Do Something

We've just started a new series in LIVE (our Sunday morning worship service for teens) and Fuel (teen small groups) called Do Something. For the next 5 weeks, Ray and his team will be making students aware of problems in the world (such as poverty, AIDS, disease, pollution, oppression, slavery, and hunger) and challenging them to do something about it. They will be collecting new and gently used shoes to donate locally and abroad, and beginning the long-term sponsorship of a little boy from Haiti. At the end of the series, they will have the opportunity to participate in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. They will get sponsors to raise money to fight hunger, fast for 30 hours, and come together to worship, have fun, look at what God's Word has to say about the poor, and serve the community together. I decided to share with you some of what the teens will be learning.

Did you know that 25,000 people die every day from hunger and related causes, and that every 6 seconds a child dies from hunger? The problem is not that there isn't enough food in the world. There is enough food in the world to provide every human being with about 4.3 pounds of food every day. The problem is that many people are too poor to buy any of the abundance of food that exists.

Did you know that there are more slaves in the world today than in 400 years of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade?

Did you know that one billion people live on less than a dollar a day? Did you know that if you have food, clothing, shelter, a car, and some change in your pocket, you are richer than 80% of the world's population?

Did you know that in Africa, AIDS is wiping out an entire generation of people, leaving over 15 million orphans behind? In one of my favorite books, There Is No Me Without You, Melissa Fay Greene discusses the statistics from the year 2000, when there were 12 million AIDS orphans. She writes, "Who was teaching twelve million orphans to swim? Who was signing 12 million permission slips for school field trips? Who packed twelve million school lunches? Who cheered at twelve million soccer games? Who was going to buy twelve million pairs of sneakers that light up when you jump? Backpacks? Toothbrushes? Twelve million pairs of socks? Who will tell twelve million bedtimes stories? Who will quiz twelve million children on Thursday nights for their Friday-morning spelling tests? Twelve million trips to the dentist? Twelve million birthday parties?........ Who will help them grow up, choose the right person to marry, find work, and learn to parent their own children? Well, as it turns out, no one. Or very few. There aren't enough adults to go around. Although in Western industrialized states HIV/AIDS has become a chronic condition rather than a death sentence, in Africa a generation of parents, teachers, nurses, professors, spiritual leaders, musicians, poets, coaches, farmers, bankers, and business owners are being erased."

We, as Americans, are blessed to live in a country where we have the freedom to live, work, and worship the way we please. We are blessed to have access to clean water, food, medical care, and shelter. And yet, I think too many of us are oblivious to the problems in the world. We sit around in our comfortable living-rooms debating whether Bush or Obama have the right domestic and foreign policies. We demand that those coming to our country to seek a better life (often escaping poverty, oppression, and corruption) learn to speak English fluently as if they enjoy having a language barrier, or as if they don't have other things to worry about (like feeding their families). Today I want to challenge myself and all of you to live lives full of compassion, love, and generosity. I urge us to look beyond our needs, wants, preferences, and prejudices, and to allow God's love to radiate from us. Let's be known for our love, not judgement and not condemnation.

So what can we do? The problems are indeed too large for one person to tackle on their own. But together, we can make a difference. There are many opportunities available if you want to help out. I just want to share one with you. Ray and I recently joined the Mocha Club, and aid organization in Africa. It's ONLY $7 a month (the cost of 2 mochas) and you can choose how you want your money to help. Their projects include education, HIV/AIDS, job creation, orphan care, and Sudan regrowth. We chose to contribute to HIV/AIDS education, medical attention, and job opportunities for those infected. If you're interested in joining our team, go to
http://mochaclub.org/joinme/JonasEkra. Or, choose your own project to support! By the way, I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME. To find out why, go to www.mochaclub.org and watch the video on the home page.