Saving Starfish

I received this email this morning from Bill Mathews, an American Majority Alumni from the Little Rock area:

“I am proud to be a member of a church that supports and encourages Christian participation in the election of our lawmakers.

We held our first VOTER REGISTRATION day last Sunday, we had 23 people sign forms, most which were name or address changes, but 7 were new voters.

One of our new voters is also a new US citizen. This will be her first election. HOW COOL IS THAT?
“I am attaching a photo of our team, a copy of the early voting dates and times for Pulaski and Saline Counties, and a copy of the church bulletin they advertised the event, and a photo of our Marquis Sign on I-30 for all to see.
“I will work to see more Southern Baptist Churches participate in the next election!” – Bill Mathews

WOW! I am so encouraged by what Bill and his church have done. They are participating in the American process, encouraging people to get informed and engaged thus empowering them. This is the way our process is intended to happen.

Bill is excited about sharing his experience with other churches and helping them to get their GOTV Campaigns geared up for the 2012election. In talking with him this morning, he said he was considering putting together a package with the guidelines for how a church can effectively manage a voter registration drive.

Bill’s story isn’t about 2 million people attending a political rally or some big-name political guru “firing people up.” It is a relevant story of grassroots activism and essential to helping defend freedom and protect liberty.

Imagine if each church in Arkansas just registered 7 new voters before the upcoming election. What would that look like? There are an estimated 450,000 churches in America so it’s safe to say there are literally thousands in Arkansas alone. Just for argument’s sake lets settle on half the average which would be 4,500. If each one of those Churches registered 7 new voters that would be 31,500 new voters, think that could make a
difference in the election?

You bet your sweet bippy it would! Only 10 out of Arkansas’ 75 counties have more than 31,500 people registered to vote.

This reminded me of the star fish story. It goes like this:

“I was walking along an ocean beach one hot summer day. In the distance, I saw a man who was doing a strange dance, bending over again and again. As I got closer, I saw that he was picking up starfish that had washed ashore and carefully tossing them back into the surf.
I asked: “Why are you throwing those starfish into the sea?”
He replied, “The tide is going out, the sun is hot, and if I don’t, they will die here.”

I noted how the beach was miles long and there were thousands of stranded starfish and the few he threw back couldn’t make any real difference.

The man paused with a starfish in his hand. He looked at it. Then, he tossed the starfish back into the ocean and said, “Well, it sure made a difference to that one.”

Get informed and engaged my friends. Then encourage those in your sphere of influence to join you and do the same.