Never heard of this day, have you?
Well, now you have!
God gave me the privilege of serving Him in Africa on 4 different occasions as part of medical missions teams through Hands On Missions. I saw, up close and personal, the devistating effects of Malaria on people throughout Africa and to be quite honest with you, it makes me sick!!!!!!!!!!
So much emphasis today is placed on AIDS/HIV and so little on Malaria. Why is that? I can think of several reasons.
1) Malaria is not a problem in the Western world, AIDS is! Thus people are uneducated and uninformed about the seriousness of Malaria and how EASY it is to diagnose, treat and PREVENT!
Did you know that it costs $1.39 for an insecticide treated bednet that lasts 3 years! It costs, $0.31-$1.40 for a course of ACT Malaria treatment and a rapid diagnostic test $0.50. So, to diagnose, treat and prevent future infections of malaria for 1 person costs approx. $2.50... That is less than 1 basic coffee from Starbucks! AHHH PEOPLE!
Look at the faces on these children. Can you remember being this happy to learn?!?!
2) Treating Malaria, in the large scheme of things, involves cleaning up the dirt, grime, filth that penetrates Africa at it's seams. It is much easier to fork out the cash to treat AIDS and say, 'we are doing our part' and go to bed feeling good about ourselves, than to look at the root of the problem.. Africa needs help!! And no, not zillions of dollars of foreign aid thrown at corrupt political leaders..
So what can we do? Here we are in the US/UK living our lives, buying lots of designer shoes, expensive cars, Starbucks coffee, fill in your blank....and....Um, now wait Haley, you buy drinks at Starbucks occasionally, isn't that a little hypocritical??
Is it wrong to buy coffee from Starbucks, wear nice clothes, and live in a nice house? NO! I grew up in a big house. My parents worked hard and God blessed them financially. I remember having conversations with my parents about the fact that we lived in a big house and my mom said that God gave us a big house and that we were to use it to serve Him and others. I can't tell you all of the times my parents volunteered to host a baby shower, church event, have our friends over, the list goes on and on. Thre is nothing inately wrong with having things. It is our hearts that we must look at. Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. Do you feel like you 'need' those latest toys for your kids, or the newest gadget on the market? What do you spend most of your time thinking about? If you were to take a serious look at your checkbook, where is most of your money going? Is 10% (at least) going to your church? What about other offerings over and beyond your basic tithe?? Or do you feel like you just can't afford to give that much to God? Let me tell you right now, if you challenge yourself to give that 10+% to God, you will find your finances falling in place, MORE money available at times and you will find your heart slowly changing as your realize the majority of what you thought you 'needed' you didn't need at all!!!
Just think, one person started the organization that started this school which now provides education to this many people!!! What difference can YOU make in this world! They sky is the limit!!!
As I'm typing and thinking about what I treasure in my life I can't help but remember the worship services I attended in Malawi and Kenya. I will tell you this. The Christians I met in Africa put me to shame. When they sing praises to God, they MEAN IT! God provided them life that day and they shout their thanks to Him from the rooftops!! When they cry out in despair and agony, you can feel it in your bones. When they read the scripture, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." they aren't sitting in a nice warm church building with their Sunday finest on, they are sitting over their sick/dying/hungry child and clinging desperately to the fact that there is a God out there who hears them and who will never forsake them even though there is no medication, no food and no hope for survival. When the woman hiding out in the treetops prays that she will be safe while she is sleeping because she knows that she could be raped that very night, there is no questioning God, no putting God off till tomorrow or when religion is more convenient for our lives. I'll tell you one thing, God doesn't promise us a long life. We could die tomorrow. Are you ready for that reality?
So, what can we do? What can we really do to make a difference in this massive heap of hopelessness?
To answer that question would take me days of writing, but I will post one tangable thing you can do today.
My family sponsors orphans through Hands on Missions Africa. HOMA clothes, feeds, and cares for their orphans in Sierra Leone, Malawi and Kenya. They also provide necessary medical treatments, education, everything needed for physical survival. More than that tho, they give them what they need to MORE than just survive their lives, they instill in them hope, found in Jesus Christ, that they are NOT alone, they ARE loved and there is NO SUCH THING as an orphan in Christ's eyes.. We are all sons and daughters of a King, and not just any king, the King of Kings!!
Orphans in Sierra Leone waiting for sponsorship
More orphans waiting on sponsorship
Some of you may be reading this and thinking, yeah yeah, she's just a bleeding heart. We've heard this before..
Then I would challenge you not to just hear the words I'm writing, but act on them. Most of us could go to our closet, sell some things and make enough money to sponsor an orphan for an entire year. How many of us would actually miss $30.00 a month in our paycheck? What a great opportunity it would be to plan, with your children, an area where you can purposefully sacrifice something in your life to put that money towards sponsoring an orphan. What an amazing example that would set for your children!! Wow! Talk about faith in action.
My mother-in-law always says that we are to be "Jesus with skin on".
I choose to step out, in faith... no turning back.. will you do the same?
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