tell us about this charity make-over event.
Aubrey: Sure! It was a blast, and it’s for a really great cause.
We’ve coined it the “Beauty for the Broken” campaign. One of Jennifer’s friends
is a Mary Kay beauty consultant. Apparently, Mary Kay does a lot of charity
type stuff. This month they’re doing this make-over thing where people get to
vote for their favorite before and after shot. The person with the most votes
receives $5,000 for the charity of their choice, and their consultant receives
$500.
So, that’s $5,500 going to charity, just for wearing
lip gloss and blush?
Aubrey: And for flashing a winning smile. Or a really, really
bad before shot. Which I think was Jennifer’s aim. Whew! Have you seen her
photos?
Pretty bad, huh?
Aubrey: (laughing) To put it mildly.
So, how does this event help orphans?
Aubrey: If Jennifer and her beauty consultant win, they’ll give
their donation to two orphan ministries: Gothreads and the Raining Season. But
you all have to vote. Like a lot. (You can vote up to five times a day.)
That’s a lot of money.
Aubrey: Yeah, and Sharyline, the beauty consultant has a chance
to win another $5,000 for participation, too. So really, this could lead to a
$10,500 donation.
How can we help?
Aubrey: That’s the easy part! All you’ve got to do is vote, and
tell your friends to vote, too. Five times each day. Maybe set a reminder on
your phone or something.
Okay, so how do
they vote?
Aubrey: Oh! Duh! Go to https://www.mkmakeovercontest.com/gallery.jsp?id=163379
and vote for Jennifer!
Make sure to share the link on FB, tweet it, blast it out through Youtube.
Don’t forget, you can vote up to five times. Every day. Oh, and one more thing. Please don’t say
anything about the cheesy before and after pictures. At least, nothing
negative. Although you don’t want to lie, either. It’d probably be best if you
just didn’t mention them, except to say you voted. Make sure to do that, otherwise
you won’t get your gift certificate.
Tell us about that.
Aubrey: Oh,
that’s the fun part! To encourage all you lovely-lipstick wearers to vote,
Sharyline Cochran’s http://www.marykay.com/sharilyne
giving away a $10 gift
certificate and a free make-over (in person or through Skype) to every voter
who votes then tells us they did so in the comments here.
Sounds like a
win-win. Friends, make sure to vote, and check out these great ministries:
(taken
from their website) The Raining Season (http://www.therainingseason.org/): a
ministry meeting the educational, spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of
orphans in Sierra Leone
(taken
from their website) Go Threads (http://gothreads.org/): a ministry started by The Global Orphan Project started by GO Threads to: (a) generate revenue to sustain
the costs of orphan care; (b) provide quality clothing, including school
uniforms, for children in care and other hurting children; and (c) create local
jobs in some of the poorest communities in the world. GO Threads represents a
new and creative partnership to address poverty devastating children at the end
of humanity’s line.
***
Jennifer Slattery lives in the Midwest with her husband and
daughter. She writes for Christ to the World Ministries, the ACFW Journal,
Internet Café Devotions, and Jewels of Encouragement. You can connect with her
online at her devotional blog at http://jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com
or via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte
No comments:
Post a Comment