THIS IS A REPOST-COMMENTS IN THIS ARE CLOSED. TO COMMENT ON THE CORRECT THREAD, GO HERE…
In your lifetime, there are few moments when you’re given the opportunity to directly save another person’s life.-Bryan Mealer, HuffPo
If you had a chance to save somebody’s life, and it didn’t take all that much… would you do it? Well, here’s that chance…
A few days ago, I blogged Marrion P’Udongo, a minister in the Congo who has dedicated his life to his people. Not just ministering to them in the way people might think…but risking his life on a regular basis.
Paraphrased…he says…(paraphrased because I suck at trying to get exact words down)
“My job as a minister isn’t just about trying to lead people to heaven, but caring for all of them while here on earth.”
In 2003, he hid 70 people in his house as the militia tore the town apart. He could have been killed for what he did…but he did it anyway.
He has reached out to the child soldiers in the Congo, trying to give them the chance to be children…not child soldiers, but children.
He’s a voice for the numerous women and girls who are raped in the eastern Congo. He works with orphanages that care for the children who’ve lost their parents in the war.
He’s a husband. He’s a father. He’s a hero.
He’s also dying. He was recently diagnosed with acute renal failure and he needs a transplant. You can imagine they probably don’t have the sort of resources in the Congo that might be found in other countries.
While the loss of any life is tragic, this man is a hero who has touched countless lives in that bit of the world-and you rarely hear much about the devastation there, the horrors, the tragedies. Wars have raged there for years. Yet all we hear is a blip every now and then.
Children living as soldiers. Families slaughtered. Women and girls are endlessly raped, their abusers never brought to justice. This man is one of the few that will speak for them. And if he dies…will there be another to take his place?
Some of the pastor’s friends are trying to raise money via indiegogo to pay for the transplant and time is running out. I made a donation but I want to do more. Romanceland has rallied behind communities devastated by hurricanes and it’s rallied behind the black-footed ferret…maybe we can do something to help this amazing man. This is a small something, but everything starts small, right?
So… for every comment left here in this thread, up to four hundred, I’m donating an additional dollar on top of my previous donation. If 400 comments are left (at my blog-not FB, Goodreads, etc) I’ll donate $400. Now… to help maybe inspire others to give…if you donate via this page (they accept paypal, too, so international readers can enter!) with a minimum donation of $5.00 via paypal, then your name is entered to win:
- an ARC of Hunter’s Fall, personalized to the winner, drawn randomly
Any donation of $5.00 or more to the fund will be entered. You can simply forward the confirmation from Indiegogo to contest4shiloh@gmail.com and that will be your entry. I received mine and there is no personal data included, no name, address, nada.
Now… anybody who’s hung out at my blog has probably noticed I kind of believe in the power of giving-there’s a sort of magic to it. Karma, reap what you sow…good things come back on those who give. Not right away, but it happens. Sometimes in hidden blessings, sometimes in more obvious ways, but there is power in it.
Whoever makes the largest donation to help this amazing man is going to receive huge, sloppy kisses from me…um, scratch that… how about books. An ARC stack.
*this is all all or nothing-one winner gets them all*
- An ARC of Hunter’s Fall
- ARCs of all three books from my upcoming romantic suspense trilogy
- An ARC of my upcoming Grimm book, Locked in Silence
ARCs will not be immediately available…will be mailed later, but the recipient will get them before release date, I promise.
And…if you’re a blogger and you want to help out even more…click here.
Info gathered via indiegogo, HuffPo and various googles…