That's Generosity

As you probably know, every session at AI we zoom in the lens on a different character trait. This session, in tandem with our Entrepreneurship Quest, we're highlighting generosity. (Why do we seek to make money and succeed in business? To get rich and chase the American Dream, or to glorify God by sharing freely our newfound resources? How can we be generous with everything we have -- not only with money, but also with compliments, with encouragement, with time, with skills, with ... um, candy?)

Last week in one of our morning launches, I shared with the kids the very moving story of Rachel Beckwith, a 9-year-old girl who wanted to raise money for charity:water in lieu of birthday gifts. Initially disappointed at not meeting her goal, she soon afterward was the victim of a terrible car accident. As she lay in the hospital in critical condition and eventually passed away, her small campaign for charity:water went viral. In the wake of her death, over one million dollars was raised for wells in Africa. This sweet girl was responsible for bringing clean drinking water to over 37,000 Ethiopians.

Many of the children's hearts were obviously touched by the story of a girl their age whose life and death inspired generosity in so many. And without any prompting, Josiah remarked, "You know, I think we should stop complaining about the way the water in the schoolhouse tastes funny. [And that, my friends, is a whole 'nother saga!] For the people she was trying to raise money for, our water would probably taste GREAT."

Hear, hear.

There was much excitement last week over Thursday's Snack Mix Wars, which is just one of the challenges along the way to each project team's creation of a mini-company. Some of you may have wondered, what happens to the profits that the kids made off of all the kindhearted mamas (and dad, and a few siblings)? And what about all the points they're earning along the way by completing challenges and (ouch) documenting their work?

The answer is that we're so passionate about encouraging generosity that each team is going to use their funds to choose a gift from the World Vision catalog to send to others! All that snack mix hawking, diligence with the dreaded paperwork, and initiative in completing bonus challenges means pigs, goats, chickens, a mosquito net, or maybe a well, sponsored by each of the project teams. In fact, the team with the most points from ES and from MS gets to have their contribution DOUBLED. Moms and dads, feel free to join with us at home in building excitement for this opportunity to be generous!