I'm reading a book called Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohanan, the founder of Gospel for Asia. Although I have just started reading it, I already am convicted and more disgusted with my own wealth and the wealth of America in comparison to the rest of the world. Yohanan includes economist Robert Heilbroner's description of "the luxuries a typical American family would have to surrender if they lived among the 1 billion hungry people in the Two-Thirds world:
' We begin by invading the house of our imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture. Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, television sets, lamps. We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a kitchen table, a wooden chair. Along with the bureaus to the clothes. Each member of the family may keep in his wardrobe his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family, but none for the wife or children.
We move to the kitchen. The appliances have already been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards...The box of matches may stay, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt. A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, must be rescued, for they will provide much of tonihgt's meal. We will leave a handful of onions and a dish of dried beans. Al the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods, the crakers, the candy.
Now we have stripped the house: the bathroom has been dismantled, the running water shut off, the electric wires taken out. Next we take away the house. The family can move to the tool shed...Communication must go next. No more newspapers, magazines, books--not that they are missed, since we must take away our family's literacy as well. Instead, in our shantytown we will allow one radio...
Now government services must go next. No more postmen, no more firemen. There is a school, but it is three miles away and consists of two classrooms...There are, of course, no hospitals or doctors nearby. The nearest clinic is ten miles away and si tneded by a midwife. It can be reached by bicycle, provided the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely....
Finally, money. We will allow our family a cash hoard of five dollars. This will prevent our breadwinner from experiencing the tragedy of an Iranian peasant who went blind because he could not raise the $3.94 which he mistakenly thought he needed to receive admission to a hospital where he could have been cured.'"
Sorry, I know that was kind of long, but I think we need to put things in perspective. God has not made a mistake in not providing the earth with enough food, clothing, etc. for all of its 6 billion residents, each one of whom is His creation placed here for His specific purpose. He has provided more than enough; we have just selfishly distributed it, hoarding most of it for ourselves while children and adults die daily because of something as curable as hunger. So the next question is, what are you as a follower of Christ, going to do about it? What am I going to do about it?
Cindy, I'm stealing this video you placed on your blog because it relates so well to this post. Saw it after I wrote this, which I think means God is trying to get our attention! Please, everyone, go check it out and pray about the implications of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4NlyZqJhwk
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