Nonprofits, Joseph Kony and the Body.

I don't know much, but I have a few things I would like to say.

Invisible Children has received a lot of support, and a lot of criticism. One critique is that they spend more money traveling and creating promotional materials than they do on providing immediate aid to central Africa. With the launch of the Kony 2012 campaign yesterday, critics are arguing that this kind of campaign is not beneficial to the issue at hand, at least not at the stage it is at currently.

I don't know what the best strategy is. I don't think anyone does. But I do believe that God has given us talents for a reason, and He has placed in us certain passions. And with these different gifts and wirings, we can work together to do something noble. As Christians, we are all different parts of one Body. As people, we are all different inhabitants of this world, still working together because we know we were created for something and Someone bigger than us. And we know we were created for good -- and we can't do it alone.

Yesterday I had a short conversation with some of my housemates about TOMS. From what I understood, the critique was that the nonprofit manufactures the shoes in other countries, such as China, when they could be making them in the countries of need, therefore providing jobs and community sustainability. TOMS is simply dropping shoes off and not doing enough to help the community support itself.

That's probably true. But in the same way that we as people are different parts of one Body, of one world, and all contribute differently, can TOMS also be one part of the cause? Some nonprofits are situated within the country of need, and work directly with the community to create sustainability. Can TOMS be the part that provides the aid?

Likewise, can Invisible Children be one part of the cause? Can we decide for ourselves what organizations we want to directly support and get involved with, and spend more time doing so rather than looking for the flaws in other organizations? Can you let Invisible Children use its gifts and passions to engage people and create awareness of the situation, and let other organizations use its gifts and passions to provide direct aid?

Can we let Invisible Children be the mouth of the cause's body and other nonprofits be the hands and feet?

Whether you support Invisible Children or not, you can support the cause and tell people who Joseph Kony is -- and let others decide for themselves how they want to get involved. If you live in Fort Collins, here's one way you can help.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.