Venture Philanthropy

Jo Hunter Adams

We came back from DC on Tuesday night and Noah survived his first trip to the capitol. Bethesda is a great town; there was an art fair on Sunday when we arrived, and the vibe was warm and friendly. Noah didn't manage the flight back very well, and the trip was pretty exhausting for both Eug and I. That said, I think it's good that we tried something new with Noah, and it was better than me being away from him for 3 days.

And...we were able to keep Noah in his BumGenius diapers for the three days-- partially because he did so well at going to the hotel toilet (elimination communication is tons easier when you can keep the room temperature really warm). The main thing I was nervous about was bringing a poopy diaper back on the plane, which thankfully didn't happen. I'll spare you more details.

So, onto the subject of this post: Nicholas Kristof had this article in the New York Times yesterday.

Kristof writes about people working on projects where they saw a need and decided to respond, to drive the broader point that a committed individual, without institutional/governmental backing, can generate incredible, positive change. I wanted to share the story here because I think it's easy to get caught up in looking to meet my day-to-day [financial? physical?] needs (surviving the 5:00am wakeup).

Kristof mentions one couple who founded One Day's Wages after giving away all their salary ($68,000) for a year. What do you think about that kind of decision? Any gut reactions?

Bolder Giving (and receiving)

Jo Hunter Adams

About a year ago, Eug and I were inspired by Tom and Bree Hsieh's story, featured on Bolder Giving. We were doing the Lazarus at the Gate (LATG) curriculum at the time, and trying to figure out how to give, which is one of the central themes of the curriculum (Live more simply to give more generously). The curriculum even inspired me to write an e-book!

Yet recently I've felt anxiety, and a need to engineer a sense of financial certainty. So I went back to Tom Hsieh's story to get inspired, and was reminded of what provision could mean. The Hsieh's live on the median U.S. income (in L.A., an expensive city) and give away everything beyond that.

There's a definite seasonality to our finances, which seems good-- financial priorities should shift to stay in line with our other priorities. When we did the LATG curriculum the first time, we had a ton of student loan debt and were living primarily on Eug's income; the second time, we had more almost eliminated our debt and had two incomes; now, we're free of student loan debt, our income is unpredictable and we're turning into a family of three. Through these changing seasons, I've felt a sense of God's provision (though I'm totally not pushing the prosperity gospel, because that's just shady).

Rather, looking back affirms my sense that living in the uncertainty (rather than trying to engineer certainty) is a good thing: That feeling of euphoria that we could buy a house in Obs after very little planning; the offer, this past weekend, of a (an amazing) car from a virtual stranger. Both things that we don't technically need. Giving seems a pretty safe "risk" when we have so much.

Economic Justice at a Personal Level: Part 2 of Reflections on Lazarus at the Gate

Jo Hunter Adams

A course called Lazarus at the Gate has been helping me think about the contradiction I described yesterday. The course title is taken from Luke 16 in the Christian New Testament (Copied below).

With credit to Gary Van Der Pol, who wrote the curriculum I wanted to share some of my experiences in this group for two reasons. Firstly, to verbalize and make my experiences concrete. Secondly, some of my readers are friends and family in South Africa, and I feel amazed by the possibility for those who feel this is something that is close to your hearts, and want to encourage and support you. In South Africa (as in Boston), the time for economic justice comes every single day.

It’s a twelve-week course walking a small group of individuals through what God has to say about economic justice, and about wealth in general. In response, each individual thinks of one way to live more simply, one way to change one habit to promote justice, and at the end each group chooses to give a certain amount as a concrete step towards economic justice. These are the big possible impacts of Lazarus here in Boston (taken from week 12 of the curriculum):

If each Lazarus group continues to give on a yearly basis, over a quarter of a million dollars will be given to the poor in the next five years.

If each Lazarus group continues to give on a yearly basis and launches one new Lazarus group, over $1 million dollars will be given to the poor in the next three years.

If each Lazarus participant asks their local grocery to carry fair trade, basic items such as fair trade fruit, sugar, and rice could be widely available in stores in Greater Boston.

So at it’s core, Lazarus is about big things being accomplished with baby steps. By August, I will upload an e-book that talks about giving in depth.

In the next installment I will discuss the theme of "Wealth as a Blessing".


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The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16)
19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell,[c] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

25"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

27"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

29"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

30" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

31"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Economic Justice at a Personal Level: Part 1 of Reflections on Lazarus at the Gate

Jo Hunter Adams

If you’re like me, you are trying to work out how to live your ideals in the context of the constraints on your time and money. For me, a rift developed soon after I finished United World College. As a Christian, there didn’t seem to be a way to combine my faith with all that I had learned at United World College.

What did I learn at UWC? It’s hard to summarize, but it was a kind of awakening—I discovered Christians weren’t the only ones working for justice, in fact, historically there seemed to be evidence of the opposite—Christians as perpetrators of injustice. I was young enough for this to result in fairly deep confusion, and I held the two ideas in tension without really resolving them. In Wales (and beyond) I had the opportunity to serve in different ways—usually with people who had genuinely different beliefs. Looking back, this began an inconsistency. Apart from with a few close friends, in justice settings I kept my faith fairly a little removed, and in faith settings I kept my feelings about injustice—and what I felt was the correct response—private.

There’s nothing wrong with this, except that I believe God is justice. Justice (and mercy) are God’s agenda, not only the domain of a bunch of people. And so justice and faith should interact. That doesn’t mean that people who have a heart for justice need me preaching to them. Nor does it mean that I take this agenda to all faith interactions. I think it means that there’s no contradiction within myself, and the rest will work itself in time.

Over the next few days and weeks, I'll be thinking about a course I recently took part in, and the types of things it's made me think about. Up to now a lot of my thoughts on economic justice have been at a structural level (how do we change the system) whereas recently my thoughts have been more focused on starting small-- economic justice as acted out as an individual. Please join me on this journey!

P.S. And I hope to keep updates on the plants going, as well as a few other things...