Sometimes, there’s a desire in your heart that burns. That eats at you. That grows and grows and grows.

So it is with The Bridge Between Us. This has been birthed out of a desire to help a man I met in South Asia. He is a joyful man, blessed with his family, his children, his house… but his job, oh my goodness, is back breaking work, carrying heavy cement pipes… it had given him a tumor when I met him, he showed me! Anyhow, I had a few hit and miss ideas the night we met, but my mind has spun with ideas of how to help him ever since. What if I started selling jelabi here and sending him part of the proceeds? What if I sold South Asian desserts at different cafes and eclectic bakeries and sent him part of the proceeds? What if I opened my own cafe and sold goodies from all over the world, and sent part of the profits to him and others in need who shared their top secret recipes with me?

It’s not that those weren’t good ideas. They just weren’t complete. In all those scenarios, I was the one doing all the work. I was the one doing the heavy lifting. I was sending charity.

Well, what if Minoj wants the opportunity to work with dignity, not just receive charity?

And what if Minoj wants the opportunity to work as hard as he can to create the wealth he needs to bless many people in his life?

What if Minoj needs someone to empower him in his life, not someone to steal the joy of working for dignity away?

I think a lot of people have a big heart in some ways. We give so much here in the U.S.A. But… our giving often is just to assuage our guilt of having more. We throw money at those in poverty instead of creatively engaging them and saying, how can we help you create wealth and no longer be in need?

I’m ready to roll up my sleeves for this.