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   8. UH...That's Funny?

With Prom approaching, a lot of people don't think twice about buying another dress or pair of shoes or pants. But there are people not far from where you live who don't have enough clothes. This chapter, from "Generation Change," by sixteen-year-old Zach Hunter, offers you ideas on how you can make a difference in the lives of others with the simple gift of clothing.


CLOTHING

In our culture the clothes we wear say a lot about us. People invest a lot of time, effort, and money on clothing. We want to look good, and we judge other people based on how they dress. People sometimes assume that if a guy is wearing this kind of jacket or those shoes, then he must be that kind of person. Or someone might say, "I need to ask her where she got that!" (This is hypothetical, guys, just bear with me!) How many decisions do we make about people because of how they look, even before we meet them?

A Bible teacher of mine once told me about a time when an elderly woman at the church was upset because a young man came into church wearing a baseball cap. She was outraged--and probably made a judgment about the kind of person he was. My teacher reminded us that we as Christians are the church, so it's actually more accurate to say he was wearing a hat on the church rather than in the church. But either way, because of the woman's judgment, the young man left the church and didn't come back.

If I'm being completely honest with myself, I have to say that I sometimes make judgments about people based on what they wear or how they look. I know there are some people who never have anything nice to wear. You know how it feels to get a new shirt or pants. And the confidence you feel from knowing you look good? Imagine never having that feeling. Not only that, but imagine that the clothes you do wear don't even protect you from the wind, rain, cold, or sun.

What if you only had one pair of shoes, and they had massive holes in the bottom? Or what if, like millions of people, you didn't have any shoes at all? It would be really easy to cut your feet, and they'd be vulnerable to infection and disease. How can we care so much about whether we are wearing the latest style, when other people have nothing at all to wear? For many people in our world, it's not about choosing which pair of shoes to wear, it's about having any shoes to wear. It's not about whether to wear a collared shirt or a T-shirt, it's about having a shirt.

I'm not trying to make you feel guilty; but I think it's important to understand that clothing is much more than a fashion issue for many people. For someone in America, having a suit, even an old one, could mean the difference between getting the job or not. A clean shirt and jeans could build the self-confidence of a high schooler living in poverty. A new pair of shoes could literally mean an extended life for a child in Africa.

Jesus even talked about how when we clothe the poor it's as if we've done an act of kindness to him directly. We'll talk about that passage from Matthew 25 a bit more in the next chapter. I think being part of Generation Change requires that we rethink some of the things we take for granted, and how much and what we do with our money is one of them.

CHANGE IT: SOLES 4 SOULS

The mission of Soles 4 Souls is to impact as many lives as possible through the gift of shoes. This organization takes donations of gently used and new shoes and delivers them to people who don't have any. Soles 4 Souls dispatches shoes to 16 different countries around the world. You can support their work by donating your own shoes, hosting a shoe drive at your school or church, or volunteering your own time. Check out www.soles4souls.org.

CHANGE IT: YOUR TURN

"Undie Sunday"

This is a pretty cool idea (with a pretty funny name) that can involve every age group. For a homeless or very poor person, new underwear can be a luxury. Most thrift stores and clothing distribution centers don't have stacks of underwear. I guess used underwear is not something most people feel good about donating! Schools and churches around America have been uniting on Undie Sunday each March to solve this problem. Families are encouraged to purchase and donate new underwear that is distributed to people in need. Since 2006, more than 155,000 pieces of NEW underwear and diapers have been donated.

Check out what else they're doing at www.dignityuwear.org.

BUY ONE, GIVE ONE

Here's a very simple idea to discourage materialism. It goes like this: For every pair of shoes you buy, you give away a pair of shoes; for every pair of pants you buy, you give away a pair of pants, and so on. Instead of accumulating more and more stuff, you think purposefully about what you buy, and give things away instead of hoarding. The practice encourages us to buy less and give more, helping us be more grateful for what we have and more conscious of materialism.

BRAINSTORM FOR CHANGE

- Take the extra buttons that come with your shirts and assemble sewing kits to help people in other countries mend their own clothing, and get paid to mend clothes for others. Send these to Extreme Response or a shelter in your area. (For more on Extreme Response, see the chapter on Friendship.)

- Make baby blankets out of fleece. You can find lots of patterns for fleece-fringed blankets online. My brother's class did this when he was in first grade--it's really easy. His class donated their blankets to a crisis pregnancy center.

- Have a Toasty Fingers and Toes drive and collect gloves and socks. Then take them to the homeless shelter and give them away yourselves.

- Many cities do a "Blanket the City" week in which people drop off blankets at many different stores. The blankets are given to the homeless and people living in shelters.

- Go to a thrift store and buy up a bunch of coats in various kid sizes. They're usually priced really well so your money will go a long way. Then arrange with a school in an impoverished area to distribute the coats to kids who don't have adequate clothing.

- Custom T-shirts are printed for many races, fairs, and other community events. Often there are many shirts left over and no way to sell them. Contact the organizers to see if you can have them donated to a shelter or thrift store.

- For a couple more great clothing-related ideas, check out Style Your Soul in the Creativity chapter and Princess Closet in the Friendship chapter.

**

Taken from "Generation Change" by Zach Hunter, copyright 2008 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here.
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=585

Also available in your local Christian bookstore.

Find a Christian bookstore near you:
http://www.youthspecialties.com/store/dealers/

• Genesis 1:1-2:4a
• Psalm 8
• 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
• Matthew 28:16-20

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~ FlamingNet: Your place for reviews and recommendations on past, present, and future preteen, teen, and young adult books (written by and for teens)
http://www.flamingnet.com/

~ Perpetual Bubblewrap: Waste some time
http://www.urban75.com/Mag/bubble.html

~ The Hunger Site: Click to give free food
http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1

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~ Helen Keller  

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