We did it! We raised $60,000 to build 2 kindergartens in Vietnam.
Dec 4th by JonChances are, you don’t know any 6 year olds in the Hoang Then Village.
More than likely, you’ve never kicked it in the Phong Tho district.
Until three weeks ago, the word “Vietnam” had never even been mentioned on this site.
We’re in the middle of one of the worst economic crises in decades.
It’s the holidays, a time when money gets stretched thin.
“Stuff Christians Like” isn’t even an original idea.
But.
But.
But.
We serve a wild card of a God, don’t we?
We serve a God who parts seas and quiets lions and raises the dead.
And apparently, we serve a God who loves to build kindergartens in Vietnam, because that’s what happened yesterday. This shouldn’t have worked. Who am I to ask you to go on a wild adventure like raising $30,000 to build a kindergarten in Vietnam? Who are you to think that out of 112 million blogs in the world, this one could be bigger than just a blog? But we did it.
On November, 9th, we raised $30,000 in 18 hours to build a six room kindergarten for 240 kids in Vietnam.
And in doing so we realized we hadn’t stepped out far enough. So we doubled our goal. We pushed the limits of “what if” and decided to raise $60,000.
Wes Molebash stepped up and started drawing Zakk, our meterosexual worship leader mascot who will be completed soon. Abraham Piper, Scott McCellan, Pete Wilson, Brad Lomenick, Anne Jackson, Jesse Phillips, John Saddington, Wendy Maybury, Ben Arment, Matthew Paul Turner and countless others pitched in.
And we all gave. In $5 donations and $10 donations and $100 donations. Finally, the last gift came in yesterday that pushed us over the edge.
$6,023.
That’s what someone gave anonymously on the 25th day of this crazy journey. And we’re finished. We did it.
Construction will begin in the next few months, with details I’ll share as I get them. We will all pray about the right answer to “what’s next?” And we might even go visit the schools in Vietnam.
But for now, for this moment, for this day, the impossible feels a lot smaller, the difficult feels a lot easier and the potential of what a community of people online can accomplish when they lean into God feels undeniably big.
Thank you.
From the Acuff family, thank you.
From Samaritan’s Purse, thank you.
From the kids in a village in Vietnam who might never know exactly how a school desk with their name on it appeared in their village, thank you.
I am honored to be a part of this community and am thrilled to see what God, who deserves all the glory, has in store for all of us in 2010.
Comments
Very, very, VERY cool!
God is so…wild, radical, amazing…ugh, I'm running out of words! This is so wonderful. I love God and this community so much right now!
Yay! Today kindergartens in Vietnam…. maybe tomorrow, a well to supply water to a poor village in Africa… or mosquito nets to keep people from picking up insect borne illness in other third world countries… or food and medical supplies for kids like the ones your daughter saw, or for kids right here who are going without food…. so many opportunities to be His heart and hands. What an amazing thing that a bunch of us quirky oddballs can band together and all just pitch in a little to make a big difference. Thanks again for the chance.
Is it too late to give?
It may be too late for this project, but it is NEVER too late to give elsewhere
Huzzah!!!!
Ya know what got me the most, out of this whole post? I mean, it is a crazy, awe-inspiring God we serve and yes, we have accomplished something major. What made me tear up was this:
From the kids in a village in Vietnam who might never know exactly how a school desk with their name on it appeared in their village, thank you.
That made it real for me. That made me realize that what we did here is absolutely real, it is happening, and God has given us the opportunity to change lives forever. Wow. What a big God. What a great blog. What an opportunity.
Yes! Praise God! This is what happens when people lean into God and give selflessly. This was a good reminder to me that we, sojourners, ought not to have too tight of a grip on anything of this world.
I will be visiting Vietnam next year. Stop off at the kindrgartens? I think so!
Jon, are you gonna go to Vietnam? You have to go!!!
i seriously bawled my eyes out reading this! our God is soooo awesome!
beautiful.
[...] 4. Stuff Christians Like building two kindergartens in Vietnam! [...]
[...] Christians Like has raised enough money to build two(!) kindergartens in [...]
[...] right now in your life? Jon Acuff took a big step of faith and raised $60,000 in 25 days to build two 6 room kindergartens in a rural village in Vietnam. More impressive is that the first $30,000 (the amount needed to build ONE kindergarten) was [...]
[...] we ought to also be just as radical. I recently read about how one group of blog-readers together donated $30,000 to build a kindergarten in Vietnam in a matter of 18 hours. Then just a two weeks later, [...]
[...] in December, the Stuff Christians Like blog readers raised $60,000 to build two kindergartens in Vietnam through Sama…. It was so neat to see this happen in a matter of days. It was also inspiring to see the power of [...]