Day Seventeen: The Rick Pearson Memorial

Many people are tracking with me as I tell the story of the book, but I was reminded even yesterday of the number of you who don't really know why.  Why write this book?  Why donate to a memorial fund?  What is this all about? Well, I'm going to tell you exactly how the memorial fund came to be.

Just after Ricky died, there were obviously lots of medical expenses that we didn't have the money to cover.  He was 23, so a life insurance policy wasn't really in his scope.  As a matter of fact, he DID have a life insurance policy... that he cashed out early to get money for an engagement ring.  Hopeless romantic.  I still believe it was money well spent.

Anyway, a friend of ours helped to set up a fund for us under a ministry that facilitates people accepting donations to cover these kinds of unexpected events.

And people gave.

A lot.

We were able to cover all the funeral expenses and extra medical costs that popped up here and there.  And then we ended up with a surplus.  This made us ecstatic as we thought of the possibilities.  So we decided to start a Memorial Fund under the umbrella of the National Christian Foundation.

We held a benefit concert just after Ricky's death to celebrate his life and to inform people of the fund and the purpose of it.  The Rick Pearson Memorial Fund was put into motion, and it's goal was to champion the causes and ministries that Rick supported with his life.  These few that we first began to support were Mountain Lake Church (his home church), Passion Conferences, Bigstuf Camps, and Compassion International.

Since that first concert, we've held two others and are approaching the 4th in a line of what was an annual event. (we skipped a year, but we're picking back up!) We've also managed to do some pretty amazing things with the fund:

1.  We fulfilled a financial pledge that Rick made to his home church.  And that pledge was for the building and expansion of what was then an infant church.  It has now grown tremendously and that pledge toward a building fund that Ricky made was seen to completion.  We are having our book release and benefit concert in the new facility at Mountain Lake!

2.  We have provided the funds to help several international college students who weren't financially able pay for a flight to Passion Conferences.  I've been able to meet a couple of them and won't soon forget their beaming faces and gratitude toward us- and you who have given to the fund- for making their dream a reality.

3.  After Hurricane Katrina there was much to be done in the way of help.  Everything that could be needed was needed, and everything that could be lost was lost.  One of the ways we were able to help with the fund was to pay for some high school students who lost everything to get to experience summer camp, some sort of normalcy in the midst of their bad dream.  They attended Bigstuf Camps in Panama City Beach, Florida, one of the most powerful and life-changing youth camps I've been a part of.

4.  Perhaps my most favorite thing we've been able to do with the memorial fund has been through a favorite ministry of mine as well:  Compassion International.  Aside from continuing to sponsor the children that Ricky sponsored, we set a rather lofty goal for our tiny little fund- to raise $30,000 to start a Child Survival Project in Africa through Compassion.  And we did it!

We've been able to accomplish so much through the fund that we wanted to do more.  That's why this book.  That's why I'm so excited to have you pick it up and read it.  Of course the story of Rick's death and God's glory is going to be life changing.  But the dollars spent on the book aren't going into my pocket.  They're headed to our non-profit.  LEGACY:  The Rick Pearson Memorial.

We decided to start our own non-profit out from the umbrella of the National Christian Foundation, not because we don't believe in them and have great respect for them.  We just wanted the freedom to expand our efforts, and this was the way.  We will continue to support the efforts of Passion Conferences, continue to help students experience God with their friends at Bigstuf Camps, and we'll continue to help release children from poverty in Jesus' name with Compassion International.  But we're also going to start a scholarship for graduating high school students who feel a calling in worship with an emphasis on missions.  We also want to help the Atlanta Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Perhaps the most recent tragedy in Haiti has certainly called to action many people across the globe, regardless of faith and belief.  We want to act as well.  One of the first things we'll do with some of the money from the the benefit concert will be to assign funds toward Haiti relief through Compassion.

This isn't a complete and detailed list of what LEGACY:  The Rick Pearson Memorial is about, but it will give you some idea.  This is why I'm so excited about the book and want you to be with me at the release.  I want you to see what your efforts have done and will continue to do to champion the glory of God by celebrating the legacy of my brother, Ricky.

*from today onward I'll be leaving the link to the book release event page at the bottom of the blog, as well as a link to purchase tickets online.

- C

EVENT WEB PAGE:  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=232186263147

TO PURCHASE TICKETS (reminder- don't type in your zip code.  These will be tickets to pick up at a will call window the day of the event.  No shipping.):  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10925320