ONE Voice

Kris is too kind- he always has been. WE raised 0ver $31,000 for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, but HE completed an Ironman (for the second time, and a half an hour or so quicker than last time), HE arranged the performances, and let's face it: HE sang the songs (much better than I did). Most importantly, he chose the cause: to help put a stop to one of the great injustices of the world. He even came up with the idea of wearing ONE t-shirts every time we performed (see the pictures below) and discussing world hunger at every performance. I am truly blessed that Kris and I are friends and that we got to take this journey together. Many people in this world will be blessed by our efforts, and our involvement will continue.

Kris and I met at Lenoir-Rhyne and we supported ONE during our tour, so I smiled when the two became one (no pun intended) early last week. ONE has started a Campus Challenge, which will help heighten awareness at colleges around the country. I was excited to get involved, and when I did, a very real and exciting thing happened. I signed up and looked at the LRC page to see that we were ranked in the top 5 schools in the challenge (and still are). A small, private, liberal arts college that sometimes struggles for student involvement has signed up almost 400 people (that would be one quarter of its student population) and is finding ways to take action.

I write this for several reasons. First, by blogging about ONE, Lenoir-Rhyne will receive points in the challenge. Second, it's a great cause to get behind (check out the link to the right). But, most importantly, I do this because I went to a school where i was involved and made friends from all walks of life. One was Kris, who allowed me to share in his walk and showed me that there are ways we can help without having money, spending money, or even asking for money. I smile when I see white on people's wrists; I actually broke my band today and need to replace it.
I felt so much pride when I saw that L-R was participating in this challenge that I called Kris and talked with him about it. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't know what ONE is; I wouldn't know what hunger is (in the "global" sense), and I wouldn't be able to say that I helped raise $31,000 to help stop world hunger. I did it with my friend; WE did it, as one.

~Nick

Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord

A Long Overdue Update

Thanks to the help and prayers of many, many people during the past year, Nick and I were successful in raising over $31,000 for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal! This far exceeded our goal of $20,000, which we'll say was ambitious from the beginning.

Nick is still in the Hickory area of North Carolina, but I have moved on to Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, where I've been pursuing the MDiv studies since July. We still keep in touch, but unfortunately our music has had to be done individually due to the distance. I'm sure some day soon we'll be able to try our hand at a reunion performance. :)

The Normies still encourage you to continue to support ministries and organization that fight the injustice of hunger. Particularly, we will always encourage you to support the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and the ONE Campaign. Stayed tuned as be will be frequently posting on these subjects during coming weeks, months, years, and millenia.

~Kris

Make A Joyful Noise to The Lord