Advent Conspiracy

Advent Conspiracy


Did you know that last year the The National Retail Federation forecasted that Americans would spend $457.4 billion dollars at Christmas and that the average family would spend $907? Does this bother you as it does me?

Is spending money on stuff that will likely be forgotten in a matter of months and going into debt to do it, the best way to celebrate the birth our Lord? The last time I went to a birthday party I did not go expecting gifts, I went to give to the one being celebrated. It makes sense to me that we should do the same for the One we celebrate this Christmas season.

What is Christmas about? When someone says "Christmas" what comes to mind? Some people think of Santa and others think of a Christmas tree. But, unfortunately the first thing most people think of is the gifts. Spending lots of money, racing to the store the day after Thanksgiving (guilty.), and mostly focusing on the material things. Is this what Christmas is about? NO. Christmas is first and foremost a celebration of the birth of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Christmas should not be about being mad at your parents because they didn't get you the ultra-super-sonic toilet paper dispenser you 'always' wanted. It is not about how much money you spend. How many lights are up. or how big your new gift is. Christmas is about spending time with family, friends, the people you care about most.

I love the spirit behind Advent Conspiracy, a movement to inspire the Church to give relationally, and redistribute the money that would have been spent, on those that are truly in need. In doing so we give to Jesus.

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

Are you on Facebook? Join the Advent Conspiracy Group and join in the conversation.



Basic Info (from the Facebook group)
[AC] Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by substituting compassion for consumption.

For three years Advent Conspiracy has been giving people hope that Christmas doesn't have to be about credit cards, to-do lists and traffic jams. It's about:
- Worshiping Christ more meaningfully.
- Refusing our culture's hunger for consumerism.
- Giving relationally to our friends and family.
- Loving all by giving to those most in need.

[AC 2008] -- The past two years of Advent Conspiracy has changed the way tens of thousands of Christians celebrate Christmas, and resulted in millions of dollars being redistributed to needy neighborhoods and solving the global water crisis.

Feed a Child with Just a Click!

Okay guys....here's a few sites I reccomend you go to if you liked the free rice site. Some of them all you have to do is click a button and your done! Just like that! It only takes 10 seconds and you can change a child's life!

This was originally posted on Facebook. Here's the link, join the group! and invite others to do the same!! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=6324544002&ref=ts

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Imagine if your sister, brother, son, daughter, mother or father died from starvation.
....It's happening 24,000 times a day or 6.5 million children dying every year!
....Imagine helping them for free!

- The 18,000 or so CHILDREN that DIED TODAY (and every day) of STARVATION or MALNUTRITION and,
- The 850,000,000 or so people who will go to bed tonight with EMPTY STOMACHS.

World Food Price inflation, the 'perfect storm' for hunger is happening right now!
Millions more are going hungry! Riots have happened! Food Prices are rising around the World.

Fact: 6.5 million children die every year from hunger.
Fact: 75 cents (3 meals) a day can save a child's life.
Fact: Internet Advertising Revenue can help.

Complacency with the downside of human existence can no longer be the way, as has been in the past.

IT MUST and WILL STOP in our LIFETIME!

[[UPDATE: When this group reaches 5,000,000 members, we'll donate $500 to the WFP (eqv. 2,000 meals).]]


_____________THIS GROUP'S OBJECTIVE_______________

1. Every year, over $30 billion is made from the Internet because people Clicked! $1 billion of this, in our lifetime, will go to Charity (WFP) through Free Click Donation Sites!

Status: Awareness growing.

2. To expose World-wide Hunger, particulary Child Hunger, to the World.

Status: Over 6 million people have been invited/made aware. Under 4 million people have joined.


_______HUNGER & STARVATION: WHAT IS IT LIKE______

When hunger contractions occur in the stomach, the person sometimes experiences mild pain in the pit of the stomach, called hunger pangs. Hunger pangs usually do not begin until 12 to 24 hours after the last ingestion of food, in starvation. A single hunger contraction lasts about 30 seconds, and pangs continue for around 30-45 minutes, then hunger subsides for around 30-150 minutes. Individual contractions are separated at first, but are almost continuous after a time.

Individuals experiencing starvation lose substantial fat and muscle mass as the body breaks down these tissues for energy. Catabolysis is the process (medical condition) of a body breaking down muscles and other tissues in order to keep vital systems (such as the nervous system and heart muscle) working.


_________________HOW DO WE END IT?___________________

1. Exposure, exposure, exposure to enlighten.
2. Donations, donations, donations towards the poor.
3. Economic development, better policies, and enlightenment of everyone to develop sustainable societies for food production, all the way to grass-roots.
4. Organizations providing cheap food, off the market, to the WFP and other humanitarian organizations.
5. Awareness of what drives up food prices, and preventing this with alternative solutions.

These 5 steps will end World Hunger. But it takes work.

Make it happen now: http://www.poverty.com/internationalaid.html


_______________________DO MORE____________________

Awareness, Free Feed Clicks and/or Donations are just the beginning. Get out there and help all people; those starving, homeless or sad. Diseases, lack of shelter, adverse environments are devastating people all ACROSS THE WORLD, even in your own country at times!

Help everyone that needs helping, from next door to around the world, once you have found your best way to do it!

http://www.pledgebank.com/

_________JOIN MORE____________________________

Child Sex Slavery - Know about it: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7099516708

Open your MIND and Advance EARTH: http://www.advanceearth.blogspot.com/

Support the UN: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2437948035

Projects for Peace: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8004219372

Know your rights : http://apps.new.facebook.com/causes/92437?m=3cb97&recruiter_id=5624142

To Plant a TREE! : http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/iChapters/7061939610

Donate $5 for free! : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hotels-Combined-For-Charity/38115375287

myFarms: Play to donate! :http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=12572207686

Lets also make Google.Com a free donation click site!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15238962773

Support Kate across Bangladesh:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29511412177

Other sites:
http://www.smallact.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/threethingscomau/20735683655
http://www.lovelessapparel.com/


__________ 'FEED A CHILD' OFFSHOOTS_____________

Send our new Eyesore to friends!
http://apps.new.facebook.com/eyesores/eyesores/viewEyesoresGifts/0/20/created__desc (click on FeedtheChild)!

Feed a Child with Just a Click! Sprout! http://farm.sproutbuilder.com/2513/load/BQAyaHFYAOB1crS9.swf


__________________THANK YOU___________________

Have faith in Good People. Help make food shortages end in our lifetime, NOW!

Thank you : 3.7 million caring Members! Together we are making a difference!

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AND HELP SAVE THE REST OF THE WORLD....

≡≡≡≡≡≡ Save the Animals : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡≡

http://babyseals.care2.com/ - Save the Seals!
http://bigcats.care2.com/ - Save the Big Cats!
http://primates.care2.com/ - Save the Monkeys!
http://bigcats.care2.com/front.html?c=1&p=&iID= - Help Tigers!
http://bigcats.care2.com/front.html?c=2&p=&iID= - Help Jaguars!
http://bigcats.care2.com/front.html?c=3&p=&iID= - Help Leopards!
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com - Feed Starving Animals!
http://pets.care2.com/ - Help Homeless Animals!
http://ecologyfund.com/ecology/_donate_species.html - Protect Wildlife!

≡≡≡≡≡≡ Help Education : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡≡

http://www.buildaschool.org - Help build a School!
http://www.e-inclusionsite.org/en/clickDonate.php - Promote IT!
http://www.theliteracysite.com - Free Books to the poor!
http://www.ripple.org/give.php?p=education - Help Educate!

≡≡≡≡≡ Save the Environment : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡

http://stopglobalwarming.care2.com/ - Offset Carbon, Stop Warming!
http://ecologyfund.com/ecology/_donate_pol.html - Reduce Pollution!
http://ecologyfund.com/ecology/_donate_coastal.html - Save a Coast!
http://oceans.care2.com/ - Save the Dolphins!
http://www.therainforestsite.com - Protect Habitats!
http://www.clickforgreenland.com/_us/_en/home.aspx - Save Melting Greenland!
http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/donate.php - Help the Environment!
http://cannecy.free.fr/solar/index.php - Create Free Solar Energy!

≡≡≡≡≡ Help the Forests and Plants : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡

http://cannecy.free.fr/iforest/en/ - Plant an Oak!
http://www.diewaldseite.de/ - Help the Forests, from Germany!
http://www.ettklickforskogen.se/engelska/ettKlickeng.asp - Help Old Forests!
http://www.tree4life.com/ingles/ingles.htm - Plant a tree in Brazil!
http://www.landcareniagara.com/ - Plant a tree in Niagara!
http://ecologyfund.com/ecology/_donate_rainforest.html - Save the Amazon!
http://ecologyfund.com/ecology/_donate_us.html - Save the Wilderness!
http://ecologyfund.com/ecology/donate_plant_tree.html - Plant a Tree!
http://redjellyfish.com/ - Help the Rainforest!
http://rainforest.care2.com/ - Help our Rainforests!

≡≡≡≡≡≡ Promote Health : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡≡

http://breastcancer.care2.com - Prevent Breast Cancer!
http://matercare.org/lifesaver.asp - Help Surgery!
http://www.giveaminute.org/ - Give Healthcare!
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com - Stop Breast Cancer!
http://www.thechildhealthsite.com - Child Healthcare!
http://www.thestophivsite.com - Stop HIV/AIDS!
http://www.craigresearchlabs.com/cancer.html - Stop Cancer!

≡≡≡≡≡≡ Help Stop Poverty : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡≡

http://www.ripple.org/give.php?p=food - Start a Crop!
http://www.ripple.org/give.php?p=money - Help Finance the Poor!
http://www.povertyfighters.com - Help Raise Money!
http://www.solvepoverty.com - Help Jobs!
http://dsmith11.tripod.com - Help Health and Poverty!
http://www.accse.net/rasa/donacion-rasa.html - Help Agriculture!

≡≡≡≡≡≡ Promote Safety : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡≡

http://stopviolence.care2.com - Stop Violence against Women!
http://www.clearlandmines.com - Stop Land mines!

≡≡≡≡≡≡ Clean Water for All : Free Donation Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡≡

http://www.ripple.org/give.php?p=water - Give 6 days of clean water!
http://www.cliquesemiarido.org.br/eng/default.asp - Free Clean Water!
___________________________________________________________________

Please invite all your friends and spread the word!

الرجاء دعوة جميع اصدقائكم ونشر الكلمه!

请邀请您所有的朋友和蔓延字！

Nodigen u al uw vrienden en verspreid het woord!

S’il vous plaît inviter tous vos amis!

Bấm nút giúp cho thức ăn và truyền tin giúp đỡ!

Bitte laden Sie Ihre Freunde und alle, die das Wort!

Παρακαλουμε να καλεσει ολους τους φιλους σας!

Vi preghiamo di invitare tutti i tuoi amici

すべての友達を招待してください、という言葉を広める！

당신의 모든 친구 초대하시기 바랍니다!

Por favor, convidar todos os seus amigos!

تكایه ههموو هاوڕێكانتان بانگهێشت بكهن و ئهمه بڵاو بكهنهوه!

Пожалуйста, приглашаю всех своих друзей!

Por favor, invitar a todos tus amigos!



Special Notice: Donate! 25 cents a meal @ http://www.causes.com/hunger

Welcome, الترحيب, 欢迎, Welkom, Bienvenue
Willkommen, Chào Mừng, Καλως ηλθατε, Benvenuti
ようこそ, 오신 것을 환영합니다, Bem-vindo,
بهخێر بێن, Добро пожаловать, Bienvenido

Welcome, to The Facebook Group dedicated to the 18,000 or so Children, and the 7,000 or so Adults, that die every day of Malnutrition & Starvation.

In the 21st Century.... Some mothers choose what their children will eat...
...Others choose which children will eat and which will die!

EVERY DAY, around 18,000 Children Die from Starvation!
___________________________________________________________

BEGIN to help... by.... CLICKING BELOW TO DONATE FOOD FOR FREE!

1) Join this group!

2) Click on "Invite People to Join" from the menu on the right

3) Select all your friends.

4) Click on "Send invitation" & through a Chain Reaction you will influence more free donations to the Hungry!

5) Click on the Free Food Links below to donate food!

When you click on the sites, the site displays ads from their sponsors.
Advertising money then goes to fund programs that give food to the hungry!
_______________________________________________________
|_____________ FREE FOOD DONATION CLICKS ______________|

=Staple Foods=
** http://www.freerice.com - Free Rice
** http://www.freeflour.com - Free Bread

=Free Water=
*** http://www.freepoverty.com - Lots of free water!
** http://www.helpthirst.com - Free water

=Free Meals=
*** http://www.pajacyk.pl - Click the green button!
*** http://www.ripple.org/give.php?p=food - Just Click!
*** http://www.porloschicos.com/PorLosChicos.NET/index_english.htm - Click the blue button!
*** http://www.feedsa.com - Click the white button!
*** http://www.hungerfighters.com - Click the green box!
*** http://www.povertyfighters.com/ - Click the blue box!
*** http://www.thehungersite.com - Click the yellow box!
*** http://www.okruszek.org.pl - Click the Bread button!
*** http://www.chintai.net/contribution/index.html - Click the blue box!
*** http://www.kct-uk.org/click - Just visit the site!
*** http://www.accse.net/delvalle/delvalle.html - Click on 'Donar'
*** http://www.straatkind.nl/ - Click on the small red ball.
*** http://www.worldhunger.org/contributefood.htm - Just click!

=Focused Free Clicks=
Help the kids:
** http://children.care2.com - Click the blue box!
** http://www.hungrychildren.com - Click the blue button!
Causes change monthly:
** http://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=2335 - Click the red button!
*** http://www.bhook.com - Just Click!

* http://www.definition-of.com - Submit a word
** http://www.spendu.org/beta/index.php - German Rice Game!

[[ CLICK RATINGS: *** = excellent **= good *= could be easier? ]]

_________________DONATE!!!_________________________

Please Donate spare money! A Meal is just 25 cents!
Go to : http://www.causes.com/hunger
Currently: over $12,000 USD donated (this Cause plus others)

♦ We find it hard to feel for these people, and importantly children, as they are not our own sister, son or relative.

♥ But if you just open your heart for 1 second you will be Flooded by the Despair facing the starving children of Humanity.

________________WANT TO KNOW MORE ?_________________

World Hunger: World Interactive Map - Where is World Hunger?
http://www.wfp.org/country_brief/hunger_map/map/hungermap_popup/map_popup.html

World Hunger: A Study of families - How much do you eat?
http://worldfoodinequality.googlepages.com/
Contact Info
Website:
http://stopevil.ning.com
Office:
Did you know: If everyone in this group donated just $1.4 a day - we could save the lives of 6.5 million people. That's entire YEAR of Children dying from Hunger!

Learn while feeding others!

Gelatinous means:
1. jelly-like
2. smart
3. disposed
4. anxious

Correct! Gelatinous means jelly-like! You have just donated 20 grains of rice!

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I try to spend at least 10 minutes on this site everyday. It's a site called Free Rice. http//:www.freerice.com At this site you are given questions in various subjects. which include, but are not limited to, Element Symbols (You'll love this Ms. C!!), Spanish, Geography, Math, and English vocabulary. When you are on this site you answer questions in a subject of your choice, each correct answer earns you 20 grains of rice. What good is this to me, you ask? I'll tell you what good it is. Every single grain that you earn is donated to hungry people all around the world! Just think about this, you learn things, and hungry people get to eat because of your knowledge! I mean, how cool is that!??!

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary and other subject matter to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This site is FREE! FREE to use, FREE to give. Just think of how much time you spend on the computer daily, you probably are on for at least an hour a day! If you spend TWO minutes each day on this site, you could provide a starving child with their meal for the day! This site is a great SAT prep tool too! :)



This site is amazing. And it only works if they have your support. So what I ask of you is this. Go to www.freerice.com , spend 5 minutes having fun learning, then provide a hungry person with food. This can only be beneficial if you do something NOW! DON'T procrastinate!! Go to the site NOW! it's www.freerice.com If you go now a child on the brink of starvation may get breakfast when they wake up in the morning! Do this, not only for yourself, but for that small starving child or adult. They thank you!!

Also, if you have a deviantart account (www.deviantart.com), or even if you don't, I recommend that you visit this link and add this stamp to your profile. (If you go to the link it's animated) Show your support! http://morowhitewolf.deviantart.com/art/Free-Rice-68439793 OR you can find more deviations (artwork) by going to this link http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=free+rice

Thank You for your Support!

Hannah :)

Our Young Old Teacher

Our online chemistry teacher, Shannon C'de Baca, is a young old lady. What do I mean by that? Well, the best I can describe is that she is NOT your average cranky old teacher who thinks all children are pests and is glad she never was one. And believe me I’ve known plenty of those kind. She doesn’t believe in strict old ways of teaching either (obviously if she’s an online teacher). She cares about each student she teaches. That’s one of the problems with a lot of today’s teachers; they don’t care. I don’t know…. It’s just really hard to describe. She doesn’t seem or act as old as she really is (I don’t think she would appreciate me saying how old she is). I can’t say enough good things about her… and I’ve only met her once in person! This is a shout out to the teacher whose last name I can’t pronounce! Ms. C! We love you!

http://auntshansblog.blogspot.com/

Here’s the address to Ms. C’s blog profile. Read it!

Display Picture

In case you haven't noticed we now have a display picture! I drew it (Niran) to represent me and Hannah. I'm on the left and Hannah's on the right. I made us extra cute and chubby! Go chibi style!

What's with 'i' before 'e?'

What is up with that rule? What about weird? Doesn't he feel lonely?!?! The english language is so weird...they have all of these different rules and exceptions to everything!! I think learning English as a second language would be so difficult! And it just keeps growing!! There's like 4x more words now then there were in Shakspeare's time. Some examples are; blog, internet, phone, photo, etc. It's CrAzY!!! And now we have TONS of ways to say everything! ex. good>not bad>great>unawful>awesome>wonderful>amazing>etc. <

Disturbed Sunbathing

I wrote a descriptive paragraph for English class that had a change of mood transition between paragraphs. I decided to share it!

I sigh as I lay myself down on the beautiful, crowded, Florida beach. There is a nice breeze coming from the south. It’s the perfect day for sunbathing on the white sand. I relax my legs, turn my hands palm up, and close my eyes. I'm welcoming the sun to whatever skin my swimsuit has left exposed, letting it wash over me. I feel a small wet drop splash on my face. It’s probably the salty, ocean spray...

I hear rustling all around me. People are leaving! I feel another splash on my face, then another, then another. Slightly annoyed from the people and the splashes for disturbing my peace I try to focus on the sun again. I find that I can't; I feel no warmth. Another splash lands on my lips. I taste it. The tiny splash does not taste salty like ocean water should. It tastes fresh, it tastes like... rain. Finally, I open my eyes. The sky is no longer sunny and the beach is nearly empty of people. Out of the corner of my eye I see cars in the parking lot driving away. Then, the downpour starts. I squeal, jump to my feet, and race to my car. By the time I get there I look like I've been swimming in the water rather than sunbathing. I open the car door, get in, and slam the door shut. I sit and stare for a moment and then groan. A perfect day completely ruined by the stupid weather. Well, I guess there will always be other sunny days.

The world is going places we don't want

Mad cow disease, bird flu, and e-coli! Well, we might as well starve! As of today I am officially a vegetarian. Not really. Although the other day I had veggie burgers for lunch and I hate to admit it but it tasted pretty darn good. Of course I'm going to get sick of beans, beans, beans all the time but oh well. Don't even get me started on the the stock market or global warming.....

Nevermind, too late. I already got myself started. I was chatting with some of my fellow classmates in my online chemistry course a couple weeks ago about global warming. Nearly everyone thought global warming doesn't exsist! "Isn't it just a theory?" NO!!! There is mountains of proof it exists. We are YEARS past proving it exists. Now we need to find how to at least slow it down if not stop it. I can't believe they thought it was JUST a theory. So to prove that it exists I recommended a documetary by Al Gore called "An Inconvenient Truth" and I gave them a couple of other websites. THEN they tried to discredit my evidence by saying "its kind of hypocritical for a guy who has his own private jet to be talking about global warming." First of all how would they know if he has his own private jet? Did they look it up? Doubtful. Second, did I say listen to Al Gore? NO. I said watch the documentary for PROOF that global warming exists. Just FACTS. Forget who is presenting it. I don't even think they looked at the websites I gave them. They just latched on to something political and held on for dear life. Global warming should NOT be a political subject. In the end the teacher sort of agreed with me. HA!

I think I'll save the stock market for another day. Maybe my "twin" will pick up on the topic.

I gotta Tell you guys the world is going somewhere we don't want it to go. I'm gonna miss it won't you?

I can't concentrate when....

I can't concentrate when there is a new book out in a series I like and I haven't read it yet. It’s especially bad if the previous book left on a cliffhanger. Something like, "His stooped figure came towards me with a knife in his hand. I always wondered how I would die..." What is that?! If the ending is like that, I throw the book down and stomp around my room huffing and puffing. Over the next couple months my foot bounces up and down in anticipation whenever I think about the series. Sometimes I get so angry that I say I hate the author for writing such and ending, but I really don’t. How can I hate them when they write such fantastic books? Finally the book is out and I beg my mom to take me to the library. She doesn't object because she usually reads the same books I do and is as anxious as I am. After we get to the library I practically jump over the librarian’s desk to get to the reserved book. I walk out of the library my nose is stuck in the book. “I duck out of the way as he tries to attack me with a murderous look in his eyes…”