Brant's Blog of Awesomeness

Some Everyday Heroic People...

Here's the link to the video we just talked about.

Warning:  Intense.  Not for little kids. 

Awesome Results from the "Pablo and Brant Instant Song Lab" (PABISL)

We said to name a topic.  You said you wanted a song about puppets.

In five minutes, Pablo wrote the lyrics, and then I made up the instant melody.  "Mr. Puppet Man" was born.  Profound?  Yes.  Kinda pitchy?  Yes.  

Download Mr Puppet Man

You can donate 99 cents to the station if you want.  

(P.S. -- This has NOTHING to do with Abraham Lincoln.  I just thought a picture would be cool, and don't have tons of time to look around for an appropriate one.  But A. Lincoln was pretty awesome, so it's all good.)

Questions About World Vision? Here's My Take

In the next couple days, we'll be asking you to consider participating in "child sponsorship" through World Vision.  I always get a lot of questions about this sort of thing, and I never, EVER, want to mislead anyone about something like this.  I figure, the more info, the more honesty, the better.

I can tell you , it would bother me a LOT to hear, later, "Hey, I sponsored a child, but why didn't you tell me about this...?"  I, and we, take our relationship with you very, very seriously. 

I never want to do a sales job. 

I want all of us, including me, to have our hearts broken by the things that break the heart of Jesus, and for us to respond in love and generosity. 

Not because of manipulation.  Or false impressions.  Or half-truths.  But out of wisdom-informed love.

If that means you want to give to World Vision -- wonderful!  If someone else -- wonderful!  -- so long as He has our hearts.  And, yeah, that'll mean credit and debit cards, too.  If we actually love the Lord with everything we've got -- everything else follows, and it's not a drag, it's joy.

So, some FAQ's, answered from my understanding.  Some of this may or may not surprise you.

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Does World Vision do good work?

It does. It's a massive organization, with its hands in many things, from advocating for third-world debt relief, partnering with the One Campaign, to building wells and irrigation systems and schools around the world.  World Vision does many wonderful things for many people.

When I sponsor a child, how much of the money goes for that specific child?

None goes directly to your child.  The money is used to fund World Vision projects, such as clean water, or immunization programs, etc. that people in the local community can benefit from.  Sponsorship funds do not directly benefit your child, but are put into a pool to provide a needed service, or services, in the area.

What is the benefit, then, specifically for the sponsored child?

My understanding:  If you don't write to, or pray for, your child, there is no specific benefit for that individual child.  

This is why writing is so important.  World Vision is at work in that child's community, but it's up to you to make that sponsor-child connection.    Expect correspondence to take months, but they will get it.

Again, your personal effort in making a connection to the child is VERY important.  Without it -- without your letters and extra gifts -- the child may very well not know who you are, or even that he has a sponsor, or what sponsorship is.  It's very likely up to you to make this mean something to the child.

Is the child taught about Jesus as the ultimate source of real hope?

It depends.  Your sponsorship may or may not include Christian guidance or instruction. 

This decision is made on a country-by-country basis, and is based on World Vision's desire not to offend local sensibilities.  In Senegal, where I visited, for example:  While there is religious freedom, it is a Muslim-majority country.  In that case, W.V. allows its staff (some or many of whom are Christian) to answer questions about religion, when someone brings it up.

But for Senegal, and some of the other countries World Vision works in, the organization does not think it appropriate to offer children Christian teaching, or to allow sponsors to write about Jesus to the children.  (You should know this ahead of time, to avoid possible confusion/disappointment later on.) 

In many other countries, World Vision welcomes you to talk about Jesus in your letters.

Are all Christian "child sponsorship" organizations essentially the same?

No, not from my view.  How "child sponsorship" looks in one organization can be starkly different from another. 

This isn't to say they don't all do some wonderful things.  But while many organizations use "child sponsorship" as a means of fundraising, that phrase can take on very different meanings.

Is World Vision a valid way to give to the poor?

I certainly think it's a valid way to provide some wonderful things.  World Vision funds -- or partners in funding, along with other large aid organizations, governments, corporations, etc. -- some projects that are very merciful.  Clean water is a great example.  Better sanitation.  More mosquito nets.  It's a long list. 

Or, as we saw in Senegal, the beginnings "drip irrigation" system that can increase agricultural yields by 500%.  Some families are able to benefit from this by farming designated rows in those fields, leading to more potential prosperity for them.

The money you send as a sponsor will be pooled together with that of other sponsors to fund these sorts of programs.

If you would like to sponsor a child through World Vision, please go to www.returntohope.com

If you have any other questions for me/us, please feel free to call us during the show at 888-448-7234, or text us, and we'll do our best!

One Very Full Day in Senegal with World Vision

Meet Gabriel, Gabriel's awesome bike, and a whole lot of sweet little kids.  I mean LITTLE kids...

Dance-Off Video from Senegal

I don't think I won.  But I did demonstrate an exciting fusion of moves, ranging from The Robot to Russian military self-defense maneuvers.

A 401k Plan You Can Tickle

...and boy, does it work.

So we're in Senegal, visiting village after village today, and playing with a whole lot of very sweet little kids.  Sweet little kids, I should say, with not a thing to play with.  Literally no thing.  

Nothing.

So we play tickle monster (standard operating procedure for a dad, of course) and we twirl and I laugh and they giggle.  And we take pictures with our digital cameras, and show them what, for likely the first time, is a first look at themselves in a photo.  Their eyes brighten, and they smile, look away -- then look again, and smile.  Thank God they don't think what I thought when I first saw them:  These children are not eating well.  Many have hair missing...in clumps.  But they see themselves, and they smile, and so do we.

It says on our money, "In God We Trust", and many Christians pass emails around, protesting rumors of the removal of that phrase.  Understandable?  Okay.  But so is wondering, of course, if we who protest really, truly trust God with our money...or whether it's easier to have our coins say it.  

I say we don't, really, trust God with our money.  If we did, we'd invest in His ultimate retirement plan:  "He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord WILL repay him."  -- it says that in Proverbs.  I may not be exactly quoting -- don't have my Bible right here -- but I'm darn close.

Our entire banking system -- our entire economy! -- is based on just that:  trust.  Shoot, the root word for "credit" is the same as "credibility".  It means "trust".  You have money, so who do you trust with it?  Maybe you trust a banker you've never met, a broker you'll never see, or a corporation that, God promises, will vanish, eventually, like a vapor.  

People are now struggling to find a trustworthy place, with a solid return, for their money.  May I propose, for those who say they subscribe to "In God We Trust", that they actually trust God with their money?  Maybe that's you.  It's certainly me.

God says:  Give to the poor, and you're lending to me.  And I WILL repay you.  That's a guaranteed return.  God says He WILL repay you.  

Give to the poor.  Give to the poor.  Give to the poor.  God WILL repay you.  GOD will repay you.  He promises it.  

Take it to the bank.

Or don't -- take it to these children, or others like them.  God will repay you.  When?  How?  I don't know.  But He promises it.  Still worried about your retirement years?   Listen to one of these children giggle, smell their milky breath, hold their dirty little hands...and wonder, with me, if they'll even see high school.

God says He WILL repay you.

www.returntohope.com

A quick hello from Nikki...

First day in Senegal!  Which, strangely...feels like it's been a couple days...hard to believe we arrived at 5:00am this morning. 

The plane ride was smooth.  It was a light flight, so we were able to stretch out...pretty happy about that! They also gave us complimentary toothbrushes, eyemasks, and socks(see below). Awesomeness.  Didn't think there was ANYTHING complimentary on airplanes anymore. We even got a MEAL. 

It is just amazing to be put out of your comfort zone from the moment you get off the plane.  I think it's good for you.  The rest of today consisted of an uncomfortable serving of fish at lunch. The fish still had its teeth (see below).  Enough said.  We then went and talked to some wonderful people at the World Vision national offices.  

Oh, and of course, Brant provided lots of awkwardness at dinner trying to speak French.  Only not really French, more just trying to speak with an authentic French accent.  See the video.  I rest my case. 

Au revoir for now friends!

Nikki

Day One is Getting Started: We're in Senegal

Just made it to Senegal.  Nikki, Donna Cruz (from "Afternoons with Donna Cruz") and I are here with World Vision, to see how they operate.  Senegal is a Muslim nation on the very western tip of Africa. This is where the hurricanes originate that wind up hitting Florida and causing big hassles.  

It's complex, how this happens, but according to the "butterfly effect'", a chain of events, resulting in a hurricane, can begin a single butterfly flapping its wings.  So, today's to-do list, while in Senegal:

1.  Find that butterfly.

2.  Kill it.

After that, we're setting out, shortly, to visit World Vision's national offices here.  Then we'll get a chance to play with some sponsored kids, and some kids looking to "Return to Hope" -- kids who've lost their sponsors, and are waiting, sometimes for years, for someone to speak up to take them.

I just lugged a giant bag full of soccer balls 4,000 miles.  I think the kids here love soccer.  At least, they're going to, after I just lugged a giant bag full of soccer balls 4,000 miles.  Oh, yes.  They're going to LIKE it.

The flight here was fine.  As I've written before, I always wonder what's going on up there in First Class.  They have a curtain, of course, so we can't see, but it doesn't block the smells, and someone up there was making toast.  "Ooh, we're First Class.  Smell out toast that you can't have."

Our coworker and friend, Bruce, gave Nikki and me a ride to the airport, and everybody was pumped!  It was awesome, at 5 a.m. on the morning after July 4th!  We were all ready to par-tay!

Miss Ellie Was Robbed: She's Uglier. And She Would be PERFECT Mascot for This Show.

Just my opinion.  "Miss Ellie" is uglier, albeit in a still-kind-of-endearing way.

But "Pabst" won.  Granted, he's kinda frightening, in a no-seriously-he's-just-frightening kind of way.

Here's Miss Ellie, and Pabst is below.  Pabst won this year's "World's Ugliest Dog" competition.

Britt Nicole's Dreams Come True

...as she gets a chance to perform a Southern Gospel song with me.  She was right proud.

Britt -- whose album drops August 11th -- has a new big hit on her hands with "The Lost Get Found", sure, but this will probably be a highlight for her career.*

Enjoy the video!

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* -- provided her lawyers do not file cease-and-desist order to have video removed.