20 July 2009

What's going on with Courtney?

Hiya!

I hope this letter finds you in a place of peace and provision despite the
world around us. It is a pre-email to a letter I will send to you in a few
days, this being more of a personal reflection and introduction to the
official ‘support letter’ so you can better understand where I am coming
from. Nothing like getting a random letter from a foreign land out the blue!

I am writing from San Diego, where I am living only part time, while I work
a seasonal job in Santa Monica. Seasonal because I am making a big step in
September and moving to Hong Kong to work for Crossroads International! I
have worked with them before and have always known that one day I would
return, that season is upon me now. An innumerable amount of life changes
and decisions have led me to this point and are too many to name here
(though you can feel free to contact me and we can talk about it all)!

Suffice to say; I feel I have been preparing for this moment my whole life.
Crossroads is an amazing humanitarian aid organization that focuses on the
redistribution of excess material goods both locally and internationally to
the most needy and vulnerable people on the planet.
Their organization is four-fold:
Crossroads International distributes quality goods that will be
used by grassroots organizations working with impoverished people groups
worldwide. The Global Village offers simulated experiences of global need
that help people understand the daily life of those in need (much like the
work I was doing with World Vision!). Global Handicrafts sells fair trade
goods from people in poverty to support local artisans and small businesses.
Finally, Global Hand is much like a virtual Crossroads, providing a
‘matching’ website for public-private partnerships to connect their
resources and needs.

I will be working with Crossroads come September and have committed to a
year of service with them. I have not received a specific job yet, and I
will keep you updated on that for sure! It will be along the lines of both
the work I have done with other non-profits (and the work I hope to spend
the rest of my life doing) working with international teams and grants,
making sure the people we are ultimately serving on the field are heard well
and that lines of communication are open between the giving and receiving
ends of this work.

It will be a fulltime volunteer position and I will be working on building
partnerships and finding sponsors for the work I am doing over the next few
months. I aim to gain a foundation of supporters willing to commit to a
regular monthly amount. I already have nearly $200 in monthly commitments of
the $1500 monthly goal I need to meet!

A friend of mine who works for a non-profit through the individual support
model gave me some words of wisdom the other day. I learned that over 50% of
his donations come from people who give less than $50 a month! So don’t be
discouraged if you want to be a part of this work but can’t afford much! If
you think what you can give is just a drop in the bucket, think about this…
if there were no drops in the bucket, it would be empty! That is one thing I
have learned working with a world in such need, you give what you can and
even if you can’t change the world, you can change one person’s world! In
this case, partnering with the work I am doing will be changing hundreds, if
not thousands of people’s worlds!

So I have a running tally of people who are planning on coming along side of
the work I am moving in to, let me know if I can add you to it! This is not
official (yet), just so I can be getting an idea of how many people can
partner with me and how much they are able to give. Like I said before, I
will be sending out a more “official” letter soon!

I hope all is well with you and your family! I am so grateful for your
financial partnership and prayer support both in the past and now, in this
new season I am moving in to! Let me know if you’d like to get together
before I leave. Also, let me know if you know anybody who would be
interested in partnering with me in this. Feel free to forward this on to
anyone that comes to mind who would be stoked on the work I am doing with
Crossroads!

Keep your eyes peeled for updates popping up in your inbox as I prepare for
this big step!

Take care,
courtney brandt