You are about to read something that I hope will turn you into a critical thinker. If you were to ask someone about Joseph Kony today, they would most likely be able to tell you who he is (if not, you clearly don't know how to use Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube). The Invisible Children** non-profit organization released a video of him and his evil actions that has seen millions of views in less than three days. This video is all over my Facebook news feed and re-tweeted by people I follow on Twitter. I watched it and was deeply saddened. If you're like me, you are emotionally drawn to anything that has a sad story. The problem is, we often jump on the bandwagon of stories or organizations that speak of a 'good' cause without researching them. The bigger problem is, we don't get this fired up about spreading the name of Jesus.
We have also seen that evil isn't stopped by killing particular people (Hitler, Stalin, Bin Laden, etc, etc). Evil exists because Satan exists. Evil is a spirit. However, evil is reduced when people pray. When was the last time you prayed for an evil person such as Kony? If God's grace is for everyone, why won't most Christians pray for Kony's salvation?
Maybe it's time for you to use this Kony exposure as an opportunity to relate it to the Gospel with someone. Maybe it's a chance for you to talk about grace and love. Maybe it's a chance for you to pray for those who don't know Christ. Maybe it's a chance for you to realize the importance of giving your time and finances to a church and/or a non-profit that makes Jesus famous. Maybe it's time for you to use your social media account as an opportunity to be an example for Christ. Maybe it's time for you to stop hiding behind your social media account and live it! The choice is yours...
FYI
**The producer of this Kony film quoted the government and said that the government won't get involved unless it compromised the United States financial interests. So it's about money...Did you know that non-profts are rated on a 4-star scale? They are rated on a finance report and by accountability and transparency. It's important to know the impact that non-profits are making and where the money is actually going. You might want to research somebody before you give your money away. Although Invisible Children is a great cause, only 31% of your donation actually goes into charity work. The rest of the 69% goes to film making, travel expenses, and salaries. Just something to think about.**
FYI** You may want to actually research your FYI facts before just reposting what you heard elsewhere first.
ReplyDeleteI'm not particularly into supporting causes myself, but here is their defense to your accusations, and more, with facts.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html
Thanks Matt. I actually did do my research (and not what they just provide on their own website). The "Breakdown of Expenses" page which they posted themselves is from page 36 on their financial review. You might want to check out page 34 for yourself. With a little math, my percentages come out accurate (not just what I heard from unaccredited sources). Plus the 80.46% spent on programs that they claim is an accurate yet deceiving claim. What do they mean by programs? (Oh, you mean the addition of film making, travel expenses, charity work, and 'kony kits' combined??). You might want to do your own research Sir and not just trust them by what they provide on their website.
DeleteMore information can be found here at Charity Navigator. Which as they call it, is your 'guide to intelligent giving'. Their overall score is quite low compared with others.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12429
Still not convinced? Maybe you should watch the report given by CBS. You can even fast forward to about 3 minutes in where the statistics I provided are proven and where one of the workers of IC admits as to why most of their money raised is not used on the 'ground' in Africa.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7401423n&tag=mncol%3Blst%3B1