‘Love Wins’ (Literally)

Positive Posters announced their 2013 winner at their ‘Thirty’ Exhibition this week. Gotta love the irony of ‘Love Wins’, literally winning the comp!

PP13 Winner
2013 Winner – ‘Love Wins’ by Calvin Hui.

Aside from the irony, I’m a big fan of the winning poster – I love the ‘naughts & crosses’ concept of love vs money… very clever and effective way of conveying a very true, but easily forgotten truth. It’s a big challenge for everyday life, as we too often spend our life pursuing money… yet it is love we were created by, and for. It is in fact the very purpose of life.

In the end… love always wins.

Well said, and well done to Calvin Hui.

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The largest humanitarian crisis of our generation

“Syria in Crisis” – sadly, this phrase is very common at the moment. So much so that it just seems to be a part of the fabric of global society now, and just another one of those big problems in a country far away that is too big to fix… so now it doesn’t even get much coverage on prime time TV news, doesn’t make the front page of papers, is shoved in some ‘global news’ category deep within the news websites. And so we, in our busy lives, as we just mange to scrape the surface of current affairs and glean what is interesting and relevant to us from the mass of information going around, forget about what UNICEF have called “The largest humanitarian crisis of our generation”…

UNICEF Syria
This bold red strip is currently at the top of the UNICEF website


Now that’s a big call. But I think if anyone would know, UNICEF would… so I think we all need to dig a little deeper and take notice, or more appropriately… take action.

WFP have helpfully given a short overview for us to better understand the situation:

“Conflict in Syria has forced millions of people to flee their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis in which food is a top priority. WFP aims to bring food assistance to up to 6.5 million Syrians between now and the end of the year. These include 4 million people inside Syria – on both sides of the front lines – and 2.5 million refugees in neighbouring countries.”
Source: http://www.wfp.org/crisis/syria

Continue reading “The largest humanitarian crisis of our generation” →

The best use of God’s stuff

I’ve been reading the latest Compassion mag, and there was one story that I had to share – “The man with 50 kids”. Yep, this guy, David Chalmers, supports 50 children with Compassion! I don’t think this is God’s call on everyone, but his way of thinking is definitely a challenge to us all…

“Since embracing the reality that all I have belongs to God… I have chosen to live simply and am content…”

If you’re already a sponsor then it’s a challenge to take it seriously and be the best sponsor you can; and if you’re not sponsoring a kid… then it’s a challenge to look into child sponsroship, because as Compassion would say, and I totally agree with – ‘it works’.

“I think that as long as people have that mindset – we live for ourselves, we have to have this, we have to have that… then poverty will still exist.”

Continue reading “The best use of God’s stuff” →

The Joy of Simplicity

A friend sent me a great story a while back that I thought was worth sharing. As with these things, I discovered it has been going around the web for a while, but I still I think it has a very interesting message that’s worthwhile considering as we go about our super busy lives.

We are so easily deceived into thinking that money will bring us contentment and satisfaction, but I challenge you to read it and see if you don’t find yourself in envy of the Mexican in the story. He has a simple yet it seems contented life, enjoying some work, his family and friends. I’m sure in envy… here I am working hard in my busy and pretty complex life, earning money to give my family a certain lifestyle that is considered the norm in the western world… It’s almost too hard to imagine that anyone could live so simply like the Mexican and be satisfied…. But its also oh so appealing!

The original article that was sent was titled “The Joy of Idleness”, but I’m not sure idleness is the best thing to rejoice in, so thought I’d make the title of this post about simplicity instead. Plus I really couldn’t bring myself to post it in the form that it was… So I decided to spruce it up a little and also added the source.

Enjoy. Continue reading “The Joy of Simplicity” →

#NOCHILDFORSALE

Here’s a great video to give us sneak peak into the sad reality of child slavery. So many shocking facts that should move us to create change – an we can.

So get on board with World Vision and tell the world No Child Should Ever Be For Sale. #nochildforsale

Head to http://worldvision.ca to start making a difference in a child’s life today.

#colesandwoolworths campaign by Thankyou (*Water)

I’ve always loved the work of Thankyou Water, and now they’ve really taken it to the next level. Some mixed reactions out there in the social media world, so it will be interesting to see how it goes!

As for me – get on board #colesandwoolworths!

Check out the vid and more on the campaign here: http://www.thankyou.co/coles-and-woolworths

Just Another Human Being?

This guy is amazing. A true humanitarian who has seen a need and changed his life to do something very practical about it.

I love his simple philosophy – “I’m just another human being, we are all the same… the ultimate purpose of life is to give.”

If you aren’t a little challenged by this guy, I think you need to have a good think about your outlook on life.

The Joy of Giving

How often have you given money to some cause or organisation and wondered if the funds will ever make it to the project or person it was intended? I am generally fairly trusting, and assume it goes where it’s supposed to… though on one recent occasion, we chose to use some of our credit card points to donate funds to the Fred Hollows Foundation – we never even saw any sort of receipt or even acknowledgement that the money went there… in this case I was a little skeptical I must admit! It kinda robs you of any satisfaction in giving, wondering if the funds met their purpose… but the opposite is also true when you see the outcome of your generosity…

Recently I got an email from my mate, Dan, who some time ago collected some funds in our small group for a project in Cambodia. I had forgotten about it completely, making receiving the email below even more encouraging to see the impact that our small notion of generosity made…

// DAN:

Hi Guys!

Hope you’re all doing well. Remember when we collected money for the Mother and her daughter in Cambodia last year, so that they could buy some land and have somewhere to live and make a living? Well, I didn’t just pocket the cash… that money went to Cambodia and has transformed the prospects of this family, so thanks guys! Emma was very excited to send us the following info and photos: Continue reading “The Joy of Giving” →

Print with Purpose

I recently had the opportunity to involve some great non profit organisations in a project for work.

Rather than wasting hundreds of meters of print as is often the case at print industry trade shows, I organised to offer printing to non profits. We were privileged to partner with World Vision, Oxfam and SurfAid to print hundreds of posters, banners and collateral for their upcoming campaigns.

Here’s a few pics of the prints coming off the fancy new Roland wide format printer. Thanks to Roland and also Shil and Avery media suppliers.

Glad we could help to make an impact for these great organisations!

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