Sharing what we have this Christmas will give hope to those who need us!

Dear frens,

It’s 4.30am, I woke up reviewing my day yesterday and can’t get back to sleep because I felt so inspired to write to you, to thank you for the years of support for allowing me to successfully bring appeals of humanitarian aid right into your offices, your homes, amidst your busy schedules and on your weekends.

Yesterday, when the opportunity presented itself, I tried a new way of raising funds for the poor. Many were involved. I spent an entire day doing up a slideshow which I think nobody really looked at. We also made exhibition boards the day before, laminated them plus a host of other logistic arrangements like getting permissions from organizers to put up a booth to organizing items we could sell to raise these funds for people in Kenya who have almost nothing.

For this, I also had to inconvenience 2 friends to try to find something last minute for me to sell. Believe it or not, one of them, I had to text him at Mt Tabor during his holidays and he had to text his office staff to set it up for us so we could collect it within hours of the same day. Not forgetting another wonderful set of people who had to drop their plans for the day to race across our island to pick up generously donated chocolates within another 2 hours for us to be ready for yesterday’s sale event.

So yesterday, the day started at 6am and ended at 6pm. We made $1,100 selling chocolates 2@$10. It was hard work. Many were happy at $1,100 but I asked myself what can we buy for $1,100?

We could get 50 or 60 mattresses for the homeless and destitute in Kenya and many will be able to close their eyes in a comfortable bed, forget their troubles for awhile whilst they sleep. I know it would be almost heaven for them to have these necessities that we take for granted in our lives. Many of us jump into our thousands of dollar mattresses quite unhappy every night don’t we? I know I have had my share of those nights.

I want to do more for people who live amongst trash. It is impossible for me to understand how that feels like. Just being in our HDB rubbish shack the other day for a few minutes, I was going to puke needless to say I would surely die if I had to live in one with no hope of escaping from it.. I have to do more for them and I know, we as a whole can do more.

I was thinking of all this now at 4.30am and it dawned upon me what a great gift God has given me…He has made way for his Holy Spirit to constantly work beside me –He gently inspires me to help the poor, He inspires my pen to write and His gift of a group of like-minded friends like you whom I can write to share my passion in helping those who have very little.

I have not done an overseas project for at least a year now, largely concentrating on the poor in Singapore.

So now friends, for this Christmas I bring before you the poor in Kenya, Africa.

For many years, I have seen and heard of the extreme poverty in Africa but it seems so far away and it was not within my reach to help the sick, the hungry, the child and the homeless.

I now know of a trusted catholic priest on the ground that I can work our projects with, to help these poverty stricken brothers and sisters of ours.

So friends would you like to join me to make this Christmas really count for something in the lives of another?

To give a homeless person perhaps a shelter over his head, a hot meal to a child or simple soap to be clean and smelling fresh this Christmas?

If funds allow we can also work towards education of children in poverty and creating lifeline opportunities for work for women with HIV, rejected by their families.

Many of us through the year have made great mental and physical sacrifices to be at the jobs we dislike and even if we love our jobs we have had to sacrifice precious time we would have had with our kids, our wives, our husbands, our parents, our friends to make money so our love ones can have a better life.

Would you like to make all these Sacrifices count for something?

We can make a real difference if together we can build a school or even repair one.

I am envisioning a fund of $10,000 to $20,000 to help the African homeless, destitute, street kids, HIV adults and children build better lives through us in year 2010.

If you feel called to join me in this project, do email me or text me. We are working with Father Conor Donnelly, an Opus Dei priest on the ground in Kenya.

I can as usual consolidate and send our funds to him. If your contribution is large and you would like to send it directly to him that is also ok. I will undertake to ensure that we do the extra mile with these funds sent over. Acknowledgement receipts from Fr. Conor Donnelly for your contributions can arranged if required.

Here's wishing everyone, Merry Christmas and may blessings of the holiday season be upon you.
May the Lord always bless you bountifully for what you are to others in ways big or small.

God Bless,
mill