MY BAKE SALE and Lecture Discussions
2116 words by ninavo
(I have plenty of more pictures. I will upload all the pictures to a website and put the internet link on my week 13 blog.)
As I wrote in the few blogs before, most of my project on improving poverty in New Orleans has been implemented as planned. I am very happy with my progress. I have helped the Red Cross, and I have written the letters to the four important individuals. I have been constantly checking my emails and checking for any new mail that I receive. Sadly, I have not gotten any responses. I was really hoping for a reply on my topic because New Orleans needs so much help after Hurricane Katrina. I’m guessing that it either takes time, or they have gotten too many letters that they think my letter is trivial. However, I won’t give up hope. I plan to write to them again to increase my chances of getting a reply.
A new addition to my project implementation is my bake sale at Xavier! It turned out to be very successful. I posted fliers on the doors of the Science Building (NCF), University Center, and Xavier South. My bake sale was held on Monday, March 20, 2006 in the University Center at lunchtime from 12 PM to 1 PM. I made cupcakes and brownies. I had a poster attached to the table saying that the bake sale is to improve poverty in New Orleans. The second poster that I had attached to the table stated that I had cupcakes and brownies on sale for 50 cents each. At first I was really debating on whether to sell for 50 cents each or 75 cents each. I was really worried that people will not buy it if it is 75 cents each. I was right because people thought 50 cents was reasonable but not 75 cents.
In the first 15 minutes of my bake sale, I was very discouraged because no one wanted to buy any of my cupcakes or brownies. I changed to different locations in the UC three times until I decided to set the table right in front of the doors of the cafeteria. I realized people would only come to me if I were very visible and close by. Sales were slow at first. Everyone that I asked to buy cupcakes or brownies said that they were heading to the cafeteria and did not want to ruin their appetite. My first customers were two of the staff, and I was very ecstatic that I sold my two cupcakes, my first dollar! Then, more and more people started buying my baked goods. I was very excited. The people who had already bought my cupcakes served as an advertisement for me because other people saw them eating cupcakes and came to me to buy some too. In the very end at 1:00 PM, everyone bought everything.
I really enjoyed conducting the bake sale because I was real happy with the results. In addition, I realized how nice the people were in their willingness to help my cause. There were some people who didn’t like sweets. They didn’t want to buy any cupcakes, but they still donated money. I greatly appreciated their generosity. All the effort that went into baking the cupcakes and brownies paid off. I spent my whole afternoon the night before on Sunday, March 19, 2006 baking, making posters, and making fliers for the bake sale. It was a lot of work, but it was for a great cause. My friend took plenty of pictures of the bake sale for me. She took at least one picture of every customer that I had. I think I had a total of 75 pictures of the bake sale alone.
Now I’m sure you are wondering how much money I made. I made $30.50 altogether from the bake sale. That means I sold 61 items for 50 cents each. I believe I had about 45 cupcakes and the rest were brownies. The money that I raised does not sound like much, but the bake sale experience itself felt very rewarding to me. I felt very great about myself to be truly implementing my project.
At first I was planning to conduct a bake sale at Xavier and at my church, but now I have decided to stick to Xavier. I have gotten negative responses about conducting a bake sale at my church. The priests and my parents said that they really doubt anyone will buy any cupcakes or brownies. I agreed with them because my church is filled with the older Vietnamese community, and they really dislike eating sweets. They are more accustomed to eating Asian foods. Therefore, I think it is better to sell baked goods at Xavier than my church.
Also, this Saturday, April 1, 2006, I will be volunteering at the Hurricane Relief Center on Airline Drive! I am excited. I will update next blog on how that goes.
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There were many problems in the early Church after Jesus as can be seen in the Acts. First, there were many church disagreements. Second, there were arguments over who could be the followers of Jesus. Third, people were getting discouraged in believing God because they had to suffer so much. Therefore, Luke’s goals in writing Acts dealt with the early Church’s major problems. The first theme of the Acts was to downplay church disagreements. The second theme of Acts was to support Paul’s message that Jesus isn’t just for Jews but for the whole world. The third theme in the Acts was to reassure believers of God that they will suffer now, but God will take care of them in the end.
Acts 1 was dedicated to Theophilus. Jesus appears 40 days after Passion. Jesus promises disciples that they will receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus goes up in a cloud, and two men in white robes ask the apostles what they were looking at. The apostles reply that it was Jesus, and Jesus will come back the same way that he left. Then, the followers of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem including disciples, women, and families. Judas dies so they threw lots to choose Matthias as the apostle replacing Judas.
Acts 2 is about the Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes. People begin speaking in different languages. This is also known as “glossolalia” meaning speaking in nonsense. They were accused of being drunk. However, Peter denies the accusation saying that they can’t be drunk because it is 9 AM. Peter tells everyone of the miracle and successfully converts 3000 people.
Acts 3-4 starts off with Peter and John going to pray in the temple. A crippled man asks Peter for money. Peter replied that he had no money. However, Peter healed the man’s crippled feet in the name of Jesus. The man was able to walk again and even started jumping in praise of God. Peter and John made such a large scene that the religious authorities arrested them for it. The religious authorities did not want people worshiping Jesus, who was considered to be a heretic.
Acts 5 is the story of Ananias and Saphira. There was a church movement for the rich to sell all their property and donate all the money to the poor. Ananias sells his property, but he only donates a portion of the money to Peter. Ananias lies to Peter saying that it is all of the money. Peter yells at Ananias and says that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. As a result, Ananias suffers the fate of death. Saphira, Ananias wife, dies the same way for lying to the Holy Spirit. The story teaches people not to rebel against God.
Acts 5 also includes the arrest of the apostles by the high priest. The angel frees them. They go to the temple and preach as the sun rises. The apostles are arrested again. The priests want to kill the apostles. The Liberal Rabbi Gamaliel tells the priests, “If God is not involved it will fail, but if He is, we’re in trouble.” The priests decide to beat the apostles and let them go. The apostles go home “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” This story serves to comfort the apostles that they will suffer a lot now, but in the end God will take care of them. This story tries to get people used to being martyrs.
Acts 6-7 is about Stephen’s arrest and death. Stephen was a strong believer of God. Stephen was arrested because some people in the synagogue were opposed to Stephen. They got people to lie about Stephen to the Council. Stephen made a speech that was considered to be blasphemous. The speech angered a lot of people. In the end, they stoned Stephen.
In Acts 8 Philip spreads Jesus’ teaching to other parts of the world. First, Philip converts the Samaritans, who were once considered to be the Jews’ enemies. Next, Philip goes to Ethiopia and sees the Ethiopian eunuch. The Ethiopian eunuch is reading Isaiah 53, which is the story of the Suffering Servant. Philip explains to the Ethiopian of what he is reading and of the religion. The Ethiopian becomes Jesus’ follower. Philip baptizes the Ethiopian. Philip continues his journey spreading Christianity in Azotus, Caesarea, and other places around the world.
Acts 10-11 in short is about the Gentiles entering into Christianity. The Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit. Then, in the rest of the Acts are many stories of Paul’s conversion. Paul changes from a persecutor to a missionary. Acts ends with Paul in Rome preaching freely. There is nothing in Acts about Paul’s death. Tradition says that Nero cut off Paul’s head in Rome in 64 and crucified Peter also. They crucified Peter upside down because Peter did not want to die the same way as Jesus.
Early Christianity had many opposing ideas. One is faith versus works. An example of faith but not works is worshiping Jesus by praying in a cave. An example of works but not faith is Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Both were not Christian, but they made the world a better place. A second opposing set of ideas is motives versus laws. An example is the law of not doing any work on Sabbath. If a mule fell into a hole, there is a conflict between saving the mule and breaking the Sabbath.
The Romans is the longest and most important letter written about 56 CE. It is about faith based on salvation. Paul has two themes in his message in Romans. The first theme is that all have sinned. The second theme states that law is important, but more important is faith. For example, the Jews were circumcised but real circumcision would not be physical or external, but internal. Paul believed that faith replaces law.
James is the brother of Jesus, sometimes referred to as James the Lesser. James made some well-known quotes. In James 1:2 he tells us that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. In James 2:26 he tells us we can’t just have faith, but we need action with the faith. In James 3:1 James tells us not to be a teacher because teachers are judged on tougher standards. James was mad at some Christians for kicking poor people out of the church. Those Christians were rich and did not want to be associated with the poor. James criticized those rich Christians for their dishonorable actions.
If I were James, Paul would make me upset because Paul used to kill Christians. No matter what kind of transformation Paul went through, Paul still had a past of killing Christians. Paul became a missionary in the end, but I think that Paul’s earlier actions are still unforgivable. Paul redeemed himself by becoming a missionary in the end, but it is still upsetting that Paul played such a major role in the past in killing Christians.
I think that Paul’s views came to dominate Christianity because his views are accurate and straight to the point. I definitely agree with him that faith is more important than the law. If the law and faith contradicts each other, a Christian should choose faith over the law. Paul was very passionate about his beliefs and persuaded many people to agree with him.