I'm going to give away some money to make the world a better place today and I'm hoping you'll join me.

I don't know about you, but I still need to write a few year-end checks to the charity of my choice. I will do it today or tomorrow. And as I do so, I'll ask this question, "Will this gift help bring the hope of Jesus Christ to the hopeless?"

People who do this are missionaries; we need more of them. There's a tide of bad news out there and the most common response to it seems to be to circle the wagons and go into a self-protective posture.

Life was hard and the news was negative in Jesus' day too. He sent his disciples out as missionaries of hope to surrounding villages and eventually to the rest of the world.

It's been my life's ambition to imitate Jesus and his methods of raising up disciples. Through the World Race and through the Center for Global Action, we are teaching young people to do what Jesus did.

We teach them using Jesus's radical model and they respond by trusting him to do incredible things. If you haven't read their stories on my blog lately, here are a few.

Lisa Smith shows us what one person can do to make a difference as she ministers to the poor in Nicaragua. In this tough economic environment, it can be hard for a young person to make the sacrifice to go to needy places like that. Or, like Shannon Morgan, they may want to but lack resources. Shannon is an example of a young woman who feels called to help disciple the people of South Sudan as they rebuild their nation. She was unable to go this year because of finances.

There are many others like her. On our World Race L squad, five racers are short of their support goal - they need someone's generosity to stay on the field and will have to come home soon if funds don't show up.

So my check is going to go to start a scholarship fund for those who want to make a long-term commitment to make the world a better place in Jesus's name. If you want to write a year-end check too, you can designate it to the scholarship fund, and to a specific squad or project.

My dream is that every qualified young disciple of Jesus would be able to give their lives to those who need him. If you'll join me, we can make it happen.

Where to send it

Click here to give immediately (you can reach me here with your specific instructions or questions).

Or, better still, make a check out to Adventures In Missions and send it to the address below. Just note "scholarship fund" in the note section. If you get in the mail on Monday, it's still a 2012 gift.

Adventures In Missions

6000 Wellspring Tr.

Gainesville, GA 30506