Never Forget...

It was dark. I was driving home. Crying. Weeping. Sobbing. So disappointed with myself. I had forgotten. I'd promised myself I wouldn't, but I had!

The winter of 2011, I lived in Guatemala for about 3 months. God had told me to go to Prairie Bible College in Three Hills, Alberta. Part of our training/schooling for intercultural studies was a three month mission trip to Guatemala. Among other things that we saw, we saw poverty. 

Poverty. What comes to mind when you hear this word? I don't think anyone of us who lives in North America or a non-third world country can truly understand what this means in everyday life. Yes, some of us have experienced it to some degree and seen it firsthand, but unless you actually live in it day in and day out, I don't believe you can fully grasp it. 

Here are some stories/experiences that are all too real! This is everyday life for many... 

I see faces of little girls no older than 6 or 7 years old, living in public bathrooms selling squares of toilet paper for a living (yes, they even sleep in the building during the night on pallets-think of the rats, bacteria and stench!). 

I met a man, Louis, who had worked in the sewer for the past 35 years. This was his job; what he did for a living. And you know what? He thanked God for this job! 

Families picking through piles and piles of garbage, looking for something valuable to sell or fix and then sell. And these are not like our very organized garbage trucks/sites. We have it good! I'm talking heaping piles of dirty, disgusting, putrid trash; 15-20 feet high and 20 football fields wide! This is their job, how they make their living. Because they pick through trash, this is how they are viewed by others: trash.

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Then there's these beautiful children. Children who cannot go to school because their parents cannot not afford it. These children with dreams just like everyone else, cannot not get an education because they are just trying to survive. Since they cannot get an education, the cycle of poverty continues. 

There are countless more stories like these and many more people that need help! Not only physically, but spiritually! Where are we, Christians?!?! Why are we not helping? There are over 3,000 verses in the bible concerning helping the poor, orphans and widows. It's time to get out of ourselves and do what we have been commanded to do!!

As I was driving home that night God showed me that I was starting to forget. The memory of these children and beautiful individuals, who are significant and valuable because they have been created in God's image, had slowly been fading. They were fading because I live in a very selfish, self-serving society and I had started listening to it.

Just think of everything that I [we] take for granted: running water, electricity, a car, internet, food, clothing, my bed. Can I honestly say that every time I jump in the shower I thank God for running water or when I turn on the light I praise Him for it? No, I don't. But I should! And you should too! We do not have a right to any of these things-they are gifts from God. 

Here is a startling fact: 

   "The truth is that there are 143 million orphaned children, 11 million children who starve to death from preventable diseases, 8.5 million children who work as slave, prostitutes or under other horrific conditions and 2.3 million live with HIV. This adds up to 164.8 million needy children. At first glance this seems like a huge number, but 2.1 billion people on this earth claim to be Christians. Truth be told, if only 8 percent of the Christians  would care for one more child, there would be no statistics left!" (taken from "Kisses from Katie")

Friend, we do not need to "experience" poverty to do something about it!! May I encourage you today to become more informed and ask God where He wants you to help. 

"Jesus, I pray we would be more afraid to live a comfortable life and fail to follow You, than we would be of what other people say or think, or not fitting in with the world! Jesus, we cannot change the world, only You can do that. But, may You use us to change the world for the better for one person!"