Posts tagged with ‘Poverty’

Don’t Forget Haiti: Sidewalks by Ryan Booth

Ellen Gustafson:  Obesity + Hunger = 1 global food issue

Compassion Blog: Is it safe to challenge the status quo?

Is it safe to challenge the status quo? No. It’s not. Post completed.

Challenge is an aggressive word. It suggests victory … or loss. It implies a struggle and change, possibly forced change. Change creates uncertainty for people. And uncertainty breeds worry and fear… (read more)

Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/is-it-safe-to-challenge-the-status-quo/#ixzz0t6HxgHpD

I believe God wants us all to live bothered by things around us that are not right….

Possibly the most important indicator of true religion is the desire to love and care for people who hurt.

Palmer Chinche
Managing poverty is big business. Ending poverty is revolutionary.
A homeless mother. (via irresistiblerevolution)
The problem (of poverty) goes well beyond the material dimension, so the solution must go beyond the material as well
Steve Corbett in “When Helping Hurts”

Ten Things You Should Know About Poverty in America

drthys: Keep your coins, I want change. - by Australian street artist, Meek.

drthys:

Keep your coins, I want change. - by Australian street artist, Meek.

…the team that came to the first harvest at the Cobblestone Project Farm initiative.  It was  beautiful evening & thanks to Joshua Segraves of Serviam Photography for the photo.  More photos at The Farm - First Harvest.

…the team that came to the first harvest at the Cobblestone Project Farm initiative.  It was  beautiful evening & thanks to Joshua Segraves of Serviam Photography for the photo.  More photos at The Farm - First Harvest.

I met Carlos at the Anahiem Boys & Girls Club. He is 5 years old & wants to either be a policeman or a soccer player.  Right now he comes to the Boys & Girls Club because his dad works & his mom is in Mexico. He said he doesn’t see her much. …all Carlos wanted was for me to play soccer with him. I’ll probably never see him again, but being present with him for just a few hours makes me realize just how much I have to be grateful for.  I gave Carlos the small Disney pin I was wearing and prayed for him as I left.  I realize that may not be enough, but our time together gave more to me than he may ever realize. The Anahiem Boys & Girls Club serves approx 3,000 children ages 5 to 18 a week most of whom live in hotel rooms.  Laundry Love could be an incredible blessing to these families. “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me” Matthew 18:5

I met Carlos at the Anahiem Boys & Girls Club. He is 5 years old & wants to either be a policeman or a soccer player.  Right now he comes to the Boys & Girls Club because his dad works & his mom is in Mexico. He said he doesn’t see her much.

…all Carlos wanted was for me to play soccer with him.

I’ll probably never see him again, but being present with him for just a few hours makes me realize just how much I have to be grateful for.  I gave Carlos the small Disney pin I was wearing and prayed for him as I left.  I realize that may not be enough, but our time together gave more to me than he may ever realize.

The Anahiem Boys & Girls Club serves approx 3,000 children ages 5 to 18 a week most of whom live in hotel rooms.  Laundry Love could be an incredible blessing to these families.

“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me”

Matthew 18:5

…on the streets of Addis Ababa

as I was downloading video from my camera last weekend, I was able to post the video of the boy in Addis Ababa that I mentioned in my Ethiopia - Day 4 post.  This is still hard to watch…

…from post on Day 4

After lunch we traveled back the guest house for some time with Sosi and then out into Addis to try and do a little shopping in order to return to the States with gifts and memories.

…but this is a moment that I will also never forget.

As we waited for the traffic light to turn green (it seemed to take an eternity), this boy who could not be any older than John Michael came to our van window begging for money. As I reached into my pocket, the driver asked me not to give the child anything because the traffic police could fine our driver (I assume the police do this so that the children will not run into the heavy traffic to beg).

And so with the equivalent of only one US dollar in my hand, I turned to the boy and looked into his eyes to motion that I could not give it to him. For what felt like the next hour, he looked back into my eyes and begged for this money…

…I was broken, and not because I could not give him the money. I was broken because the eyes of this child held no promise for a better tomorrow. One US dollar or even a hundred US dollars could not do anything for this child that would make a meaningful difference. What this child needed was a home with a mother and a father so that he could be a child. And there in that moment, I saw the face of the children who by some difference in circumstances never made it to the Care Centers I had visited just hours before.

…I was broken because even though I can’t help him in that moment, I can help him and the thousands of children just like him.

It simply does not have to be this way.

…window at Kechene Girls Orphanage in Ethiopia

…window at Kechene Girls Orphanage in Ethiopia

picture of a woman begging on the streets of Addis Abba

picture of a woman begging on the streets of Addis Abba

Help End Local Poverty "Orphan Care & Human Trafficking"

Ethiopia Then (1994) & Now

Part 1

Part 2