BLOGS and INFO MOVED

All of this information (and new updates/info) are now on the Our Response website which can be found at www.our-response.org or through www.our-response.com

Thanks!

Ignorance is Bliss

I wanted to re-share some of my thoughts from June 2009 when my passion for justice (the state of things being how they should be) really started stirring.  The following blog was from June 20, 2009 — this was written about 5 months before I was on the ground in Rwanda and broadening my awareness, anger, and passion.   So, here is the entry from 6/20/09:

This was quite the interesting week for me; as some of you know from the last posting, I was in a position of working directly with the issue of homelessness. The next day I was face-to-face with the issue of suicide as I helped walk someone through their options for life. Earlier in the week I was counseling someone on marital issues. Today, I was once again involved in conversation about homelessness & unemployment. There is so much struggle and pain and stress in our world today and, frankly, I enjoyed my life more when I wasn’t aware of these things. For many years I had no idea how many people in Isanti County struggled with homelessness, unemployment, poverty, disease, addiction, depression, and strife. This made me much more comfortable in my life; and allowed me to more easily enjoy all of the comforts and relationships and security I have.

When I would hear about an isolated case of struggle, it was easier to think about it in terms of one persons “fault” or “issue” or whatever. But when you peel back the covers to see that these issues are impacting hundreds of people in our small community, it’s shocking…. and then when you have conversations with the real people who are going through this life stuff, you begin to internalize it and it begins to impact your overall worldview.

There is a beauty in not knowing stuff. I don’t know if “bliss” is the right word, but there is a comfort in ignorance. But there are some things that must be known no matter how uncomfortable they might make us. As an individual, it is better to know that you have a disease (as tough as it is to hear) so you can treat it. As a community, it is better to know that there are many people suffering (as tough as it is to hear the stories) so we can do something about it. As a society, it is better to know that the gap between the rich & the poor is increasing at an exponential rate (currently over 75 to 1) so we can consider our response and move toward improving the standard of living for all of humanity.

My outlook on life was much simpler when I was unaware of the magnitude of homelessness & depression in Isanti County; my life was more enjoyable when I couldn’t tell you the names and stories of dozens of people unemployed or un-housed; my ability to do what was in my best interest was much easier before I investigated the magnitude of global poverty; it was much easier to prioritize the consumption of my income around my desires when I wasn’t hampered by the needs of others. We need to be aware that there are many people in our communities and world that are in desperate situations.

WARNING! This awareness, if allowed to be internalized, may begin to haunt you; it will stir in you; and it will change you. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to look at these situations and not ignore or avoid them. I desire to be part of a revolution in this community and beyond that is symbolized by courage to understand the situations; that is marked by the sacrifice of self for the sake of others; and is littered by story after story of people who have had their life positively impacted.

Statistics

There are so many statistics that try to quantify global poverty, disease & suffering… but sometimes too many quotes clutter the message as we seem to strive for the stat that is worse than all the others.  So through all the data, we at Our Response have reduced all this data into the following statistics that everyone should be aware of… feeling that nearly all others are merely subsets of these.  These statistics are associated with our framework of 2 truths which sets up our ultimate question: What is Our Response?

 Truth #1: Much of the world lives in a constant state of emergency

• One child under age 5 dies every 3.5 seconds from preventable causes.  According to the World Vision – UNICEF report called the “Child Health Now Report” from October 2009, 9 million children under the age of 5 die each year from preventable causes which include malaria, HIV & AIDS, pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, birth-related complications, hunger, and lack of clean water.

 
Truth #2: Most of us have the capacity to help

• People with an annual income of $25,000 are wealthier than 95% of all people. Further, people with an annual income of $50,000 are wealthier than 99% of people in the world

Please join us at any of the upcoming meetings to hear more about Our Response and the coming together of East Central Minnesota to respond to global poverty, disease, and suffering.  Check out the last blog post for details on the info & pizze meetings which will be the evenings (6:30-8:30) of Monday 4/19 (Pine City), Tuesday 4/20 (Braham), Thursday 4/22 (Princeton) and Friday (North Branch).  All of these are leading to the Spring Info & Update Session on Saturday 4/24 from 9-11am at the Cambridge Intermediate School.

Spring meetings (5 cities in 6 days!)

<updated 4/1/10> On Saturday, April 24th we will be having our Spring Update & Info Session for Our Response from 9-11 am at Cambridge Intermediate School.  This will be a time to hear about the Our Response movement and hang out with others who are passionate about responding to global poverty, disease and suffering.  We have only been around about six months and. although engaging a few others outside of Cambridge, our focus has been there although this is a movement we describe as across East Central Minnesota.  Therefore, we are going to start our geographic expansion of awareness and engagement during April leading up to this Update & Info session in Cambridge.

We will be hosting sort of “Town Hall” type meetings in a few surrounding communities leading up to our larger 4/24 event.  Each of these will be from 6:30-8:00pm and there will be free pizza at each!  We will be in Pine City on Monday 4/19 (Pine City Library), Braham on Tuesday 4/20 (East Central Energy), Princeton on Thursday 4/22 (New Life Church), and North Branch on Friday 4/24 (North Branch Library).  Did I mention that in each of these venues we will be having FREE PIZZA!  So please let people know about these and feel free to join us.  These will be set up to be interactive and engaging; so bring your questions and ideas.

If you are on Facebook, the following are links to info on the meetings; please let us know if you are coming at any or all:

Pine City (4/19): http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=108692339150982

Braham (4/20): http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=10150157275360322

Princeton (4/22): http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=113898555292727

North Branch (4/23): http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=113030965377752

Cambridge (4/24 – Saturday): http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events#!/event.php?eid=366649098001

If you want to stay updated easily on what is happening, send an email to stevefredlund@gmail.com and we’ll get you on the email update list.  You can also check us out on Facebook in the group Our Response.  Thanks for your interest and engagement.  Feel free to peruse other tabs/pages on this blog site.  (We are in the process of re-launching a new website).

Update on the movement

This is an email update that was sent out on March 17^th (and mailed to those without email). If you want to be on the email list, please send me an email at stevefredlund@gmail.com.  Thanks so much for your engagement.

 ******* 

Greetings Our Response folks… there has been a whirlwind of activity with a number of people doing different things so I wanted to send you off a quick update.  I’ll just give you some bullet points so feel free to let me know if you have any questions or want more info — honestly there is more than this – it’s just all I can remember!  Hang out – lots of great stuff happening (my apologies if I’ve forgotten anything or anyone):

 * Sponsorships now at 86! Encourage you sponsors to write letters to your sponsored kids. 

* We are going to be holding our “Spring Info & Update Gathering” on Saturday, April 24th from 9-11am at the Cambridge Intermediate School.  Please invite everyone you know!  Thanks to Carol Lex for her work in setting this up.

* We are hoping to do shorter, more informal meetings in the communities of Braham, Pine City, Princeton & North Branch the week leading up to the Spring larger gathering.  At this point we have reserved space in the East Central Energy building in Braham for 6:30-8pm on Tuesday, April 20th.  We will be ordering pizza to arrive about 7:30.  Invite all you know in Braham to this.  We will promote that peope at these meetings also try to attend 4/24 to get connected with the broader group.  Thanks Carol Lex for also setting up this meeting.  If anyone knows of good spots in Pine City, Princeton or North Branch, please let us know.

* We are looking into doing as much free broad marketing as possible through radio, billboards & newspaper.  Thanks to Kriste Erickson of the Haven Center for sending us the contact information and Robin & Shawn Wetther for trying to set these up.

* We are looking into all the possible events we might be able to have a presence at and how to make that happen. Thanks to Tom Yotter!

* On September 24th, the Fish House in Isanti is hosting Tim Hawkins in concert at the Cambridge-Isanti High School Performing Arts Center as a fund raiser.  They are allowing Our Response to have a table at this event to promote our activities.  Thanks to Shannon Lynch for making this happen and Howard & Jill McCray for their generosity.

* We are in the process of creating our logo, brand, and overall design and applying that to a new website.  Thanks to Jesse Gillespie for his logo/design work (looks great so far) and Chris VanAnda for volunteering his website skills.

* We are starting to develop quality & clear marketing brochures to equip each of us to share about Our Response much easier.  Thanks to Shannon Lynch for her leadership on this.

* We are looking to create “event kits” that can be used at whatever events we participate in; to have high-quality engaging booths or information set-up.  Thanks to Shannon Lynch, Mark Radeke and Joanna Johnson (World Vision) for your involvement here.

* We are still looking into a specific project in Kivuruga to support (thanks to Joanna at World Vision for digging into)

* The funds from the 30-Hour Famine done by New Hope Community Church will be dedicated to Kivuruga

* Received a very generous donation from the Pregnancy Resource Center toward our efforts with Our Response (thank you Gina Kennedy and the crew there)

* Have had a volunteer step up to help us film, edit, and create high-quality videos (thank you James Paine!)

* Have received several emails from people with great ideas from bumper stickers to concerts to Golf Tournament fundraisers – keep the ideas coming – awesome!

* Had our first official board meeting as a 501(c)3 non-profit; what a great group of leaders – thank you Bob Jonsson, Mark Radeke, and Mark “Homer” Holm

* Are looking into creating financial giving options beyond just sponsorship that will help others participate in this movement (thanks Melody LaBeau)

* We are looking into options for being able to get available sponsored children’s pictures on-line to make it easier for people to select a child to sponsor.  If anyone wants to take on this project, that would be great… need a scanner, editing capability, and then post files to the web (or send us the file(s) via email/disk).

 Phwew!  Thanks everyone!  Can’t wait to spread the word throughout April and have the meetings at the end of the month.  Our website – our-response.org now points to the blog site until we get the new site up & running.  Feel free to send this to whoever you think might be interested; if they want to get on the email list, please have them send me a note.  Thanks.

 Steve Fredlund — Director, Our Response —stevefredlund@gmail.com  — Cell: 651.57.5435 —

www.our-response.org

“I always thought I should do something”

These are words that I have heard echoed over and over again in the years before my involvement in Rwanda and ever since this journey began.  I hold a strong conviction and most people in our rich western world want to help those with less financial resource.  I believe that at our core, we are wired with the capacity to recognize injustice and with the heart to seek justice in those situations.  But I also feel that most of us, for years, have felt helpless in knowing how to respond. 

Our efforts in Rwanda… this movement we are calling “Our Response” is largely about equipping each one of us to respond; to give us an avenue in which we can respond to the two great truths we have come to recognize: That much of the world lives in a constant state of emergency and that most of us have the capacity to help. 

If you are among the many who feel you should help, but have never felt like a clear way was presented… perhaps this is an option for you.  We are working together to bring transformation to a region of Rwanda known as Kivuruga through a partnership with World Vision.  This is the place four of us visited this past November to meet the World Vision indigenous staff, the community leaders, and the residents.  There is great hope in the middle of there difficult situations and each of us has the opportunity to join together to bring that hope.  One resident summed it up when I was there.. “just the fact that someone from America cares gives us hope.” 

We have the opportunity to be an answer to people’s prayers; we have the opportunity to literally change lives.  The radicalness of child sponsorship goes beyond our typical western mindset… by sponsoring a child, contributing $35/month to the work in Kivuruga, and engaging in writing letters back & forth with your sponsored child… this has incredible impact.  When we were there we saw firsthand the processes for how this works and the direct transformational impact these investments make.

If you would like to stay up to date on what is happening, email me at stevefredlund@gmail.com.  Thanks for your ongoing encouragement and support.

Update and Saturday Invite

The following is an email/letter I sent to the Our Response distribution lists; if you would like to be on these lists, please let me know…

*********************************

Greetings to those connected or interested in the efforts of Our Response to bring transformation to both Kivuruga, Rwanda and East Central Minnesota.

Before I go further, I have reserved 20 places for the first 20 people to attend a mobile exhibit called “Step Into Africa” next Tuesday at 5:30pm in White Bear Lake.  This is a dynamic, powerful experience of life in the shoes of a child in Africa.  This is free of charge, but reservations are required.  If you want to fill one of the 20 slots, let me know ASAP!  This is something we are considering bringing to Cambridge (www.worldvisionexperience.org).

 There are a number of other exciting updates that I will be sharing and we will be discussing at an open meeting this coming Saturday from 4-6pm at First Baptist Church in Cambridge.  Although I will give a number of updates, a primary purpose of the meeting is to collaborate on strategies for the upcoming year to bring momentum to this movement.  You (and anyone you choose to invite) are welcome to join us at this input/strategy meeting.  If for no other reason, show up to have one of the world famous Tracy’s Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Some of the things we’ll be talking about on Saturday include:

• Currently over 80 sponsored children
• Official Federal Non-Profit status 501(c)(3) granted
• Finances: Currently $1,500 in our account, matching funds
• Funding options: 30-Hour Famine, Team World Vision (running group)
• Consider bringing “Step Into Africa” to Cambridge later in 2010
• Potential to launch a malnutrition project in Kivuruga
• Possible return trip to Rwanda in November 2011
• Descriptions of various leadership positions needed (board, leadership team, admin, events)
• How  we could get momentum in churches, businesses, schools & throughout community
• Distribution of sponsorship summary and children available to sponsor

We will only “bite off” the efforts we think we can “chew” — whatever we do, we will do well.  We need your input to determine the most effective ways to raise awareness, funding, and sponsorship.  We have a volunteer to watch kids in another room during the meeting; if this is something you wish to utilize please let me know so I can make sure we have enough help.  If you can’t make it, we’d still love your input.

For those of you not aware, there is a Facebook group called Our Response which is a great way to stay current with what is happening.  You can also check out our blog at ourresponse.wordpress.com (which includes accounts from our November trip to Rwanda).  We will be making an effort to communicate updates in a variety of ways (Facebook, email, and paper mail) to keep you up-to-date.  If you are receiving this update via U.S. Mail and you have an email address, please provide that so we can reduce all expenses.

Thanks so much!  I’m excited to join you in this effort to transform Kivuruga, Rwanda and our community.

Steve Fredlund, Director of Our Response

stevefredlund@gmail.com — Cell: 651.587.5435 — Home: 651.674.8507

Ourresponse.wordpress.com

2010 – A year of impact in Rwanda!

Greetings to those involved with Our Response!  For the last half of 2009, many of us were incredibly busy spreading the word about Our Response, travelling to Rwanda, or hosting our community-wide kick-off event.  Therefore, the past few weeks have been an opportunity for us to enjoy the holidays and prepare ourselves for launching our 2010 efforts.  This note is to give you a status update, invite you to our next brainstorming meeting, and encourage you to stay involved in the movement.

 

As many of you know, one of the goals we set was for 100 children sponsored by the end of 2010.  I’m thrilled to announce that we formally ended 2009 with 74 children sponsored – well ahead of our goal pace!  We have also seen an additional 3 children sponsored in 2010 bringing us to 77 children in Kivuruga, Rwanda connected to sponsors.  I want to encourage those of you who have sponsored children to not only continue your financial commitment, but write your sponsored children and build relationship with them.  This relationship has a tremendous impact on not only the lives of your child and their family, but also on you as you share your time in this way. 

 

You are invited (and I hope a ton of you show up) to our next open meeting of Our Response on Saturday, February 13th from 4-6pm.  The location is yet to be determined.  We will discuss the status of Our Response and then go into a brainstorming session to help give input into how we will grow the movement in 2010.  As we discuss what can be done, we will talk about how these efforts will be accomplished and there will be opportunities for everyone who desires to take on a role (either in leadership or support).  A movement is only as strong as the depth and breadth of involvement.  I know those of us on the trip could never have seen the results we have seen without so many of you stepping up and helping out in so many ways.  The only way we will see all of our goals achieved is by spreading our leadership and responsibilities… this is not a “Steve” movement or a “Steve/Bob/Mark/Mark” movement… this is “Our” response – a movement of East Central Minnesota.  Even if you are unable to help at this time, please come and provide your input – I am a strong believer that the best decisions are made when there is the most input from the most different perspectives.  We need your thoughts and passion!

 

A note about finances.  We ended 2009 right about even, having seen contributions sufficient to cover all costs associated with the trip. An additional tremendous financial blessing was just poured our on Our Response as we received a check for $1,300 from New Hope Community Church of Cambridge which identified Our Response as one of the recipients of their special Christmas Eve offering.  Each year New Hope takes a special offering and distributes it to three non-profits that are aligned with their core values which includes caring for those in our world who are in great need.  A special thanks to New Hope for this great gift which sets us up well as we go into 2010!  Further, as many of you know, administrative costs for Our Response have been funded by an anonymous donor allowing 100% of received funds to go directly to the funding efforts in Kivuruga, building relationships with those in Kivuruga, or spreading the word about Our Response to bring in more financial resource.

 

For those of you not aware, there is a Facebook group called Our Response which is a great way to stay current with what is happening.  You can also check our our blog at ourresponse.wordpress.com.  We will be making an effort to communicate updates in a variey of ways (Facebook, email, and paper mail) to keep you up-to-date.  If you are receiving this update via U.S. Mail and you have an email address, please provide that so we can reduce all expenses.

 

So, in closing, here is what we are asking:

1) Try to attend the Our Response meeting on Feb 13 from 4-6pm (location TBD)

2) RSVP by email or Facebook if you will be attending

3) If you can’t attend, email me your ideas for how we can spread the word and increase sponsorships & financial support

4) Let me know any update to your email address (especially if you have email and are currently receiving updates by U.S. Mail)

5) Tell others – forward the email, invite to the Facebook group, or give me contact information

 

Thanks so much!  I’m excited to join you in this effort to transform both East Central Minnesota and Kivuruga, Rwanda.

 

Steve Fredlund, Director of Our Response

stevefredlund@gmail.com (please note email change)

Cell: 651.587.5435 — Home: 651.674.8507

Whirlwind…

Greetings blog followers… what a crazy & transformational month of November culminating in a sweet event on Thursday night (12/3).  The month started on November 1st (coincidentally) by heading to the airport to leave for Africa, was followed by a 13-day dynamic trip to Kenya & Rwanda, and then a couple of weeks of catching up on life, telling the stories of Africa, and trying to build momentum for Our Response.  Much of what we did throughout November was heading toward our public, community-wide kickoff that happened this past Thursday.  And we left that night FIRED UP!  123 people attended; 21 children sponsored; over 50 contact cards filled out with people wanting to keep up-to-date on what is happening, wanting to volunteer, and even 10 more people wanting to be contacted about sponsoring a child that did not on Thursday.  There was so much energy in the room once we ended, with many people sticking around quite a while to talk about our efforts in Rwanda.

As we cast our vision for Our Response, we were shooting for 100 sponsorships by the end of the year… no, not THIS year… but by the end of 2010!  Now with about 70 child sponsorships, we are planning to blow that goal out of the water and more that number much higher sooner.  This has been very affirming that, as a community, the time is right to come together in this effort.

We have a few loose ends to tie up with calling people back, sending thank you notes, and developing teams but we are planning to let the rest of Christmas be a time of celebrating the season with our families & friends before looking at how we can ramp things up again in the new year.  To those of you who have been an integral part of this effort, thank you.  To those of you who have offered their kind words & encouragement, thank you.  To those who have come alongside this effort financially in helping us get to Rwanda, thank you.  To those of you who have felt compelled to sponsor a child and join the efforts in that way, thank you.  To those who have already volunteered in helping make things happen, thank you.  To those of you (especially youth) who have gotten angry about our system of unbalanced economics, thank you.  To those of you who are concerned about the emergency situation facing Africa and, specifically in Kivuruga, Rwanda, thank you.  To those of you who are just getting interested and informed about what is happening and what Our Response is, thank you.  To those of you who have ever stopped to help someone in need, whether it be in Africa, here in East Central Minnesota, or anywhere in between, thank you. 

Now, with the context and struggle of Kivuruga, Rwanda as our benchmark, may we recognize the amazing blessings of our lives here in our community over this Christmas season.  Thank you for allowing me to help us come together in this way.

Back in the Saddle Again

I have heard from several of you that I need to put a new blog entry out here, so here it is!  We successfully returned on Friday afternoon and have been busy trying to catch up on sleep, tell our stories, return emails, check voicemails, and re-acquaint ourselves with our families. 

The trip was beyond amazing; the life-change that will happen in us is truly transformational and we are believing for cool things in East Central Minnesota and the end result in Kivuruga, Rwanda. 

I’m not sure how to summarize other than saying the following things:

* The World Vision infrastructure, leadership, and volunteer commitment is off-the-charts.  I have come back an even greater advocate for the work they are doing than when I left.  We were able to see and ask questions about the entire program from where the sponsorship dollars go, to how sponsored children are cared for, the vision for the future including area priorities, etc. As an MBA holder in Non-Profit Management I was looking for certain things which were there with intentionality and excellence. I left there a huge World Vision advocate.

* I have a huge sense of hope. I’m not returning with just brutal stories of devastation and poverty (although they are there), but I’m returning that this community has a lot of assets (in its people, resources, land) that if resourced and developed, can become more productive & sustainable to increase dramatically the overall standard of living (without Westernizing them).  I believe we can see the life expectancy move past the 40s and infant mortality be reduced from 15%; I believe we can see more than 47% of children being educated beyond primary school.  I believe we can see an establishment of an economic framework which will lead to greater nutrition, water, health, education, and HIV & AIDS prevention.  I’m hopeful for Kivuruga.

Those key issues along with my own personal transformation provide the summary for the trip (at this point). Certainly there are a billion sub-bullets and details, but wanted to share my key learnings at this point.  Thanks so, so much for your support and encouragement.  Invite everyone to December 3rd, 6:30pm at Spectacular Events in Isanti, Minnesota (about 1 mile East of Highway 65 on County Road 5).  There will be cookies and coffee served (no supper) and there will be a chance at the end to sponsor a child in Kivuruga.