Hi, welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host for the daily challenges.  This week’s topic is part of our series called EPIC where we’ve been exploring how Jesus is found throughout the Old Testament part of the Bible. We’re reading some epic old stories from the Old Testament, some of which you might have heard before, some of which might be new to you. Nevertheless our hope is that in each of them we’ll see how they’re part of one big epic story: the story of the Bible, the story of the world, God’s story.

Our daily challenges are meant to help you explore what it means to follow Jesus, even if you don’t have a lot of time. That’s why we have a rhythm that keeps us in sync, even if we’re not a community that meets together in person regularly. This means every Monday we introduce the week’s idea. Every Tuesday we study it in the Bible. Every Wednesday we see how that challenges and transforms our thinking on the topic. Thursdays we try to apply and live it out. Friday is a day for prayer and reflection before we take a rest on Saturday, and Sundays we meet together with other Christians in community.

What do a bullied bus monitor,  a beaten homeless man, and the guy who dug Toronto’s so-called terror tunnel have in common?

Crowdfunding.

We’ve seen a whole new kind of generosity arise in the last couple years – crowdfunding.

I think it started with people crowdfunding for business ventures, on platforms like Kickstarter.  But now, all kinds of campaigns to directly help people in need, or even just people who’ve had a terrible experience, or have become newsworthy for any number of reasons.

People in need of generosity can share their story online, and solicit small donations from others – and the sheer scale of the Internet makes their goals achievable.  Our own users have used crowdfunding to raise money for a sick child, and a friend of mine tried to raise tuition money the same way.

A few months ago, a Quebec woman was ordered to remove her hijab or head covering in court, where she was hoping to get her impounded vehicle returned.  Two people who didn’t know her raised more than $45,000, much more than the $20,000 they’d hoped would help her buy a new car. She ultimately refused the money, graciously and with much thanks.

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/as-charity-crowdfunding-soars-accountability-questions-linger/

She never asked for it, and yet experience an outpouring of generosity from strangers of all kinds.  This week we’ll study the story of another woman who got an amazing outpouring of generosity from a stranger.

Question: What’s the nicest, most generous thing anyone has done for you?