Katy Faust’s 7 Ways to Spend a Billion Dollars
If you woke up a billionaire tomorrow, what’s the first, second, or third thing you would do?
Katy Faust, president and founder of Them Before Us, an organization dedicated to preserving and protecting children’s rights, recently answered this very question.
Katy and Focus on the Family are partnering on a forthcoming documentary, This Is a Child.
How and what we spend our money on is an indication of our priorities – as well as a “tell” on the condition of our heart. This is what Jesus was getting at when He gave the “Sermon on the Mount” and taught:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
Katy’s response to the billion-dollar question is a reflection and magnifier of the heart she has for children who are regularly exploited by adults who are far more concerned with fulfilling their own selfish desires rather than serving and shaping the next generation.
Here’s how she answered and how she would spend the money:
- Train advocates so children’s interests are represented in every state and federal marriage and family policy.
- Hire lawyers to take on #BigFertility and defend children in courts.
- Equip churches nationwide to become bold defenders of children’s rights.
- Fund artists and storytellers who help the next generation behold joyful, married mothers and fathers so they know what they want to become.
- Support policymakers working to secure divorce justice for innocent spouses and their children.
- Build platforms where children deprived of a mother or father can share their stories as warning to future parents.
- Invest in restorative reproductive medicine that heals women and men suffering infertility.
Thankfully, Katy isn’t waiting for a billion dollars to get started. Her organization is already tackling many of these tasks – but every nonprofit can only do so much given the reality of its financial constraints.
On this “Giving Tuesday,” an annual event started to try and counterbalance the dollars expended on “Black Friday,” Christians have an opportunity to support and partner with groups like Katy’s – and Focus on the Family.
Since 1977, Focus has served hundreds of millions of individuals and families. Our daily Radio Hall of Fame broadcast, which was launched by Dr. James Dobson and now hosted by Jim Daly, has been literally beamed across the world. We receive testimonies on a regular basis of individuals who see it as a lifeline.
A few years ago, we received word from a woman who was contemplating suicide. Homeless, she was dumpster-diving and found an old radio. She plugged it in – and she just so happened to turn on the Focus on the Family show. The guest was talking about depression and how all things are possible with God and that life is a gift worth living. The distraught woman decided not to try and commit suicide.
That’s the high yield return on donating to this ministry. We encourage friends of Focus to first meet the financial needs of their local church. If they’re then in a position to give out of their abundance, we would be honored and humbled if they would prayerfully consider supporting and partnering with our efforts.
Image credit: Them Before Us
