This past week, Howard Freeman, a personal friend from whom I have learned much about encouraging Christian generosity, chose to live below the line. What line? As most of the world lives in poverty, on about $1.50 per day, the “living below the line” challenge, invites people to attempt to walk in their shoes for five days.
From May 16 – 20, 2011, Howard joined a host of others and only ate and drank as much per day as he could purchase for $1.50. In doing so, He developed a better understanding of the challenges faced by people living in extreme poverty while raising funds for crucial anti-poverty initiatives. He inspired me to give and many others and raised the most money (and awareness) in the effort.
“I was moved by the GPP [Global Poverty Project] talk that Hugh Evans did in NYC in 2010. When ‘Live Below The Line’ came along, I perhaps saw it as a personal challenge to live by careful deprivation…and it also brought out the natural competitor in me about fundraising! My financial partners are really generous folks, and I look forward to building a conversation on extreme poverty with them and others who join our support team. Thanks, Hugh and GPP, for giving us all this time to reflect and to do.”
Way to rise to the challenge, Howard! Thanks for helping me “remember the poor” this week (Galatians 2:10). You’ve moved me to reflect on my own personal role in this.
Source: http://www.livebelowtheline.com/media-impact/hot-news-from-hq/