“Half of what I own,
Lord, I will give to the poor…”
Looking at him Jesus
said, “Salvation has come to this house today.” Lk. 19:8-9
“While saving for oneself
is good and saving also for love ones is better,
saving for oneself, love ones
and one’s neighbor is best!”
I. WHAT IS THIS CHALLENGE?
I know that
you are saving for yourself and for your family (if not, today, make it a habit).
This time my friend, I’m challenging you to save also for others- particularly
the poor.
II. WHY SHOULD I TAKE THIS CHALLENGE?
Do you
usually miss the chance to help others because you don’t have the extra money
to share with them? Have you put in a situation wherein you really want to help
a friend in dire need but you cannot because you only have enough for yourself?
If you
don’t want to experience this anymore, I challenge you to “SAVE” for this kind
of occasions. And yes, not only this challenge can give you more chance and
ability to help others financially, but in the long run you will enjoy the
following benefits:
a.
You will develop the habit of wise budgeting and
saving.
b.
You will remove most of your vices.
c.
You will be more financially blessed.
d.
You will learn to be simple and contented.
e.
You will become more compassionate and generous.
f.
You will become more happy and healthy.
g.
You will gain more friends.
h.
You and others will enjoy living in a more loving
and generous world.
III. HOW AM I GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS
CHALLENGE?
There are
5 basic ‘habitual’ steps:
1.
THINK: Look
into your resources and ways of spending. Do you have extra amount that you can
save for others? If there is none, are you willing to skip some of your “can-let-go”
expenses (such as vices, accessories, extra snacks, too much mobile loads,
etc.) and save the amount for others? My advice here is to start with a small amount
and increase it as your financial resources permit it.
2. SAVE: Save
the amount in a container of your choice for 8 consecutive ‘habit-forming’ days. My suggestion also here is to label your
container (see sample label below). If your saving becomes big, you may opt to
open an account for this purpose. Just see to it that the bank or an ATM is
accessible for you to easily withdraw if need arises.
Note: You can also download this sample
label in www.facebook.com/Iampasahero or in www. iampasahero.blospot.com.
3.
POST: After 8 days, post a picture of
yourself together with your labeled container in facebook with
#isave4poorchallenge. (see sample below)
4.
INVITE: Tag all
your friends and ask them to take up the challenge.
5.
GIVE: After passing the 8 ‘habit-forming’ days, saving should continue daily and for the many
years to come. Once you have a good amount of savings, use it to respond
generously to the needs of others (‘others’ pertain to poor and/or “in need”
individuals who are not part of your immediate family). My suggestion here is
to give or lend it (without interest) personally to them as much as possible. In
this way, you will experience “first-hand” the joy of giving more than just
being used to chip-in or donate to an organization or movement.
IV. HOW THIS CHALLENGE CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE?
Through
this challenge, we cannot only make a huge difference; we can ADD value to
life! And it’s infinite, believe me.
Take a
look at this. If I’ll be saving 6.00 a day and be able to continue it for the
next 30 years, the estimated (estimated because the amount may be less or more
depending on how frequent I will be using it or increase the amount of my saving)
will look like this:
6 x 7
= 42 / week.
42 x 4
= 168 / month
168 x
12 = 2,016 / year
2016 x
30 = 60,480 after 30 years
Now,
if you can also save for example 4.00 a day, for the next 30 years, your saving
for the poor will look like this:
4x7 =
28 / week
28 x 4
= 112/ month
112 x
12 = 1,344 / year
1344 x
30 = 40,320 after 30 years
If we
will be adding your amount with mine (just for computation, for you and I will maintain
our saving separately), we’ll have something like this:
60,480
+ 40,320 = 100,800
It’s
not that much to make a difference I guess. But what if you and I can invite 30
more friends (here and abroad) or 40 or 50 more saving like you and me for the
next 30 years or more? What if we can invite 100 generous savers for every country
and race in the world and each one of them will also be successful in inviting
100? With longer years and much bigger amounts every day? Can you imagine that?
Yes!
Just imagine the impact that this can make into our life and to the world. It
is like we have opened the very first “world-wide saving account for the poor”
not manage single-handedly by one organization but by numerous and generous
people like you.
And
because you manage it personally you can deposit and withdraw (and even invest)
it in the way you design it. Just make sure it is all for the benefit of the
poor. And by the way, our target is not primarily to save a big amount, but to
have a “GENEROUS AMOUNT” always
ready to respond for the needs of our poor neighbors not only during calamities
or deaths but particularly to their present emergency and even simple “in-need”
situations.
And
you know what? This challenge is not only about money. It’s all about our hearts.
It’s all about our generous hearts. I firmly believe that when we were able to
train our hearts to have mercy and compassion for the poor, the needy and
abandoned, our pockets will follow. And we’re not only saving them, we’re also saving
our own children and the children to come. Indeed, we are saving the world!
So
again, I invite you and all the people of good will. Together, let us take this
challenge. Let us conquer our hearts more than planets. Let us establish loving
relationships more than malls. And let us open our hearts more than businesses.
And today, as you continuously save for yourself and love ones, let us also
save for our poor. In the end, like Christ, we can truly say “Salvation has
come to this house today!”
Stay
inspired!
_Chad
Vergara
P.S.
Take
this life-changing challenge with me now. Save for the poor. I assure you, this
will change your life tremendously and the life of others around you. If you have some queries or
thoughts regarding this, please feel free to contact me at any of the
following:
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Richard Vergara or facebook/Iampasahero.
Blog:
www.iampasahero.blogspot.com
Thank you
for your generosity. Join us today and experience a more generous self and a
more generous world!
