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Friday, August 28, 2009

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity



Have you read Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity? If you haven't I highly recommend reading it (make sure you order the 20th anniversary edition). You can read the first chapter on Amazon.com! It's a powerful book that has me thinking. The author has the reader imagine what it would be like to be poor, really poor. Imagine living like 1.2 billion people- we would live in a backyard shed without:
access to education/school, books, electricity, running water, newspapers, the Internet, mail, your pantry, any savings.
We would have the clothes on our backs, maybe $5, a kitchen table, a chair, maybe some dried beans, moldy potatoes and some onions.
It sounds awful, hard, brutal but it's reality for more than a billion people! This is weighing heavy on my heart.
I think of the children we left behind in Igor's orphanage, the street children in Ethiopia, the children living in the slums of Mexico, Honduras and Costa Rica... I can picture them in my mind, I can see their eyes and I wonder what I can do to help.
I wonder if what we are doing (compassion children, KIVA loans, etc.) to help the 1.2 billion is enough? And then I get overwhelmed... 1.2 billion people... our family cannot do it alone.
This week I was on a conference call to learn what we can do in Ethiopia to change lives. Check out Karen's blog. Here's the key question she asks:
Would you consider partnering with me and a few other families as we return to Ethiopia in November with Children's Hopechest (www.hopechest.org)? We will be visiting several orphanages and care-points during our trip, with plans to develop them into long-term care-points.
So am I going on the trip in Nov/Dec? I'm not sure. I am praying about it. But I know one thing, we are incredibly blessed.. and when managing our budget and household finances I know that we have more than many and we can sacrifice more to help others.

5 comments:

beBOLDjen said...

This is a major topic of conversationin our home as well. Like you we're working through what life will look like for us for the rest of our lives after experienceing what we did in ET.

jill coen said...

I have the book but I haven't read it. Thanks for the encouragement. This topic is never far from my mind...

Team Dragovich said...

Thank you for this post, Candy. It seems like every day we get into our new family life and as the dust settles more and more after bringing the kids home, these ponderings seem to be coming to me more and more. It is hard to look into your children's faces and not see all those children who are still there...

I am really excited about what is happening with Children's Hopechest. I'm praying for God to reign supreme in this project and His continued direction in caring for the orphans of the world.

Love,
Shari

Karen said...

Candy - I was so glad to hear your voice on that conference call and I am praying that you would be able to come on that trip!!! with love, Karen Wistrom (I am so excited for what God has in store in the days ahead!)

David said...

What do poor people eat in Africa? Do they have clean water?