Research has shown that people who volunteer often live longer. - Allen Klein
When Mrs.Chaos and I got married in May, we told our guests that in lieu of a tradition present, we would be very happy for them to contribute to Holt International. Holt is a wonderful organization that makes a difference in the lives of children around the world. The Holt team reached out to people in Sacramento to help sign up sponsors for children at Winterjam this weekend and Ashley and I jumped on board.As part of the volunteer opportunity we got to watch the festivities at the Powerbalance Pavilion (sigh Arco Arena). I'm pretty confident it's my first time at a christian rock festival. It was a fun opportunity. The first band was pretty crazy--shaved head rockers screaming at the top of their lungs with various fire effects blasting in the background. I felt like I was at a death metal concert. Rock on? The final band of the night was Newsboys and it was the only band that had songs I recognized--songs that are played at my church. They had, by far, the best show. The most impressive part was when all the musicians raised up over the audience on platforms moved by giant cranes. The drummer's platform raised and leaned completely forward so that he was completely perpendicular to how he should be playing and then his platform rotated in place. I tried to take a picture but he was too backlit to get anything.
I also strikes me as weird how common place it is to take photos and videos at concerts. When I started going to concerts they would eject you for taking picture, but I think these days, everyone just accepts that the audience is going to take photos and videos on their phone.
During intermission we did our work for Holt. This specific calling was trying to raise money for children who have been relinquished by their parents but have not yet been adopted. It's a good calling. Pay $30 a month to provide for one child for a few months to a few years. You get a nicely monthly update on how the child is doing until the time they are adopted into a family. Then your commitment is over or your move on to the next child. Mrs.Chaos and I each got four children sponsored for at least a month--hopefully for the long run.
To do our part we sponsored our own little boy. I know how under-the-covers all the money goes into one large pot and Holt allocates it as they need, but we'll get monthly updates on the little tyke until he gets adopted and then we'll move on to the next. We picked a male in Korea because during out time there visiting with Molly Holt we learned that in Korea boys are much harder to get adopted than girls. Because of the way inheritance laws work, families who are struggling to have a child will adopt girls so that if they do have a boy, the inheritance goes to the genetic child.