Think Christmas
Let me see if I can make your “Christmas deliberations” a little more difficult. There is a new book available titled The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns. A summary of the book contains these words –
Over 1 billion people (about 15% of the world’s population) live in extreme poverty. In monetary terms, they live on less than $1 per day…. for reference, the average American income is $105 per day. The harsh reality for these people includes: 9,000,000 die each year from hunger related causes; a child dies every 5 seconds; 5,000,000 die each year from water related illness; a child dies every 15 seconds; millions more die from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis; millions of children are orphaned each year, millions of children grow up mentally impaired, handicapped due to malnutrition and unsafe water, 200 million man-hours of work are spent every day in the Third World just hauling water; despair gnaws at the hearts of helpless parents as they watch their children suffer and die. Hunger, thirst, and disease combine to make work, education, and community improvements all but impossible. For many living in this grinding poverty, desperation and hopelessness rule. Even with hard work, determination, and ability, they know they have no real choices, no way out of the trap….
The poorest of the poor – what would it take to lift these one billion human beings, created in God’s image, out of their extreme poverty? By Stearns’ estimate, $65 billion. That takes care of the worst of it. And surprisingly, the cost for solutions to the most serious problems affecting the rest of the world’s poor (2.6 billion others) is small by comparison:
o basic health and nutrition for all — $13 billion
o clean, safe water for most — $9 billion
o primary education for all children — $6 billion
Such large numbers are hard to grasp, so Stearns offers some figures to help put these costs into perspective. Here are the amounts spent by Americans for a few of the more common luxuries:
o entertainment and recreation — $705 billion
o state lottery tickets — $58 billion
o pets and their care — $31 billion
Obviously, a relatively minor adjustment to our priorities could have a tremendous impact! How little does it take to make a difference? Consider this: it costs just one dollar to bring one person an adequate supply of clean, safe water – for a full year.
o basic health and nutrition for all — $13 billion
o clean, safe water for most — $9 billion
o primary education for all children — $6 billion
Such large numbers are hard to grasp, so Stearns offers some figures to help put these costs into perspective. Here are the amounts spent by Americans for a few of the more common luxuries:
o entertainment and recreation — $705 billion
o state lottery tickets — $58 billion
o pets and their care — $31 billion
Obviously, a relatively minor adjustment to our priorities could have a tremendous impact! How little does it take to make a difference? Consider this: it costs just one dollar to bring one person an adequate supply of clean, safe water – for a full year.
Over and over again the Scriptures speak of the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ to care for the poor. May I repeat that? The plight of the poor is the prerogative of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Have a Merry Christmas.