With @40Acts: Act ONE: Create a giving jar

The #BigRead12 will be posting daily actions from @40Acts, on the site, on Twitter, and via @12Baskets daily newsletters. 

Acts 20: 35  ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’

http://www.40acts.org.uk/

And so it begins. Between now and Easter Sunday you, me and millions of other Christians around the world will walk an ancient path. Some of us will give up chocolate, coffee or cakes while others will become pilgrims, literally walking in the footsteps of countless generations.

Whatever we do, Lent will unite us: the persecuted Christian living in the Middle East, the farmer struggling against a changing climate in Peru, the mother in fear of war or pain of poverty. And those of us who are none of the above.

Which is why, this Lent, I’m so excited that again we are going to be sharing the 40acts journey with so many of you. Together we will be challenged, inspired, made to think and encouraged to act.

Action

Let’s start with something simple and familiar: let’s find something to give up. Find a jar (or open up a note on your phone) and every time you forgo that coffee, that cinema trip, bus fare or whatever it is will help sharpen your focus, put in the money saved. By the time Easter comes around, you’ll be able to give it all away to a charity or cause that has caught your attention.

Mike O’Neill

Mike is Chief Executive of Stewardship. He is passionate about simple acts of generosity and encouraging others to develop a generous lifestyle. Mike is married to Donna and they have three young children.

International Justice Mission UK

Trafficking in human lives generates profits in excess of 32 billion US dollars a year for those who sell human lives into slavery and sexual bondage. Nearly 2 million children are exploited in the commercial sex industry.

The International Justice Mission (IJM), a Christian charity, seeks to restore to victims of oppression the things that God intends for them: their lives, their liberty, their dignity, the fruits of their labour.  www.ijmuk.org