Building up the Church in Pakistan, the Solomon Islands, Ethiopia, and India

For those of you who have been here before, you'll notice that under this blog's name is a PayPal "Donate" button. Now while I'm not adverse to people who appreciate the work I've done sending me consideration for that, there is a much more altruistic reason for my putting that button there.

At my last job, I would sometimes come into possession of certain obsolete Catholic Christian products. Rather than see them go into the dumpster, I took them, put them in my storage unit, and would send them in small packages to parishes, dioceses, apostolates (i.e., ministries), or seminaries in Third World Countries where they spoke English but where they could never afford these sorts of materials. This then expanded into my purchasing or people giving me school books, medicines, clothing, and food.

When my income was regular, I would send one package with each paycheck. Considering that a medium Priority Mail box is somewhere between $45-50, you can see why I never really made much of a dent in those boxes taking up all of that space in my storage unit.

My problem is that I'm moving half way across the country after almost six great years in my current location, and I still have a ton of stuff in that unit (I've only sent off maybe one shipment since becoming self-/unemployed).

I cannot afford to take these items with me (we're going to have to leave behind so much to begin with), and I obviously cannot afford to ship them to their intended overseas recipients all by myself.

 

For instance:

• I have medicine and school materials needed by "brick kiln" (read: slave) children in Pakistan
• I have beautiful vestments, vestment materials, and sacramentals needed by seminaries in India
• I have badly, badly, badly needed morality materials needed by the Diocese of the Solomon Islands
• I have children's clothing needed by just about all of these places.
• Finally, I have Bible study materials needed by the Diocese of Faisalabad, Pakistan, and the main seminary for Catholic Ethiopians (both Latin and Eastern rite) in Addis Ababa (one Ethiopian man in Washington, DC, told me when I asked about the state of seminary instruction in his country, "It's abominable. A well-formed layman in the US knows more about their faith than does a newly ordained priest in my country. It's because they are so poor and can't afford quality materials."). When I sent a donated full-set of The Great Adventure Bible Timeline DVDs, a 24-part tour of Scripture that make it all make sense by putting all of the pieces together, the seminary rector sent me the most touching thank you note.

If everybody receiving this e-mail donated just $5, I could more than easily cover the cost. Of course, not everyone is going to, so if you can chip in $10, $20, or even $50, that would be great. But even if you donate $1 or 50 cents, I will take it. Every bit helps. And I pledge, promise, commit to giving any extra money to the local food pantry, which, in an area as economically depressed as this one, is a worthy cause in and of itself.

Can I ... Scratch that: Can your fellow Christians/human beings in impoverished parts of the world count on just a little support from you?

So click on the "Donate" button at the top of the page, and know you have done something good for the less fortunate and have activated your faith so that, as we read in the Epistle of James, your faith is not one that is dead.

IMPORTANT: To facilitate packing the moving truck, etc., I'll need to have your donations no later than 23 July 2012. On behalf of these people, thank you. Thank you very much.

P.S. If you have questions, please communicate them to me in the combox.