Tag Archive: A Place At the Table

February 17, 2012 | Crystal Paine

Video Blog: Can my small efforts really make a difference?

I’ve been so blessed by the comments and emails from you all about how this series of videos I’m doing with Chris Seay is impacting you (you can watch the first two videos here if you missed them).

Here’s a comment that Kelly posted today:

My husband and I have decided that during Lent, we’ll do two weeks of eating from three different countries – so six weeks total. We chose one from each continent that houses the largest number of poor people – Honduras (Feb 22 – March 6), Kenya (March 7-20), and Thailand (March 21 – April 8).

We got the list of staple foods from Chris Seay’s website and are designating a limited amount of foods to eat during each two-week period (mostly just the ones from that list, but a few others to round out some food groups plus account for our CSA subscription which we can’t back out of). I’m five months pregnant, so we were a bit limited in what we could do – I didn’t feel very comfortable doing any literal fasting (skipping meals) or having an exceptionally limited diet, so I think this will be a good way to connect with some particular countries, get a little “bored” with eating the same staple foods over and over again, etc.

During the two weeks that we’re focusing on each country, we’re going to pray for that country (using guides from the book Operation World) and research that country (using the internet, books from the library, plus a few books we already own, and maybe watch documentaries on Netflix, if available). In addition, we’re going to designate some money to charities that work in each of those three respective countries.

Thanks for the inspiration! We’ve been wanting to do something like this, but things have gotten in the way a few times before (we just stocked up on tons of groceries, we’ll have house guests for a lot of the time, etc.), so now we’re just going to make it happen!

Looking forward to seeing how God works in our hearts AND how we’re able to help others through this experience. -Kelly

In today’s video, Chris talks about how taking a 40-day fast from excess from has impacted their family. He also answers my question of, “Can our feeble, small efforts really make a difference or are the needs so great that it’s not really even worth it?”

If you only have time to watch one of the videos from Chris Seay, I’d heartily encourage you to take two minutes and watch today’s video. I think you’ll be inspired and motivated by it–at least I know I was!

Interview w. Money Saving Mom Part 3 from Chris Seay on Vimeo.

15 Comments

February 15, 2012 | Crystal Paine

Video Blog: What a 40-Day Fast From Excess Might Look Like for Your Family

I introduced you to Chris Seay on Monday (watch the video here, if you missed it) and he shared a little of his heart for giving and reaching out to the poor.
In today’s video, Chris shares more about his yearly 40-day fast and how it looks for him and his family.

While what Chris and his family have chosen to do might not work for your family, I’d love to challenge you to consider what you could give up in your own life to experience in a tiny way what millions of those in poverty experience on a daily basis.

Perhaps you could considering eating oatmeal every morning for breakfast for a month. Or, have a meatless meal twice a week for an extended time period. Or, eat from the pantry for a few weeks. Or, maybe you do something entirely unrelated to food.

Watch the video short below and then I’d love to hear your ideas on how a 40-day fast from excess might work for your family:

Interview w. Money Saving Mom Part 2 from Chris Seay on Vimeo.

17 Comments

February 13, 2012 | Crystal Paine

Video Blog: Introducing You to Chris Seay

We had the incredible opportunity of getting to have Chris Seay and his cameraman come to our home for a short visit last week. Chris is a pastor, author, and a man with an amazing heart for the poor. I was so blessed and inspired to meet him and get to hear a little of his heart.

Chris has traveled all over the world to visit those living in poverty. He’s seen suffering beyond what most of us could even begin to fathom (some of the stories he shared just blew my mind!). But he’s not just witnessed the poverty, he is actively seeking to live a life of walking with the poor–sacrificing his own comforts and wants in order to reach out to those in desperate need.

In his new book, A Place At the Table, Chris is issuing a challenge for us to not just talk about the dire needs and poverty around the globe, but for us to actually walk with the poor. His book challenges readers to consider a 40-day fast from excess.

This week, I’ll be sharing short clips from our interview and encouraging you to consider if there are sacrifices you feel called to make in your own life in order to help those who are in need in your own area–or in other parts of the world.

In the short video below, I share about two books that have impacted me recently when it comes to giving and living a simple life and Chris shares more about his heart for the poor (excuse the fact that this is the very first time I’ve ever conducted a video interview before so I’m a wee bit nervous about it!):

Interview w. Money Saving Mom Part 1 from Chris Seay on Vimeo.

49 Comments