Can You Help? Click A Button!

As my frequent readers know, I've mentioned my friend Daren Wendell on here several times. Daren is an old college buddy and teammate who has started what is called "The Earth Expedition". Here's what "The Earth Expedition" is, in a nutshell: About 2 years ago, my friend, Daren, decided that he was going to sell everything he had and spend the next 7 years of his life walking the world to raise awareness of the blood and water crises in Africa. Last week, Daren completed the American leg of the expedition (YES! HE WALKED FROM ONE END OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE OTHER!!! IN LESS THAN 13 MONTHS MIND YOU).

Now, the European leg of the Expedition is about to begin and his partner will start that leg. Daren and his partner do not get paid for this. They live off of money that they saved up before the Expedition began and from the personal items that they sold (every cent they raise on the Expedition, over $20,000 so far, goes to help end the blood and water crises in Africa; they get none of it). All that said, here's what I'm asking you to do: With the click of your mouse, you can help them win $10,000 from MySpace.

Here's the organization that Daren & others, like Jars of Clay, have teamed up with:

Blood:Water Mission Introduction


Here's the deal, Daren sent me this message yesterday:

"We made it! PLEASE vote for us today and help us win the MySpace Impact Awards, which you can read more about by clicking the link.

(Click the banner/icon to vote)

"So, yes, thanks to all of you, we made it into the top 3 finalists of the Myspace Impact Awards! Now we need you more than ever! Simply click on the the link provided and cast your vote for The Earth Expedition to win the $10,000 award! Not only will we win the funds but this will also show the world what an impact The Earth Expedition is having. Voting only lasts from now until Wednesday at 11:59am and you can only vote once per day per MySpace account. So, please, repost this voting plea to all your MySpace (and Facebook and Blog) friends.

"This donation and media exposure will do so much to assist us with launching our message with the European Leg of The Earth Expedition and our clean water projects in Zambia this year! Please, help us win this thing. In advance: Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

In closing, I just want to congratulate Daren and the Team on completing the American leg of the expedition. As one who is about to be the proud parent of a son from Ethiopia and who knows firsthand of all of the struggles there with blood and water issues, I would just look to re-encourage you to vote. Please, help make this happen! Tell everyone you know the good news so we can make this dream a reality. Thank you!

...So That Others May Live

I've mentioned my friend Daren Wendell on here a number of times before. If you've missed those previous posts or are a new reader of Pisteuomen, Daren and I went to college together and were also soccer teammates. About a year ago, Daren decided to start-up what he calls "The Earth Expedition". In a nutshell, Daren walks 20-30 miles a day to raise money and awareness for the blood & water crises in Africa. He has raised upwards of twenty thousand dollars so far and as The Expedition continues, I'm sure that will be a drop in the bucket compared to what he will eventually raise. Anyway, a documentary about Daren and his Expedition is underway and I'm excited to see it in its entirety. He has whet our tastebuds, though, with the short video below. Give this video a watch and check out some of the stunning, beautiful scenery. If the rest of the documentary is as inspiring as this 6 minutes, it will be a great movie indeed!

A Heart For Africa

If you are a regular reader of Pisteuomen, you know that in more ways than one, Africa has a special place in my heart. At the moment, my wife and I are in the process of adopting a son from Ethiopia which we are incredibly excited about. Also, one of my college soccer buddies, Daren Wendell, whom I've mentioned repeatedly on Pisteuomen, has become a great voice for African relief/aid. You can read more about his "walk around the world" HERE but I just want to take a moment and thank him for what he's already accomplished. In the last few months, Daren has raised so much awareness for the blood & water crises in Africa. He's also raised a lot of money, upwards of $10,000. Just last week, he spoke at a youth conference in IL and recieved a huge response. After taking a short hiatus from walking to do speaking events, documentaries, conferences, etc., Daren is hitting the road again tomorrow. Please, pray for him, encourage him and check out his cause. Click the following link to reach his site: The Earth Expedition. You can even watch his journey via live GPS tracking...pretty nifty!!! Godspeed Daren, as you head back out tomorrow!

Daren Wendell & Vanity Fair

You've read on Pisteuomen a number of times about my college buddy Daren Wendell, who is attempting to be the youngest person to walk around the earth. To date, he has traveled somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 miles, crossed 12-13 state lines and is starting to raise decent money and awareness for his cause (Blood:Water Mission in Africa). Today, he was featured in the magazine Vanity Fair where he was interviewed. (CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE). Give the article a read; it's quite fascinating. Also, if you're able to support the cause, please do so. Blessings!

I Would Walk 500 Miles

Yesterday, I got a pleasant suprise when I received a phone call from Daren Wendell. As readers of this blog know, Daren embarked a few months ago on “The Earth Expedition”. At present, he has walked around 1,400 miles, leaving those old pop song lyrics in the dust. An old college (soccer) buddy, Daren is walking around the world to raise awareness and funds for the Blood:Water Mission in Africa. At this point, the Expedition is starting to earn major recognition. You can read Daren's blog, track his progress (his site has an online gps tracker) and interact with him at his site (or Facebook). To visit the site, click the following link: The Earth Expedition.

500 Miles & Counting

So, the Earth Expedition is well under way and Daren has traveled over 500 miles on foot in just over a month. Check out the video of his trip so far below. Also, check out the EE Blog "HERE" and add it to your page-readers.

The Earth Expedition Begins

*Update: The Earth Expedition has begun. My friend Daren Wendell took the first steps of his walk around the world from Dahlonega, GA about 15 minutes ago (11:30 am). I talked to him on the phone last night and he was pretty psyched-up and ready to go. I just found out this week that you can track Daren live, 24/7, via GPS from his website. I tracked him yesterday and saw him sitting in Georgia. Crazy. Anyway, I will probably post an update on this later in the day but in the meantime, visit his site and check out the GPS stuff: Daren Wendell's Earth Expedition.

The Earth Expedition

(Video of Daren speaking about his trek and what he hopes it will accomplish.)

In just under a week, Daren Wendell, one of my college classmates and soccer buddies will be taking his first steps on the beginning of his Earth Expedition. He will begin in Georgia where he will be meeting up with my college roomate who is going to start the trip with him. Mostly, Daren will be camping out. But if any of you good Christians out there might be able to give him a night of lodging, please help him out. You can track Daren by live GPS and you can also see his itenerary, which is detailed city-by-city for the next 7 years. To remind my readers, Daren is trying to be the youngest person to ever walk all the way around the world. He is doing this to raise money for the Blood:Water Mission in Africa, which helps AIDS victims and provides cleaner water for persons. I'll post periodically on Daren but whether you live in the States or on the other side of the world, see if you can help him in any tangible way (again, maybe by giving him lodging for an evening). Be safe Daren and God bless.

Added to the Blogroll

Several posts back I mentioned my friend Daren's endeavor to walk across the world, a walk which will raise funds and awareness for the Blood:Water Mission. I've decided to add his blog to my list. He will be leaving in less than two months and will keep the world informed of his travels, experiences and whereabouts via his blog. I would encourage you to add his blog to your list as well. Here's the link: Earth Expedition Blog.

The Earth Expedition

In my undergrad days I was not nearly as concerned with academics as I was with being a college student. I loved being the class clown and I loved hanging out, writing and singing music. I hated work but I loved playing soccer. During one of my college soccer seasons I actually made the all-region team, which was a pretty good accomplishment, I think. Anyways, one of my team and classmates was a fellow by the name of Daren Wendell. If you listen to K-Love, perhaps you've heard his name recently--he just did an interview with them.

A couple of years ago, Daren rode across the United States on a bicycle. While this was an odd goal of his, he also used it as a time to do ministry. Well, now, Daren has more than one-upped himself, he has fifty-upped himself. I say this because Daren is planning The Earth Expedition. His plan is that in less than 60 days from now, he will embark an a 7-year walk around the globe. But he's not just doing it for kicks. His goal is to raise both worldwide awareness of the aids and water pandemic in Africa, as well as to raise money for that cause. Thus, %100 of his proceeds will go the Blood:Water mission.

I would encourage you to take a few short minutes out of your day to check out his site and see what it's all about. This is fascinating stuff. And we should not only pray for Daren (he has calculated that there is a %99.9 chance that he will get mugged at least once) but for the cause as well. Who knows, you might even be able to help Daren as he treks through your neck of the woods. So, please, take this plug for my old pal and teammate to heart. Give his site a visit and his cause some support.