Stay home and make a difference! Part 2

You may remember a blog I posted a couple of weeks ago, encouraging you to stay home on Saturday night and donate the money you saved by not going out to a Facebook friend of mine who is working on the ground in Uganda to make a difference in Bugabo Village. Be sure and check out her blog here, where you can also make donations via Paypal.

Here's the good news: They've raised enough money for the borehole well for the village. Don't worry, I didn't know what a borehole was either. It's a well that sunk deep enough to tap an unending reservoir supply of water so the entire village can have easy access to clean, fresh water year round instead of having to walk miles during the dry season to find a water hole that hasn't dried up yet - and that may or may not have parasites in it. Isn't this awesome news? Clean, fresh water for everyone! Yay!

And now for the not so good news: There are still many items left on the list of things that need to be covered, including electricity for the school compound, transportation, housing for the teachers, and a refuge unit for those in need of a safe place. These are all things that we take for granted every day.

Will you join me in staying home another Saturday to raise the rest of the money? I hope you'll at least consider it, and even if you can't please lift Christy, her efforts, and the residents of Bugabo up in your prayers.

Here's the text from my original blog in case you need a reminder of what I'm writing about or have questions about what Christy is working on:

I'm ashamed of myself.

I'm facebook friends with Christie Cotney, a missionary who is trying to make a difference in Bugabo Village, Uganda, East Africa. You can read all about her story, her calling, her dreams for the village, here. It's really a very honest, interesting blog, written by someone who is truly walking the walk.

Lately, I've been vaguely annoyed by Christie's facebook posts. She posts status updates regularly to let us know how her efforts are going - or not. She, and her fiancee, George Magera, have come up with a "faith list." It's a list of various things that they NEED not WANT, but NEED to make their ministry in the village work. It includes things like a well for the village so everyone has enough water, even in drought. Serious things, not "administrative fees." Her idea is that if 1500 people donate $36, everything will be covered.

Lately, she's really been pushing making a donation to her list or at least "sharing" a link to her blog so that others can learn about it - and posting her aggravations when she isn't getting the donations she needs.

I've found myself thinking that I've already donated enough money to her cause - I've sponsored three children to go to school, paid for the desks they'll need at school, purchased the Ugandan jewelry she sells as a fundraiser, etc. What more can she possibly expect from someone she's never even met? Someone that has taken on faith that all of the money she's already sent is being used responsibly - especially in light of the bad news from the Global Fund?

And then came the realization. $40. FORTY DOLLARS. I'll spend that in one night when I go with friends to dinner and a movie. So, this Saturday night, I'm staying home. And I'm sending Christie $40 so that everyone in the village can have fresh water to drink. Really, what does it matter if they can go to school if they have no water to drink?

Please consider joining me in staying home this Saturday night and making your donation for $40 on Christie's blog. Everyone should have clean water to drink.