It is natural for us to turn away from that which hurts us. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. It is the flesh’s response to flee in the presence of any kind of pain. But as Christian’s, as followers of Christ, are we not supposed to deny our flesh? I’m about to get real with y’all, and I know many will stop reading because it will make them uncomfortable.
Are we, as followers of Christ, not supposed to truly follow in His footsteps, deny our flesh, and take up our crosses?
Are we, as followers of Christ, not supposed to rejoice in our suffering? Whether that suffering is from directly being a victim of that suffering, or experiencing it through other victims? Rejoicing in this suffering requires acknowledging that there is suffering. Not in some off-handed way that quotes statistics, but truly acknowledging suffering to the point that it upsets you.
Are we, as followers of Christ, not supposed to care for the orphan and the widow?
Are we, followers of Christ, not supposed to care for the least of these as if we were caring for Christ himself?
Have you acknowledged and explored the different ways the precious people of this world are suffering?
Have you acknowledged the fact that the purest form of religion is this: to care for the orphan and widow in their affliction?
If you are a Christian, what are you doing to care for the orphan and widow? In your community? In your country? In the world? My hope would be that you could say you are doing something, but the truth is that many people will stare blankly at this question, unable to come up with anything that they have done to address the plight of the orphan or the widow.
But really, what is the plight? Let’s look at some numbers.
- 153 million (that is 153,000,000) children are either one-parent or both-parent orphaned and, while not all of these children cannot be adopted into families, so many can be sponsored
- Over 1 billion children suffer from at least one form of severe deprivation of basic needs
- 19,000 children under the age of 5 died every day in 2011
- 67 million children of primary school age do not go to school (100% due to either not being able to afford school feeds or having to beg instead during school hours because they do not have food for their families)
- In Sub-Saharan Africa, 1-in-9 children dies before the age of five
- Malaria (a disease that is EASILY treatable with the correct medication) is the leading killer of children under five in Africa
- Asia is home to the largest number of orphaned children in the world with 60 million orphaned and counting; much of this is due to the abandonment of girls due to the dowry system
- In the Russian Federation alone, 140,000 children with disabilities live in institutional care (go ahead, google what institutionalization does to a child)
- 7.5 million girls are married before the age of 18 in Latin America
- 5% of children in Latin America are orphaned
- Underage minors represent 50% of the people living in extreme poverty in Latin America
- There are over 120,000 orphans in America and more than 400,000 without permanent families
So. What are you going to do about it? What can you do about it? Can you change the world? No. You are not going to end world hunger/poverty/violence/etc. by yourself or even in your lifetime. But you can change the world for one person. Or several. Not all, but your impact will be just as big. Sponsor a child. Give to an organization that provides clean water/malaria meds/sanitary stations/etc. Sponsoring a child can do SO MUCH. By paying a mere $35-$40/month (which is less than your monthly cellphone bill), you provide a child with the means to break the cycle of poverty by having all of their (and sometimes their family’s) basic needs met so that they can get an education.
You don’t have the money, you say? I didn’t have any money either, yet somehow I sponsored two children for a year. We are rich here in America. If you make more than $2 a day, then you are richer than most of the rest of the world. If you make more than $720 annually, then you are richer than the majority of the rest of the world. Let that sink in for a moment.
I do not know anyone who makes less than $720 a year. I made more than that in a month during school this semester. I am tired of hearing people they can’t afford to help. That they can’t afford to give. I am tired that real, fatal needs of God’s children are being ignored and pushed to the side because we don’t think it’s our problem to tackle.
But here’s reality. Children are dying. People are starving. Nations are ravaged with war. Babies are murdered. Women are trafficked. Does that make you angry? It should. If it doesn’t, I suggest you do some soul-searching and some prioritizing on what is really important in this short, short, vapor of a life that we are living.
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven.
We are the rich men. And it is time that we abandon that status and give joyfully for the good of the least of these.
If you would like to sponsor a child, I highly recommend Compassion International.
If you would like to help feed a starving child and their family, I highly recommend Feed My Starving Children.
If you would like to help spread the Gospel among the nations, I encourage you to support my world race where you can send me so I can do just that.
