I recently posted an advertisement in craigslist that illustrates something I've been wanting to do for a long time now. It's a desire to do the work of God in a meaningful way - to help out the poor and the needy in the community around me, and to encourage others to do the same. As a bible-believing Christian, I believe the church is called to help the poor, the weak, and the oppressed, and I believe that modern Christianity generally fails to meet that calling. So... I've decided to start up a movement that I am intimatly mixing into the newprotest concept.

For those that don't know, newprotest was based on a protest of the modern western church - a protest of the protestants, I suppose. Not to say that I appreciate the formality of the presbyterian church either - my beef isn't with any particular denomination. It's with pretty much all of them, on account of the ways I feel they fail to live up to the standards Christ set before them in scripture. Adding a "charity" function to newprotest is completely in line with my desire to revolutionize the way church is supposed to function.

Anyway, here's the ad I posted on CL:

First of all, I'm not crazy. I'm not having a mid-life crisis, and I'm not looking for a way to make up for some horrible thing I've done. I'm just a normal guy, trying to help out those around me.

I have been a christian for 10 years, and have faithfully tithed (10% of every paycheck) into a church denomination for most of that time. However, after years of frustration with the clearly man-made doctrines and nonsense dogma that most churches preach, I'm tired of it. I'm sick of bankrolling pastors and programs that are devoid of biblical doctrine. I am still a firm believer in the God of the bible... but have no faith in the churches that offer lip service and don't actually do anything to serve him or his people.

However, I still feel called by God to do what christian churches are supposed to do - help the poor, take care of orphans and widows, and avenge the cause of the oppressed. As such, I have collected my tithes for a while and have simply put them into an interest bearing account, waiting to find some needy folks to help.

Unfortunately, my sphere of influence doesn't contain a lot of needy folks; I have been blessed with a good job, a good home, a good family, etc., etc., so I don't frequently encounter people I can help. Hopefully you can point me into the right direction. I'm already aware of certain charities that can certainly benefit from donations from me - the union gospel mission, the american red cross, bread-and-roses (soup kitchen), etc., etc. Those are great, but I'm really looking to be personally involved with those I'm helping. I want to meet a personal need and be able to look the people in the eye and let them know that I actually care to help them.

I'm not stupid. I assume that some folks are going to respond just so they can get a free handout. Please try to refrain from that. I want to help people who need help. Thanksgiving is coming up, and so is Christmas, and I know that this is a time of year when people who have nothing feel it the hardest. Please help me help those people. Any information would be appreciated.

Lastly, I live in the Olympia area, and will be most able to help people in my area. If you are in tacoma or seattle, hopefully somebody else will also champion the efforts I'm making to help out those in your area. I'm sure I'm not the only one sick of paying a church's utility bills - there are others like me who would like to help.

Pretty soon, I'm going to add a "charity" link on the side of this page that'll explain how I want to go about setting up this charity, and what people can do to help out. I'll probably add a paypal link, and keep a running list of exactly how everything is being spent.