Tag: ODW

Iraq & Syria Relief Fund | One Day’s Wages

Photo by James Gordon


I’ve given to One Day’s Wages before and they’re the real deal. It’s the same charity to which I gave half my salary a few years ago. Please donate anything you can for the oppressed people of Syria and Iraq.

We at ODW are overwhelmed with sadness by the suffering in Syria and Iraq and the surrounding region. Tragically over 230,000 people have died since the start of the Syrian crisis, and over 14 million people are in need of emergency humanitarian aid. We know it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale and severity of this, but we also know that people are capable of making an amazing impact in the face of human suffering.

Join us as we stand with the people of Iraq and Syria to provide aid and relief through this crisis and into the rebuilding.


Book Review: Overrated by Eugene Cho


Overrated
by Eugene Cho

Summary:

Eugene Cho, founder of charity One Day’s Wages and lead pastor of Quest Church in Seattle, writes an honest, searing book about the popular issue of social justice, and how it’s not just a popular issue. Pastor Eugene gets deep into the hands-on grittiness of doing justice that lasts beyond our flashy social media and emotional trappings. He also shares his own personal journey in getting there, a vulnerable season of his life when he was brutally humbled and he honestly confronted himself.

Review:

I must first admit my own bias here because I’m absolutely excited that my own story is in the book. A couple years ago, I donated half my salary to Eugene Cho’s charity One Day’s Wages to fight human trafficking. It was a check for $10,000, and after attempting to raise a matching donation, an anonymous donor contributed $8085 to reach $20,000. What convicted me most to save for the year was hearing one of Eugene Cho’s messages from the Catalyst Conference in 2011, in which he delivered a passionate sermon about really doing justice more than loving the idea; incidentally, it has become the main thread of his first book. Though I’ve never met Pastor Eugene, I’m truly honored that I’m a part of his work.

Here’s a confession. I’ve read over 200 Christian books and I’ve been a pastor for over seven years, and I can truthfully tell you that I’m woefully jaded to the Christianese scene of books, podcasts, and conferences. I’ve read the best there is and have heard the best preachers. I know every great one-liner, buzzword, and knock-out tweet in the entirety of our Christian bubble. There’s not a single Christian book in the last year or so that has impacted me deeply, and perhaps the last truly great book I’ve read is Josh Riebock’s Heroes and Monsters. So while I love Eugene Cho and his charity, I approached his book with some fear that it would encircle the same tropes I’ve come to eye-roll.

Continue reading “Book Review: Overrated by Eugene Cho” →

I’m In Eugene Cho’s New Book “Overrated”

eugene cho overrated ODW book Joon



Eugene Cho has just released a this week called Overrated: Are We More In Love With The Idea of Changing The World Than Actually Changing The World?  The foreword is also by one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, who wrote Blue Like Jazz.

One of the other reasons I’m so excited for this book is because Eugene Cho put in my testimony, about the time I gave away half my salary to fight human trafficking.  I’m just crazy honored and humbled to be part of his work.

Back in 2012, I wrote a check for $10,000 to the charity One Day’s Wages, and after an awareness campaign, someone anonymously donated enough to make a matching contribution of another $10,000.  If you want to see what the money does, check here.

It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done, and I don’t say any of this to brag.  I say this to brag on God, who makes all this possible, and to brag on the millions of untold stories of real sacrifice, courage, and reckless grace.  In a world so hurting, there are still people fighting for real change.

— J.S.