
I really want to...
Here I sit in Costa Rica against my will. It all started with an angry woman cop with small mans complex who was checking the papers to our Panamanian car. Long story short, she impounded the car and wrote it up as an illegally smuggled car brought into the country. This was not true and all government departments I have met with since last Sunday have agreed, but they also say that there is nothing they can do once it is in the system. So I wait and spend thousands of dollars which helps their failing economy. Pura Vida, as they say here, typically when they are removing the (sometimes figurative) knife from your back.
All this time here has led me to introspection, the sorting through years of hard work developing simple solutions that will help those less fortunate, specifically in the area of their physical health. I mention physical health specifically so not to allow your assumption of me helping in the areas of spiritual and financial.
Financially speaking there is much to learn from many of those we affluent peg as poor. For most in the western world, finances have become the vehicle to our purchased identities and we find ourselves slaves to income production in order to maintain the image. I don’t want to lead anyone down that road. I’ve enjoyed seeing the simple life that many have here, where life consists of family, friends and working the land for food and sustenance. I have learned from them what it takes to live in a way that has little to do with money and much to do with family and friends. It’s a value I’m encouraged to see still exist in the world today.
Spiritually speaking I’ve yet to see many who embrace their personally customized “pursuit” of God to a point where it actually affects their daily life. As a Christian, I have become accustomed to observing a mostly verbal faith. We douse ourselves in all the right answers, depending on personal preference, so we are ready for heated debates and we call it spirituality. It’s the concern and compassion that I’m not seeing much. Care for humanity and all of creation. It’s difficult to truly care when we are operating from a premise of consumption. Our faith has been hijacked by want and, as one suffering from Stockholm syndrome, we now cater to the hijacker. So I continue to love people as well as I can while I sort through my cluttered mind and pick out the pieces in hopes of putting together a faith that is genuine. I believe faith is the most important thing and that we should all take time to consider this and how it directs our lives.
Physical health is base line. There are many things we can do to help people live better. I have gained knowledge and I chose to offer that knowledge to the benefit of those without. We can all do this in some connecting form. When I used to have the opportunities to speak publically, I would often say that anyone from a western education who is beyond age twelve discards enough knowledge on a daily basis that could change the world. Seeing the product coming out of the states these days I think the age is higher now but the point is still the same, we are distracted with ourselves and, whether intentional or not, neglecting and abusing the world. I realize it is hard to focus on others, especially in a consumer culture with a failing economy, but we must have the discipline to do so, especially if yours is a response to faith.
For some unknown reason I remember a public address from Jimmy Carter. I was probably nine years old when he was in his last year of office and, as he looked into the camera, he asked America to look at their selves. He was pleading with the people to realize change starts with them, individually, making personal decisions that affect the world. Many hated him as a president and I was too young to have a strong opinion but what I know for sure, to this day, is that he was a man of integrity. He left office and went back to helping the world and is still doing so to this day.
Recently we, Dead Wheat, became a 501 c-3 called Contextual Solutions so we could offer tax benefits to those who believe in our work. This has come at a strategic time as our initiatives have finalized or are at the end of their testing and ready to go global. This will require an increase in our support. Currently we have been covering costs ourselves as we have been testing because we realize not many want to spend money on developing ideas when the rate of return is merely potentially helping others. For those who have given, we greatly thank you and the return will be huge! But now we’re ready. This leads us to a transition from primarily research and development to travel and training. Our stove initiative specifically can save hundreds of thousands of lives and make the lives of those using it much better. I’ve written about it enough before so I’ll spare the space here. We recently started a campaign to take the stove initiative to all the Central American countries at a cost of six grand. (Excluding Mexico as we’ve heard it’s been abandoned now and they are all living in the states.) We will go to train the trainers and leave behind a total of thirty molds. That effort would affect ninety thousand (90,000) people. That is a cost of $1.67 per person helped. And this is just an awareness tour, a seed planting so to say. The after effects will continue on and on without us as our approach empowers people. However, due to slow funding we are postponing the trip until January when we’ll see where we are with the budget goals. In the past, we at Dead Wheat would pay out of pocket to make this happen. But quite frankly we have exhausted our personal resources. The decision has been made to go back to work and personally raise and/or wait on funding to further our initiatives.
But things are different now. With the name change to Contextual Solutions, and the tax benefit the legal structure offers, we leave it up to you the people. Contextual Solutions is for everyone reading from this screen to be a part of spreading the solutions that makes huge lasting change. It’s no longer my dreams but can be the dreams of anyone involved.
We’ll be faithful with any amount raised and continue to help those for which we have funding to reach.
If you want to support our work please donate and let us know you believe in our efforts and approach.
We would like to hear from you to so send us an e-mail or say something on our Facebook page to let us know you’re out there.
Godspeed,
Steve
