Blog Action Day 2008

Today is Blog Action Day 2008, a day when Bloggers come together to blog about the same topic. This year the topic is one that is really close to my heart, poverty.

There are so many poverty statistics...like the fact that 1.2 billion people live on $1 a day or less, or the the fact that another 1.6 billion live on $2 a day or less - 2.8 billion people. People who struggle every day in order to get food to put in their bellies and the bellies of their children. Meanwhile, the United States spends 30 - 50 billion dollars every year on diets and expenses related to reducing calorie intake! What is wrong with us?!

We need to do something, something that makes inroads on this situation...but you are only one person, so don't bother unless you can make a major impact...NO, you are one person that can make a small impact, but many small impacts creates a very large impact (ask anyone who has been buried by an avalanche of millions of small snowflakes). My challenge to you on Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty, is this...get to know someone who struggles to keep themselves fed. There are people who are not difficult to find, you probably know where...why don't you spend some time with them...maybe buy them dinner. As you get to know people, you start to understand the problem even more and once you know someone who struggles with this, you can't help but act. So, let us all get to know someone who struggles with poverty.

While talking about the impoverished and needy Jesus said, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me (Matt. 25:40)." Let's go find Jesus in the poor and impoverished, I don't know about you, but I would like to get to know him.

Comments

Anonymous said…

Do you hang out with the poor?

2:50 pm

Should I Bring Jesus to the Poor?

I met this young lady who works for an inner city organization that works with children. She has been working there for 10 years. She said one thing in particular that really struck me. She said, "I used to think that when I came to the inner city to work with these kids that I would bring Jesus to them, but when I got here and started working with them, I started to realize that Jesus was already here." It struck me because I think that we middle class people (not just Christians) think that we should go into the inner-city and "rescue" people from their situation. We often feel as though we have all the answers and they have everything wrong. Is it possible that it is the other way around? Is it possible that people who live on the streets...those who don't worry about tomorrow, those who are not obsessed with money or material possessions actually have something to teach us? I think so. So in response to the question, "Should I bring Jesus to the po...

Does it Surprise us When Homeless People do Something Good?

There was a story that caught my attention a little while back in my city. At first I was happy about the story because it isn't often that homeless people are painted in a positive light. Here is an excerpt from the story: Faron Hall, 44, was given a medal of valour by Mayor Sam Katz at a ceremony not far from the riverbank where Hall often sleeps. Hall saw a boy fall into the river last weekend and dove into the chilly, fast-moving water to pull him ashore. Now the man who has been homeless for about seven years has become the talk of the town. I was excited to see that people would see that homeless people have heart, courage and respect for their fellow man. However, when I saw the same thing on the national news a few days later, as the story seemed to take off around the country I began to wonder...is it really that surprising to us? Is it so shocking that people who live on the street care about people? In the time I have spent around homeless people that is the thing t...

My Work Against Homelessness

I have been thinking quite a lot about homelessness (over the last two years especially) and have come to all kinds of conclusions about myself and the things that I (and the church) need to do in order to help people who are in that situation. I have been involved in a few organizations who work with homeless people and met with many people to discuss what I/we should be doing to help. I finally discovered something very important that I can do right now. I am reading t his book called Bent Hope which is a really interesting read. The author is a Youth Worker who works with young people who live on the streets in Toronto. He walks the streets and hangs out with them and helps when he can. He basically just tells the stories of his encounters with people and talks a little bit about what he has learned from them. I am loving it! So, I know what I am supposed to do to help homelessness. In his book, pretty much everyone he encounters he mentions how they come from a family situa...

TREVOR'S WRITING

Search This Blog