“You’re now accountable for what happens in this country.”
Those words were spoken to my squad at our Swaziland orientation by an AIM staff member. Needless to say, I was immediately convicted.
Here are a few statistics for this nation-
- Swaziland has a population of 1.1 million
- Over 500,000 of the citizens are under the age of 18
- 140,000 children are orphaned
- 27% of citizens have HIV/AIDS
- The average life expectancy is 47 years old
At this point of my race I’ve sat through 8 orientations with 8 ministry coordinators learning statistics for 8 different countries and the population residing there. I’ve seen beauty beyond words in each and every place and have fallen in love with so many people. I’ve also seen unfathomable sites and things that have left me wanting to give every ounce of my being to fix the situation. When I return home I know that my heart will continue to break for each of these places and I pray that I will stop at nothing to support progressive efforts that are being made.
The Bible repeatedly calls us to care for the poor, the oppressed, the orphaned, and the widowed. Before I left on the race I was comfortable saying we need to care for those people in America, but I did very little to actually help them. It’s one thing to repost an article on social media talking about poverty in your city, but what are you really doing about it? So often our words are aligned with Christ, but our deeds fall short of His glory.
There’s this song called Freewill by Rush that Brene Brown sites in her book Daring Greatly-
“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
My choice is to bring justice to those whose voice is unheard; to not live a comfortable life focused on my own wants in order to help provide for the needs of others.
In 2008 the World Bank found that while approximately 40% of the world lives on less than $2 a day, the average American lives on more than $90.
46.7 million people were in poverty in 2014 in the states.
1 in 6 people in America face hunger.
So now that you know this information, what choice are you going to make?
YOU are now accountable for what happens in your country.
