Numbers 6:24-26: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His face upon you and give you Shalom In the name of Sar Shalom – the Prince of Peace.
The question means little to millions living in poverty with neither electricity nor electronics. But there are also millions now weaving the Web 2.0 ever more tightly into their social fabric — witness the booming popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites — so the question seems worth asking.
Makes me sad. I know a lot of us *gasp* do use this tool to feel better about ourselves. “Happiness.” Psychologists would probably point out that it is almost the same security blanket that people use for religion. I am not saying it’s all bad….but what else could we be doing with that time? Human nature says that a message online from a person you barely know will not make the impact a face to face relationship will. Maybe it DOES work for monetary purposes….but what about our hearts? I know this is the pot calling the kettle black, but it turns my stomach to think about it in real terms.
Today is Blog Action Day 08. Over 8,000 others are taking the day to write about the issues, namely the issue of poverty. Unfortunately this issue encompasses many poverties. But, I talk about “traditional” poverty on this blog a lot. Sad that there is such a thing, but I know you all know what I am talking about. If you want to learn more about sex trafficking, slavery, hunger, or Haiti read through. You’ll find it. So instead, I want to address the wonderful ways poverty IS being addressed. There are some cool people out there doing some wonderful things. Maybe you have heard of them, maybe you have not. If you are from Atlanta, I am trying to keep it local with some of these.
International Justice Mission seeks to serve justice in the world to those who might not feel they have a voice. Their social workers, investigators and lawyers seek to make the justice system do just that: give justice to those who have been victimized or oppressed. They operate on four points that bring greater purpose and meaning to what they do; first, they seek to relieve the injustice, second they seek to bring about accountability for the perpetrator, thirdly they provide victim aftercare, and last they look to prevent abuse from occuring in the future and strengthening the community around the issue(s).
Kiva is loans that change lives. Through KIVA you can invest and lend in entrepeneurs around the globe. You choose the project and the person, your small loan can help make a huge difference in seeing their dreams come through and helping them to break out of their circumstance, often one of poverty. Kiva doesn’t just give away money, it’s an investment: in a life, in a person, in a business, in a dream. Check them out to see what you can do, even if not now, it is something to keep in mind when you get that bonus check or tax return.
Mission Grounds is a GA based mission that sells delectable coffees from around the world to benefit children. The moneys earned through the sale of the organic beans goes to building and serving orphanages in the countries where the coffees are from. They are partners with orphanages, daycares, shelters, an org providing formula for babies and a resource distribution non-profit. All of this abroad and in GA means if you buy their coffee online or in local Krogers in GA, your cup of coffee is making a difference. They also sale wholesale to churches and missions to make an even greater impact, allowing your markup proceeds to benefit your mission.
Partners In Health Paul Farmer is amazing! IF you would like a model of a totally people centric non-profit, PIH is it. Started as a clinic in Haiti, PIH has, in the last 15 years, grown to be one of the leading pioneers in reaching those who cannot be reached with healthcare and treatment for preventable and treatable diseases. They do too much to list, they started in Haiti and with Paul Farmer as a doctor set about to save a region, from there they went to Peru and discovered a form of TB that was resistant to the meds being given by World Health. Then they were approached to help in Russia’s prisons with the rapid outbreak of TB there… You get the picture. They stretch the limits of what it means
Refugee Family Services Refugees enter the U.S. often because it is dangerous or unsafe to be in their home country. Some of the children arrive in the U.S. never having a home- they were born and raised in refugee camps on the fringes of lands. The families are assisted for 3 months, but most of the services go to the father to help secure a job. RFS exists to provide a multitude (past 3 months) of services to the women and children of these families- in home tutoring, after-school programs, job training, crisis intervention and more, helping them to reach self sufficiency and security in their new home. I happen to be a volunteer, so I know they rock!
Wellspring is a home for girls and women (they have 2 separate age groups) that allow victims of childhood trauma to come into a safe place and learn, grow, and realize value on their value on their lives. Located close to Atlanta, these homes house women who have been trafficked, been forced or entered into prostitution, endured violence or rape, or undergone other traumatic experiences. They are truly a wellspring, for their employees and volunteers as well. From stories to books to articles I know they pour into everyone they meet.
Compassion is perhaps the most popular, but no less impactful. Like WorldVision and BreadfortheWorld, Compassion seeks to spiritually and physically feed the children of the world. Through your sponsorships and contributions, change can take place in the lives of children. Children that perhaps live in conditions we would find unimaginable. I always love to remember that love and justice are not American commodities (as some might want you to believe), they are gloabl commands. EVERYONE is worth the same, and the child born in Atlanta and Mexico City should both be taken care, sometimes God’s provision is in our hands, but we miss it.
Remember, these are just a few. But, click around on these sites enough you will learn an abundance of facts and stories about poverty today, as well as get an idea of how you might want to get involved. From global to local, there is a way for each of us to be Jesus to someone in the world.
Mother Teresa is a great figure, someone to be respected and admired for all that she did and the faith she held in Jesus Christ. As I was looking through quotes, wanting to choose one for this week, I was touched but also thought, “No, not today, no, again not today,” when I was reading through them. The poverty of so many in this world is obvious at this moment, and I think attention needs to be brought and love needs to be heeded, but today I felt something different in my heart. Then, there it was, the last quote I came to. Something that has been echoed in several situations the past few weeks in my life. A more direct look at perhaps what the phrase from our mothers and teachers meant when they said that if you do not have anything nice to say, simply say nothing at all. These words affected me, and made me think. The words are self explanatory and simple, but profound.
Words that do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.
Umm, do I ever speak words that do not give the light of Christ?
All the time?
Every day?
Is it out of my love for Him, or love for self? I think I know, but I don’t like the answer.
So, then, encourage one another and build each other up. -1 Thessalonians 5:11
Even my question now…umm, Who EXACTLY does that include God? I need a lot of work, but it’s a good thing God is there to help me. I don’t have to, nor can I, do anything worth doing alone.
Many of you may already know about Compassion International, the organization providing care and opportunities to children in 24 countries around the world. What you may not know is that right now there are over 143 orphans living in this world. For some astounding stats see here.
The mission of Compassion Int’l is:
Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name
In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.
Beginning today Andy and I have joined others to commit to featuring one child a week on our blogs. We have further committed to choosing children who have been waiting for sponsorship the longest. Please pray and think about a commitment to one of these children.
This is a big deal! Children are starving. It is only a small amount out of your paycheck each month to make such a huge difference!!!! So, think about it, pray about it, and think about what BIG things God is doing through organizations like this with a little help from you and me.
I know I said I would give a full update on Costa Rica, and I am, you just might have to stick with me through rambling and incohesive statements about a vast array of things that have been happening in and out of my mind this past week and weekend.
Let me start by reminding myself that God is good. All the goodness that is in me and you, comes from Him. My hope is in Him, and I hold to that hope because an image of God is in me. Make sense? Let me clarify. Not only did I visit a country known as being the “nicest” third world country and see the poverty and happiness in the eyes of children and simultaneously in my mind’s eye see all the injustices and poverty that happens in our first world country (why do we even have those labels?) but I also learned of the death of a very lovely woman with two children, ages 12 and 14, who passed because a fall she had taken on the 4th of July that created a bloodclot. That bloodclot hit her lungs on Thursday morning. She died not more than 2 hours later. So, I remind myself that although God created the world, he does not step in and wave a wand to keep the poverty to a minimum or death of an innocent and God loving 42 year old from happening. I can still see God though, through the faces of joy in unwashed Nicaraguan refugees faces, and through the tears of the many people that loved so much that the grieving creates mental and emotional pain.
So, in a nutshell, I see God, and want to know Him and love Him even more.
Next, the trip and my “needs” thoughts:
The trip was successful. Unfortunately we did not have a big enough team to do the manual labor we were originally set to do. However, we visited the squatter neighborhood made up primarily of Nicaraguan refugees and went to several church services and a pastor’s meeting to plan future events. I honestly cannot say that I helped a single person, besides taking pictures for Vision2Hear, but I did get to think and pray and wonder about my purpose. A lot of time in this trip was spent watching and silently getting myself back into prayer.
The luggage thing was an annoyance that should not have been. People make mistakes, companies make mistakes, and me getting worked up about it does not change a thing. In a way, I am glad it happened, because it reminded me again that God will take care of me. It showed me even more how many luxuries we take for granted, or even view as necessities, that are of no importance at all when it comes to people and the needs that are not being met every day. How much money do I waste? Ok, I don’t want to know. But, I know what I will be doing. That is the giving of what I have to an organization or person in need every month. Not out of charity, but out of seeking justice. Out of righting the wrongs that I myself have committed. The money I have squandered and the people I have turned away from. Also, as I left Family Refugee Services as a volunteer in May, I have been thinking about what my next volunteer opp should be. If you read this I ask you to pray with me as to where I can best be used. Although I volunteer some time at the church, I feel really drawn to an opportunity (like RFS) that would give me contact with marginilized, but (unlike RFS) that would allow me to express my faith if given an opportunity.
So, all in all I would have to say Costa Rica was a very positive experience. I might have more to write later, but for now, I am lost in thought and therefore have too many words to write, what do you call them? Oh yeah, sentences….
There are many issues on all sides of the race fence. In this country the divides have been spread since the beginning of American history. I do not even know where to begin on how to reconcile the loss that is felt through all the cultures in this country because of the psychological and emotional issues that have come as a result of this history. There has to be a better way.
The stark reality of race and socio-economics can be seen in statistics. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the poverty rate for whites was 8.2 %. For blacks it was 24.2 %. Is it time to start realizing that affirmative action has caused not a fair circumstance, but perhaps a wider divide? I have no concrete evidence of this, but I do know that in past years many of the judicial cases concerning AA were brought up by whites, disgruntled by the unfair treatment, asking when is enough enough? Huh? Does this register on the fairness scale?
Is it realistic that we will all come to sing Kum bay a around the campfire one day? I guess that I don’t know, nor do I have any easy answers. But what I do have is the desire to find a better way. A better way other than the segregation that has occurred in this country before and since the Civil Rights movement. Granted, there had to be a start somewhere. But as I look around my city, and read the words written by great leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy, and today Jim Wallis, I wonder how much of the vision has been proclaimed. A vision of freedom for all men, not just white men. And as Wallis points out, “white guilt is not enough.” Is that what I have? Is what I am feeling a sensation of remorse that will really help no one? Except perhaps my own conscience? I am struggling to pull away from that and actually seek a mind of clarity and sense about the subject. After teaching mostly “minority” students (although they are not so much in the minority anymore) I see that opportunities are not equal, all is not fair in peace and education, and that furthermore very little is being done to really rectify the situation.
Big laws like No Child Left Behind seek to address the issue in a purely impersonal way. But as I open my ears and my heart I feel that it is a deeply personal issue. One that should not only be felt by white or black people, but by all people who have come to the United States for a “better life.” Even those cultures who were forced into the United States without choice, or those fleeing from their own oppressive societies. If we claim to be the best nation on earth, we have a funny way of showing it. But as all arguments in my head go, it all comes back to me.
What do I do? I live in a city that has one of the worst treatment of homeless people in the nation, a hugely segregated inner city area, and a record of imprisoning and arresting a much higher number of African Americans than any other race. Problem? Red flag? Do I sit on my ass and feel sorry for the situation? Well, yes I think I’ll do that.
No. Guilt is not enough, talking about it is not enough. Starting with children and the young people around us, that is a good start. Standing up to the issues we see thriving around us is another way to begin acting. Every change must start small. But, you better believe I have something to say about the residential racial discrimination I see going on in my neighborhood. Are we so afraid of diversity? So, if I can do nothing else, I will say something, I will keep my heart open, and I will try to let love, not guilt, be my driving force.
And if your brother becomes poor, and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall maintain him; as a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you.
Leviticus 25:35; cf. v. 39
What is a sojourner? AskOxford.com describes a sojourn as a temporary stay. When is the last time someone, anyone has stayed temporarily with you? Do you open your home or is it yours? There is probably always someone nearby who needs it. “You shall maintain him.” How beautiful. Is it a responsibility? Or a gift? Maybe it is a bit of both.
I sincerely hope that we remember that all our are bothers and sisters, whether you believe in a God or not. We are all a part of the human race, and races don’t begin and end on the nation’s border.
