“Regard it just as desirable to build
a chicken house as to build a cathedral,” Frank Lloyd Wright.
Thanksgiving. Over.
Black Friday. Finito.
Small Business Saturday. See ya.
If you can make it past tomorrow’s
Cyber Monday, it’s all downhill until Christmas. Like it or not, the holidays
are here. Are you one to embrace the full five weeks of the Christmas season,
or do you dread the food, parties, shopping, wrapping, and travel?
I think I fall somewhere in
between. I don’t shudder at the season, but I try to delay it as long as
possible. For me, the Christmas spirit doesn’t usually kick in until
mid-December. From now until then I’ll try to avoid the music and the stores. I’ll
cringe at the December to Remember commercials. I’ll even ask for a regular
white cup at Starbucks. But then, about a week before the big day, something
switches within my soul. I’ll shop. I’ll wrap. I’ll bake. I load up my favorite
Christmas playlists. And I’ll try to remember the meaning behind it all.
For that last one, I welcome the
reminder from a group called Advent Conspiracy (adventconspiracy.org). AC was
started back in 2006 as an effort to get church-goers to consider Christmas in
a completely different way. AC’s four-pronged mission is to encourage people to
Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All.
AC is not suggesting you cease
all gift-giving. It’s more of a call to stop spending frivolously, on gifts
that aren’t necessary and that won’t be remembered. Instead, put that money or
the hours spent acquiring and wrapping those extra gifts toward devoting time with
those you cherish in your life. By doing that you’re actually giving more … of
yourself.
Another way to give more is to
donate to those who are truly in need. To those who didn’t just have a massive
feast, to those who think a Doorbuster Deal is when the local market has few
extra eggs, to those who camp out all night or walk few miles for fresh water. By
spending less you’re actually freeing up your resources to love others. If you
are a follower of Christ, by loving others in his name, you’re loving Him and
worshipping Him more fully. Of course, you don’t have to go to church to do
these things.
I’d like to add another pillar to
AC’s platform: Raise More Chickens!
The small church I attend, Life
Covenant in Torrance, CA, has been helping out in the African nation of
Mozambique. It’s not the easiest country to find, but if you were on the island
of Madagascar and started swimming west, you’d hit Mozambique. Like most of
Africa, it’s a pretty rough place economically. According to
businessinsider.com, Mozambique ranks 12th on the list of poorest
countries in the world. Over the years, Life Covenant has been working with an
orphanage in the city of Beira called the Melanie Center. In addition to
housing and caring for orphans, the Melanie Center also serves as a hub for the
community, providing educational resources and health care services for the
local villagers. Additionally, the couple who run the center, John and Maria
Jon also train up pastors who set up churches in the outlying villages.
The Melanie Center has a goal of
becoming self-sufficient. To do so it’d like to start a local business. The
decision has been made to begin a chicken raising enterprise that the church is
calling: Operation Mozambeaks!
Operation Mozambeaks will call
for the building of two large chicken pavilions and two houses for families who
will live onsite and oversee this little chicken industry. Once the pavilions
are built, the first wave of chickens can start being raised. These chickens
will be used as food for the locals. The revenue will bring the Melanie Center
one step closer to being self-sustaining. It is believed that as much as 25
percent of the Melanie Center’s operational costs can be earned from the
chickens. This would then allow Life Covenant to give more elsewhere in the
area.
Life Covenant is definitely not
counting its chickens before they’re hatched. After nearly a year of planning,
researching, and crunching numbers, it’s been determined that this project can
get up and running for $7,500.00. This total includes the first 500 baby
chicks, food, and warming lamps.
Operation Mozambeaks is just one
way you can live out the Advent Conspiracy this Christmas season. AC also
promotes two additional means of helping others. One is through Living Water
International (www.water.cc) which is trying to end the world’s clean water
crisis. The other is the International Justice Mission (ijm.org) which strives
to bring rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of
violent oppression. By the way, AC doesn’t take in a dime.
Online donations for Operation
Mozambeaks can be made at lifeformoz.com. Gifts can be given directly at Life
Covenant on Sundays. I’d also be happy to drop off a contribution in your
behalf if you’d like me to do so.
In closing, take a quick second
and write down what you received and gave last Christmas. Exactly. Except for a
possible big ticket item, it’s hard to recall everything. So, this Christmas,
how about taking the Advent Conspiracy to heart? Maybe put less under the tree
and more into the building of an African chicken house.
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