Saturday, January 8, 2011

Worship and Justice

Though none of us alone can tackle the massive injustice and poverty that shatters so many, together we are a force for good that exponentially increases our opportunity to lift those in need.


For us at Passion, being a movement for Jesus means loving the things He loves and moving where He moves in an effort to make Him happy and bring His light and love to all people of the world. Knowing that Jesus always moves to the weak, the poor, the prisoner and to those without a voice, Do Something Now has become a vital part of the fabric of every Passion gathering.
Over the four days of Passion 2011 Atlanta, over 22,000+ were rocked to the core and united for the world. We were challenged to partner with amazing organizations to fund ten local/global causes at a cost of $470,000.

Here’s what happened:
Cause//Goal//Given


Homeless//Towels and Socks for Atlanta area shelters. Given: 18,400 towels and 88,000 pairs of socks!
Clean water//$75,000 for 15 wells in villages in India. Given: 24 wells!
Micro-finance//200 small business loans for Afghan entrepreneurs totaling $40,000.
Given: 387 loans!
Bibles//20,000 New Testaments to unreached in Colombia at $20,000. Given: 31,554 New Testaments!
Feeding Children//Feed 1,000 at risk children in South Africa for one year at $50,000. Given: Feeding 2,225 children!
Homes//Build 15 homes in Haiti at $54,000. Given: 39 homes!
Sponsor Children//Sponsor 150 children and provide family essentials at a cost of $100,00. Given: 442 children sponsored!
Human trafficking//Restoration and a future for 10 girls trapped in sex slavery in Bolivia at a cost of $36,000. Given: 22 girls rescued/restored!
Surgeries for Children//$50,000 to fund 50 Hydrocephalus surgeries in Uganda. Given: 141 surgeries!
Rescue women//$45,000 to fund 10 rescue operations to free sex slaves in the Philippines (each operation frees 15 women on average). Given: 29 rescue operations!
Plus, College fund for Haitian earthquake survivor, Therissa Leo. Given: $23,106!
(This was not planned beforehand or factored into the $470,000 goal.)
Total Given at Passion 2011 Atlanta: $1,167,249.24

If you are wondering if your eyes are playing tricks on you, students/leaders/volunteers at Passion 2011 Atl gave over $1.1 million for the last and least of these in Jesus’ name. While the dollar amount is staggering, we cannot begin to quantify the intangible value of students connecting with those who will benefit from these gifts by writing a note/prayer to women being rescued, praying over a Bible or weeping for a family or a nation.
Do Something Now = worship + justice, what we believe God wants most from us. Something beautiful has shifted and we will never be the same. Stay connected and share Do Something Now with your friends and family who were not a part of Passion 2011 Atlanta at our new site: DoSomethingNow.com.

Thank You Jesus, for loving and rescuing us, and for giving us the chance to invest our money and our lives in the things that matter most in the end!
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Through Jesus, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, which is the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good, and sharing with others, for with these sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:15-16

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