Feeling Under the Weather

When was the last time you felt "yucky?" I was sick for most of last week. It was only a cold but I felt awful. I kept telling people I felt like dying. How many times in your life have you been sick? Taken a day off because something in your immune system was amiss? What about when you get the "runs?" Not a pleasant subject or sickness. I probably don't need to expound. Am I right? We've all had it and we've all survived it. But did you know diarrhea kills 1.5 million children a year? And what's even worse is that most of those kids are under two years old (Source). Scary isn't it? Most of us know we just need to down a gatorade. My mom would give me popsicle after popsicle and pedialite until I felt better. Unfortunately, many mothers in developing countries have no concept of electrolytes. Or that all it would really take for their children to get better is a glass of clean water and a little sugar and salt. Instead they often assume that too much water is the cause of the diarrhea. So they will continue to dehydrate the child in order to get rid of the "extra water." This is what kills so many young ones. According to WHO, "Key measures to reduce the number of cases of diarrhea include: Access to safe drinking water,improved sanitation,good personal and food hygiene, and health education about how infections spread." What if that's all it takes? Seems pretty simplistic and doable (Source). One United Nations Millennium Development Goals is to combat HIV and AIDS. But did you know that diarrhea kills more than HIV and malaria COMBINED (Source).  CBS News tells a heartbreaking story about a little girl  named Abigail who survived the earthquake in Haiti but could not overcome dehydration and diarrhea. She was only fourteen months old (Source). Does it get any more tragic than that? So what does the Bible say about this? Psalm 107:5 and 8-9 say, "They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.... Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." How often in church (or by our own doing) do we "spiritualize" this? What if we took it literally? That God is actually our provider. Whoa. That He actually does things like bless us with clean water. And that He wishes that no one is without clean water and that no child dies of diarrhea. So what's to be done? In my opinion I'd say let's start with the media. So much attention these days is going toward other diseases like AIDS. Let's be honest. It's a fad. You're "cool" if you're active in the anti-AIDS movement. Now, DON'T get me wrong. That's a super important issue too. No cause supersedes the other.  I'm just saying let's raise some hell about this issue too. Living Water International is doing just that. Their motto is "Providing a cup of water in Jesus' name." Awesome. If you want to learn more or help them out I'll provide their website link just below. So, next time you feel a tickle in your tummy, I ask you to say a prayer for those children who wouldn't survive that very same "tickle."


Living Water International Link

"Children collect stagnant water for use at home Dec. 7, 2008, in Glen View, Harare, Zimbabwe. Diarrheal diseases, such as cholera and rotavirus, kill 1.5 million kids each year, most under 2 years old. Often they get sick from drinking dirty water." (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34045311)

Living Water's Ministry Goal.

Faqs.org

Love, Taken Out of Context.

Let's talk about sex. And not the kind you learn about in biology in high school. Let's talk about the heart-breaking-make-you-cry-and-change-your-life-kind-of-sex. Let's talk about trafficking. Let's talk about rape. Let's talk about perversion. Let's talk about SLAVERY. Prostitution. When we usually think of prostitutes we think of unforgivable sinners. Am I right? Should I be? No. Let's take into consideration that many of these prostitutes are sex slaves. Forced against their will. And dare I even mention that many of them are CHILDREN? Sick right? It's kind of a taboo subject. No one wants to talk about it. Wouldn't it be easier to pretend it doesn't exist? Sweep it under the rug? It's not like it affects us any way. Right? Then how do we expect things to change? Don't we care? Shouldn't we? Yes. So, let's change our perspective. Let's think about these kids as actual KIDS--who deserve a normal childhood, full of smiles and joy and free from abuse. How about we break down and cry? Let's be vulnerable for those who are unable to feel anything. You may never have been to a red light district. Maybe you've never seen. I have. I cannot explain to you the emotions that overwhelm a person when they see girls, young girls, with hardly anything on, in the cold, waiting to be BOUGHT. Like an object. Heart wrenching isn't it? I could give you a bunch of statistics. But people are more than statistics. There is the heart of a child hidden away in every sex slave. They've just been denied of expressing it. But just to put things in perspective, let's take Mexico (since I'm here) for an example. Their "social service agency reports that there are more than 16,000 children engaged in prostitution, with tourist destinations being among those areas with the highest number (http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_exploitation.html)."And those are only those the estimated figures, which I'm sure have been under shot. That is 2.63 times the population of my hometown, Petoskey. WOW. As I was looking for a Bible verse to put this into perspective, I realized something. Our highest honor, is to be called a CHILD of God. Clearly that says something about how God feels about children. That He loves and cares for them. And this is NOT what He intended. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, 'declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" So, let's get these kids lives back on track-- on God's track, His PERFECT will. Because God did not design them for a life of bondage. Let's be those kind of Christians who care and do something about it. So what are we to do about it? We as the body of Christ are to pray. We are to raise our children in a Godly manner so that they respect themselves and others. We are to deal with our own issues of lust and sin. We are responsible to spread the awareness. We can fast and partner with organizations that are already working on solving the problem. This is how we as the church can get started. And remember this happens in our own country too. The good old United States, "land of the free." In fact, CNN is airing a special on sexual exploitation of children at 8 pm this Sunday if you'd like to tune and learn more. I'll Leave you with a video from CNN about the sex trafficking in the US and one from Love 146, an organization dedicated to ending the child sex industry. You can visit their site and find out more at http://love146.org/ 

And remember to above all pray.

http://vimeo.com/11013582

Video from CNN

Where Prostitution is legal.

  Prostitution legal and regulated

  Prostitution (the exchange of sex for money) legal, but brothels are illegal; prostitution is not regulated

  Prostitution illegal

  No data

Looking Back

Sudden Disaster. I remember when I was younger I would see commercials on television about things like flood insurance. I would hear on the news about some tragedy far far away in some country that I had never heard of. No concern to me. These things would never happen to me. But what if we made it our concern? What if we took a step back and did more. And by more I don't even mean just donating once. In middle school I helped out with a car wash to help support Hurricane Katrina survivors. I felt good about it. But I after that afternoon I never gave the people of New Orleans a second thought. I had done "my part." So what do we mean by sudden disaster? Sure it came about suddenly but it wasn't resolved quickly was it? So I suggest we redefine sudden disaster as an ONGOING problem where the "survivors" are still surviving. And the number of natural disasters aren't diminishing-- they're increasing. So, what's to be done about all this? How can we possibly be of any help at all? I mean, we have jobs, kids, homes, hamsters too feed, and a lot of responsibility on ours hands. But you know what? We are responsible to pray. And KEEP praying. These things son't just solve themselves. Obviously. But I encourage you to keep praying. Even when the news lady has found something else to talk about. Let's keep our hope alive folks. Psalms 71:14 says, "As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." Need a place to start? What about those kids in Haiti? Oh , yeah. Do we remember them? Why don't we turn our prayers towards them tonight? And while you're at it check out this video from UNICEF. And see how they're doing. And may God keep you and your family safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valsJjRhrwc

Increase of natural disasters over the last few years.