My very first internship when I arrived in the fall of 2012 in Austin, TX was with ActsofSharing.com, a platform inspired by the sharing economy but more than that, in an effort to live out our lives the way Jesus describes in Acts 4:32: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”
The mission of the platform was simple— love your neighbors as your stuff. Meet needs together.
AOS is in a large (and crazy exciting) shift right now, but our original core team has adopted a few traditions in the meantime. Aside of our monthly “Festival of Friends” (we’re cheesy) dinners with overly competitive taboo, Brian partnered up with Common Change and once every two weeks we host what is called a “Generosity Dinner.” It is a large group of friends- some old, some new- who gather on the top of the Whole Foods rooftop and…
We eat dinner,
we put our money together,
we talk about people we know who are in need,
we decide who to help bless that week.
At one of our first dinners
We also realize that sometime someone’s need isn’t monetary though, so we have gathered together and written letters of encouragement before and staggered the send outs so that the person got one letter a week. Not only are Generosity Dinners a great way to practice loving others, but it also forces you to be reflective. It is so easy to get on an auto-pilot and not actively love the people in our lives and even if we do see their struggle or need, to not stop and think: “What can I do?”
So share the love! Try hosting a generosity dinner with your friends and neighbors. Be the blessing!