January 27, 2025

It is hard to imagine that we are starting the second year of our Hope for Today Journey-Seeing God’s Hand at Work…Around the World. My, how time flies!

We began this new 131-day adventure from Ft. Lauderdale yesterday. We will be sailing down to the South Pole, Antarctica and then all the way up to the North Pole, Artic. This is the first world cruise to ever travel this longitudinal itinerary. We have an amazing journey ahead!

We are pleased to announce that we have formed a partnership with thirdmil an organization that creates and distributes high-quality, multimedia seminary curriculum in the major languages of the world. (thirdmil.org) The curriculum is currently used by a wide variety of seminaries, Bible colleges, churches, mission organizations and institutions in: North, Central and South America; Europe; Asia; Africa; the Middle East; and Australia. Over 1,250,000 supervised students have used the curriculum.

Through a coordinated effort with thirdmil we will increase our charitable giving through social impact ventures on a global level. We have identified organizations worldwide that we will personally visit to offer support and encourage to ministries in their home country. This is another fulfillment of our desire to see God’s Hand at Work…Around the World. We will provide updates as we travel. We are excited about this new opportunity.

Over the Christmas holidays someone who recently subscribed to the blog asked, “What exactly is a charitable fund?” A charitable fund, sometimes described as a Donor Advisor Fund (DAF) is a self-directed fund that you can establish through a financial institution, The Hope for Today Charitable Fund is established through Charles Schwab. This is where you earmark monies to be used for donations to charities of your choosing. This is not a 501.c nonprofit organization where you can receive contributions.

The origin of Hope for Today was a simple one. My dear generous wife would often ask questions like: “I heard there is someone at the church who is having difficulty paying rent. Can we help by sending them a check”. Of course, I was willing to help but I often thought in those types of situations that a word of encouragement would be so helpful. So, after establishing the Hope for Today Fund, with the help of my creative son-in-law, Ben, created a logo and stationery. Now I can take the time to write a thoughtful encouraging letter along with any donation.

You can do the same.

You can name your fund with your surname, i.e., The Walsh Family Charitable Fund and create your own stationary on Vistaprint. You can have your spouse, children/grandchildren be involved in the giving process and have them identify charities that they would like to help. What a wonderful way to build family unity, mentor philanthropy and make an impact. You can make a contribution of any amount you like, and you can decide which organizations you want to contribute to and for how long. I think it would be wonderful to see families have real family meetings to learn how to be cheerful givers.

Of note, a charitable fund cannot be used for personal expenses. Any and all travel expenses Chongae and I occur on this 3-year journey we assume personally. The charitable fund is the vehicle to make contributions, and the amount funded and replenished is at the donor’s discretion.

We appreciate so much those of you who have traveled with us from the start of this journey and those of you who have joined us along the way. As I’ve shared, I think of many of you often as I write this blog wondering what you would think and wishing you could be with us. It has made this journey much more meaningful for me. Thank you.

Also thank you so much for writing comments. We have purposely turned off the ongoing view of comments so that they remain confidential, so that you can send a personal message if desired. I do see and read them all and always try and reply. It means the world to me that you are reading along and taking the time to comment.

I started this blog a year ago with the first blog heading: Every journey begins with a first step. Take it.

Now it’s time to take the next step.

Thanks for traveling with us.