That’s what many are saying! Christmas gifts that are not only beautiful and fun to give, but make a real difference in the life of a child that might otherwise not have a chance. It is a great honor to work together with you and serve the children that we do. It is always so encouraging to letters in the mail and notes on our websites from people like you who have supported the “1 BRACELET –> 1 CHILD –> 1 WEEK OF FOOD” movement. Here are just a few of the recent notes:
“Not only are my pieces beautiful, its for a wonderful cause!!! Fabulous Seller!!” –svokas123 via Ebay feedback on December 11, 2011
“What a wonderful idea! Love a gift that keeps on giving!” -Kathleen via Facebook on December 11, 2011
“While searching for Christmas gifts, please take a look at Give Jewelry. Each bracelet sold will supply 1 child living in an orphange with food for 1 week. What an amazing gift to give! I purchased a lovely bracelet for my sister in law this week ♥” –Girls of Grace Designs via Facebook on December 2, 2011
So whether or not we actually have “The Best Christmas Gifts Ever,” it is wonderful to see how much together we have been able to give to children at the orphanages in Indonesia. It is not only food that we have been able to share with them, but also the self esteem that comes with them now knowing that people around the globe care for them.
From the bottom of our hearts, and on behalf of the children that you have helped, may this Christmas be your best yet.
Christ’s peace be with each of you,
Charlie and the rest of the Give Team…
BECOME A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS and Share the "ONE PIECE --> ONE CHILD --> ONE WEEK OF FOOD" Movement
Calling all Bloggers!!! We really need your help getting word out about the orphanages we support and would love to do something for you and your readers in return. If interested, just shoot an email to Laura (laura@give-jewelry.com) and we’ll send you the details right away. Please put “Super Coolest Blog Idea” in the subject line. = )
ONE BRACELET –> ONE CHILD –> ONE WEEK OF FOOD
BECOME A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS and Share the "ONE PIECE --> ONE CHILD --> ONE WEEK OF FOOD" Movement
As you begin to prepare for Christmas, may God also fill you with peace as you prepare for the most precious gift this world has ever received. Wishing you the best Christmas Season ever,
Charlie – the founder of Give Jewelry
BECOME A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS and Share the "ONE PIECE --> ONE CHILD --> ONE WEEK OF FOOD" Movement
What?!? Surgeries? Not just food for children that live at orphanages???
Yup. and Nope.
Give Jewelry has never been just about providing food. It is what we focus on, but as with any family, the children at the orphanages we support have needs beyond the basics.
Meet Maria. This is her above just before her surgery a few weeks ago. (October 25th, 2011) Maria was born with a foot deformation and had to walk on the side of her foot. (see here walking in this video at 19min 34sec – that was taken a few weeks before her surgery when our Give Team first met Maria and the other children at the orphanage in Timor – Indonesia.)
Sister Rafaella sent me a letter by email asking for funding and we have just enough come in in bracelet sales to pay for this surgery and the follow up physical therapy. So Well Done Give Family!!!!!!!!!! (feels awesome to SEE a life you helped change doesn’t it!!!?)
Maria's foot, just after the surgery you helped make happen!
A special request from Sister Rafella – This was the first of many surgeries that the children need. (The orphanage she runs on Timor is specifically for orphaned or abandoned children with physical of mental challenges.) She is currently getting together all of the details and costs of the other surgeries needed. (see Regina’s story in the video above at 22min 2sec – Please watch it as it only takes a couple minutes) How life changing would it be if together we could take care of ALL of these surgery costs before Christmas this year? A flaw I have always had is to not be direct, but in this case I can’t help it. I JUST spent time with all of these children less than 2 months ago and came back with a broken heart and passion for them. I failed horribly and bankrupted my family by trying to help the orphanage on Bali by myself. I kept wiring them the same amount per month even though we were going into debt. We could not even buy shoes for our own children here in the United States when we won the “VH1 Do Something” Award in 2011. My wife and I had to borrow nice clothes to go to the awards ceremony in Hollywood using gas money from my parents. I have learned that God never meant for people to do even good things under their own strength – it leads to self-pride. I know now that the 3 most powerful words in the world are “I – need – help.”
Maria just before coming out of surgery.
So that is what I am asking you for. Help. As always, you do not need to purchase a bracelet to make a difference. You can also share this post on facebook, twitter etc. to help raise awareness of the needs of these children. Even with only the rough estimates we have of the costs of ALL of the surgeries needed, the entire cost could be funded even if only our facebook fans each bought only 2 bracelets each. Pray and/or think on it and see if you can’t help in some way. (again, simply “sharing” “liking” or Google+1ing this post makes a HUGE difference)
I’ll leave you with this from a post I saw yesterday about the 1 Bracelet – 1 Child – 1 Week of Food movement;
” I am sitting here crying at the thought that one $10.00 bracelet which I may buy as a stocking stuffer could feed a child for an entire week. I will be shopping at that site and am spreading the word via Facebook.” ~Kathy on Elizabeth Foss’ blog post on Bracelets by Give Jewelry yesterday.
p.s…..
The letter I received from Sister Rafaella… (insert YOUR name where-ever you see mine by the way- I am only a very small part of what is happening here)
Just Dear Charlie
Nice to meet you.We are very happy to meet you again in this letter and we hope you are okey as like us at Panti Sosial Luar Biasa Brayat Pinuji.
We need your helping.So we come to you, may you can help us for our handicap children for pay cost of operated the foot, physiotherapy and the transportation.
Maria cost operation : Rp. 2.750.000
Cost transportation : Rp 150.000
Total : Rp. 2.900.000
Regina cost physiotherapy for three mounth
(Every week 2 X) Rp. 240.000
Efriana cost physiotherapy for three mounth
( Every week 2 X) Rp. 240.000
TOTAL Rp. 3.380.000 (this is Less than 400us btw – our US dollars go FAR in that economy) ~ch
For your care, kindness and helping, we say Thank you God and thank you Charlie and many greetings from our children.
Much love from all of us at Panti Sosial Luar Brayat Pinuji Kefamenanu. God Bless you.
Free Inspirational Video Presentation – “Making a difference in your community.” (links below) Made for schools/churches/groups of all types.
Inspirational Videos - an easy do-it-yourself presentation designed to inspire and encourage groups of all ages and sizes to use their gifts to help others. Filmed in Sept/Oct 2011 at 3 orphanages on the islands of Bali, Sumba and Timor – Indonesia, these videos have an inspirational message of “It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you came from, you CAN make a difference.” Our hope is to inspire countless people to volunteer right in their own communities as well as abroad, so we have created each video to be appropriate for any group setting. Make the presentation to your own group, or pass this info on to your groups leader. Each video was filmed in high definition and so the quality remains great even on large projection screens. You can play each inspirational video directly from our YouTube channel and connect to your flat-screen or monitor using a high -def or VGA cable.
Inspirational Video Presentation: plan on about 1.5 hours for your first meeting (+/- depending on your question/answer period)
Show the 5 min video “Be Inspired!”then ask the following questions:- Have you ever seen a need but felt like there was nothing you can do about it? First give a personal example and then ask for a couple others to share their experience.
Show the 42 min documentary “Be The Change.” then ask the following questions:- What are the needs that you saw in the video? there are some very obvious needs in the video; food, clothing, etc. so it should be easy to engage people.- Do we have some of these same needs in ________? (the name of your city/community)
- How can we meet these needs as a group? This gets people thinking about what can be done to solve the problems without being overwhelmed by the thought of taking on the project by themselves. Write down people’s answers as bullet points on a dry erase board where you can add names later as people answer the next question.
-How can you meet these needs as individuals? Is there a part of this that you feel that you can do? This gets your group to define and offer up their natural giftings. Pay close attention to and write down what people say. You will get responses from people that are talented and confident in their strengths, as well as some “surprises” from people that might be stepping out for the first time. Write people’s names down next to the bullet points and you’ve already begun the process of delegating responsibilities and forming committees.
Commit to your group that you will research these potential opportunities and have information ready for them at your next meeting. Ask your current “volunteers” as well as others interested in helping to stay a few minutes after and get their emails, phone numbers and how they are interested in helping. Follow up and contact the ones that you can assign any tasks at all. (even making phone calls to find out how to volunteer at a local soup kitchen can be a transforming step for a person)
At your next meeting – break up into smaller groups as appropriate. (food drive/fundraiser/park clean-ups etc.) Do your best to just be a “helper” to each group. Your group’s ability to have a large impact on your community will rely on your ability to delegate responsibility AND authority. (don’t make every step rely completely on you as the leader) Your job at this meeting can be to make sure that you don’t double book your groups calendar. (and serving drinks and snacks to each table will earn you respect like few other things can)
Encourage. Use every opportunity to verbally recognize people individually for the difference they are helping to make. Be specific as possible as this lets people know what they should do more of. Most people are carrying old hurts from things that were said about them negatively. You, especially as their leader, can easily give them the inspirational turnaround they’ve been longing for with just some simple verbal encouragement.
These and any of the other videos on our You Tube channel can be used at any time without our permission. Feel free to also add your own suggestions and links to other inspirational videos in the comment box below.
Many blessings on your efforts to make a difference right where you are at,
