Can you give me a push?

January 9, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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I need a push. A really big push.

Well maybe not me as much as my fundraising for the 25000 Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge for Compassion. I’m well down on my target and I need anyone who cares about releasing children from poverty to give what they can to boost the total. Will you please be one of those who helps?

Here’s a video that was created at the end of last year’s event which will give you an understanding of what it’s all about.

Having seen first hand, both in Haiti and Dominican Republic, how effective Compassion’s work is, I am determined to do what I can to help. That’s why from the 10th to the 12th of February I’ll once again be taking part in the 25000 Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge.

I’ll be riding 290 kilometres and battling some serious hills over three days and I need your support. By sponsoring my efforts on the challenge you’ll be releasing children from poverty. You’ll be giving children a real chance at life. Please visit my fundraising page and make a contribution. Maybe you can afford to sponsor me for a dollar a kilometre, maybe 50 cents a kilometre, or perhaps you’d just like to donate $10, $20, $50 or any other amount. My overall target is $2500 so I have a long way to go.

Please help me save some lives. Please make your donation, large or small, and then share this post in as many ways as you can so that more people will get on board and more lives will be saved. Somewhere in this world is a child who is waiting for you to step up and become a hero by giving them a hand up.



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Raising Hope

August 11, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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Over the coming months I’ll be part of three very different projects. Each project aims to bring hope to different people in very different circumstances.

I need to be completely upfront and say that I need your support to make each of these projects worthwhile. Yes, I’m raising funds but the funds that are raised will help to spread hope into places where it’s desperately needed. Please indulge me long enough to read about each project and then take action in supporting one or more of them.

Whatever you can afford to contribute will help in changing lives.

Morning Cafe Cancer Ride 2012

From the 13th to the 20th of October I’ll once again be taking part in the Morning Cafe Cancer Ride for Cancer Council Western Australia. I’ll be cycling over 500 kilometres from Albany to Perth. The ride follows the success of rides held over the last few years. This will be our fourth ride highlighting the cancer journey of a number of people and raising money to fight cancer. If you’re in Australia your donation is tax deductible. Even if you’re not, the work that Cancer Council WA is doing is making a difference throughout the world through some highly regarded research projects. Just head to the webpage and click donate. My aim is to raise $1000 for Cancer Council WA.

Girls Off the Streets

In December I’ll be traveling to Bangladesh and India to learn more about the Girls Off the Streets initiative through SIMaid. In Bangladesh there are approximately 500 000 children living on the streets due to poverty or abuse. Many girls who live on the streets are sexually exploited. The Indian Government states there are 2.8 million people prostituted in India, but human rights groups claim it is more like 15 million. 200 girls are entering into the sex trade every day with 80% of them doing so against their own free will. I’ll be traveling to both countries with SIMaid to witness the work they do to stop trafficking and sex slavery while transforming the lives of young girls rescued. My role will be as a storyteller, communicating the need online, on radio and to churches back here in Australia. I need to raise money for my travel costs (around $2500 – $3000) and if you’d like to contribute please email me via my Contact Page so that I can let you know where to direct your money.

Great Ocean Road Challenge 2013

In February I’ll be taking part in the Great Ocean Road Challenge for the second time, cycling around 300 kilometres to raise much needed funds for Compassion. Having seen first hand, both in Haiti and Dominican Republic, how effective Compassion’s work is, I am determined to do more to help. That’s why I’ll be riding 290 kilometres in three days and I need your support. By sponsoring my efforts on the challenge you’ll be releasing children from poverty. You’ll be giving children a real chance at life. Please visit my fundraising page and make a contribution. Maybe you can afford to sponsor me for a dollar a kilometre, maybe 50 cents a kilometre, or perhaps you’d just like to donate a set amount. My goal for this ride is to raise $2500.

I’ll write more about each project over the next few months but my strong desire is that one or more of these projects will capture your heart and imagination and you’ll help me in raising hope for others.



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How Ridiculous

July 12, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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This is a post for those living in Perth, but you can enjoy the video wherever you are in the world.

If you’d like to meet half of the team that have been watched by millions around the world, put Sunday the 22nd of July in your diary.

How Ridiculous are four “trick shooters” from Perth, Western Australia and are the current Guinness World Record holders for the greatest height from which a basketball is shot. They’ve been seen around the world on YouTube, ESPN Sportcenter, Good Morning America, CNN News and lots more.

I’ll be in conversation with a couple of the guys from How Ridiculous in a relaxed, entertaining environment from 6:30 Sunday evening the 22nd of July at Thornlie Church of Christ, 319 Spencer Road, Thornlie.

I hope you can come along and hear about some of their greatest shots and why they do what they do. The guys are passionate supporters of Compassion and their work of releasing children from poverty so I’m really looking forward to our chat.



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58: The Film

May 28, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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I saw an amazing movie last week. I had the honour of being at a screening of 58: The Film.

It’s a powerful movie that challenges us to believe that we can end extreme poverty. Over the past few decades we’ve seen dramatic changes to the numbers of people touched by poverty but there’s still a massive job ahead of us. The startling thing is, we have all we need to end poverty. We simply need the will to do something. We need to start taking poverty personally.

58: The Film tells the inspiring true story of the global Church in action, from the slums of Kenya and the quarries of India to the streets of New York. It’s a journey that confronts the brutality of extreme poverty and introduces those who are already living out the true fast of Isaiah 58.

To: 58: The Film is confronting, inspiring and eye-opening—but 58: is so much more. It is our hope that everyone who sees the film will be moved to take action. There are some clear ways for you to get involved with Compassion and 58: partners Micah Challenge and Stop the Traffik.

By visiting the 58: The Film website you can find out how you can be part of a movement to see poverty end in our generation. It’s very easy to run your own screening of the movie which will help mobilise and equip people to do something about the injustices our world is facing.

Today on my Morning Cafe radio program I spoke to Matt Darvas of Compassion Australia about the film and the impact it can have as we play our part in bringing justice to more people around the world.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke? —Isaiah 58:6



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Australia’s Commitment to Foreign Aid

May 3, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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Both major political parties in Australia have promised to help lift more people, particularly children, out of poverty by increasing Australia’s foreign aid program to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income by 2015. At the moment it’s just 0.35 per cent.

However, over the last few weeks, various statements by Prime Minister Gillard and news reports have suggested that this commitment may be postponed. With over a billion people still living in poverty and 21,000 children still dying every day, Compassion Australia is just one of the aid agencies calling on the government to keep their promise. Their Executive Director of Advocacy, DJ Konz, joined me on my Morning Cafe radio program to discuss the issue this week.

We all know that when we have to tighten our financial belts at home we have to decide what’s essential and what extras we can live without. The Australian government’s in a similar position as they try to bring the budget back in to surplus. I asked DJ why it’s essential for Australia that we keep sending money overseas.



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