Nepal Needs You

This is a brief post but has a large purpose.

Many lives hang in the balance. Many.

You no doubt have heard of the earthquake that happened in Nepal, a country in Asia.

You no doubt have heard of the rapidly rising death toll, which has risen to well over 4,000 as of this writing.

Countless thousands of people have lost loved ones, homes, businesses. Everything.

You may have seen many of the heart-wrenching images of the suffering of some of these victims.

I am sure that you may already have received many donation requests to help through email and even snail mail. You hear the requests on TV and Internet. I know. You may be overwhelmed. What can you do?

I get these, too.

I know. We all have financial pressures. Bills must be paid. If you have children, the expenses never end. And the need never end. What can a few dollars do? Yes, I get these thoughts, myself. But we are not expected to give what we do not have, and if all of us do something to help, much good can be done. If you truly cannot give at this time, you can pass this post on, so that others who can help, will be directed to this excellent nonprofit, Gospel for Asia, who do nothing else but serve people in Asia. Nepal is in that continent. If it were us in our country, wouldn't we want help, whether it comes in the form of workers who give direct aid, donations, or simply efforts to make people aware of our situation?

If you want to help, please go here.

All the above photos are provided courtesy of Gospel For Asia.

Needing A Cup of Water

Water.

What comes to mind when you hear that word?

I admit that it is so easy to take water for granted or see it as a chore to drink the suggested eight glasses of water (if you do this as part of a healthy lifestyle). Water is more essential to our survival than even food. Studies show that we can go for up to forty days without food, but we cannot go for more than three days without water. But did you know that for much of the world, obtaining water, or at least clean water, is hard or impossible?

So many of them can only obtain dirty, contaminated water which will cause them to get terrible diseases. This is one huge reason that many children in developing countries do not live past around age five.

For so many in countries on the continents of Asia or Africa, obtaining clean water is a dream.

But we can make a difference. And if we are followers of Jesus, the Master holds out a gracious promise if we do our part to bring clean water to those who are destitute. He says, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42, NIV). You have an opportunity to make a difference.

Visit here.

The above photos are provided courtesy of Gospel For Asia.

Halloween: What Is it All About Anyway?

It is only a few days away.

It is a big money-maker for many retail stores and specialty party stores. It greatly increases the profit margins of those in the dental profession because of all the sweet treats that we consume. It is a delight to young ones except the minority who deal with developmental or sensory differences. It is tolerated by adults who only want to "make our children happy."

Yes, I mean Halloween.

At the same time that many of us are spending money on Halloween festivities, other things continue. Halloween may not be nearly as expensive Christmas if you celebrate as tradition dictates. But you know what continues to go on while so many of us enjoy this day's festivities?

In the US alone we have great need. We lose four children a day to child abuse. We lose some thirteen veterans a day to suicide. We just learned about another school shooting in Washington State; does this not point to the crying need to increase affordable mental health services to the general population? I can go on. If you think of yourself as a world citizen you are aware of the sea of need, especially all over Asia and Africa. From late October to the end of December, many dollars are lavished on festivities when so many in need are crying out for our help. Yes, I know this is not pleasant to think about. Reality often is not pleasant.

No, I'm not against anyone of any age having good, wholesome fun. This brings us to another point. Is Halloween fun actually good and wholesome? Even if we have our children wear wholesome costumes and observe child safety, such as never leaving children unattended and inspecting their candy, many children (and some playful adults) will dress up as witches or warlocks or some other unsavory or creepy character. I don't know about you but my Bible tells me that in this world we have a personal devil who hates humanity and is bent on destroying us. Halloween, with its overtones of occult and pagan roots, is an open invitation to this devil to wreak havoc upon us. This havoc can take many sickening forms such as child abductions, adult abductions (especially of women) shootings, knifings, gangs, rapes, human trafficking, and other horrific things that are blights on us and that break the heart of our Creator. And to some people who have suffered satanic ritual abuse or experienced satanic oppression, this time of the year can be upsetting and disturbing. To Christians who take Satan's existence seriously, Halloween is a real concern.

So what if you plan to participate in Halloween anyway? That is your choice. A local church in your area will offer Halloween events that will be far safer and more wholesome than the traditional trick or treating. If you decide to participate in traditional trick or treating this Friday, ask yourself what memories this will give your children of your involvement in their lives? What will it teach them? All of us who celebrate this day use it to have fun, or let our children have fun. I "get" that. There is a but. Can you be more creative in your family fun than observing a supposed "child-centered holiday"?

Being Part of the Solution to World Poverty in a Simple Way

We in the developed world are living in a time where many items that did not even exist decades ago, are considered needs, not luxuries. We feel constrained to provide them to our growing children because "everyone else has them." We want our children to "fit in." We feel the need to "keep up with the Joneses" and to "run the rat race." Even those of us who may have low incomes often receive "entitlements" or other help that assists us in moving in or near to middle-class living. The things that I'm talking about that have become, in the eyes of many, needs, consist of technological gadgets. I'm talking about computers, cell phones, iPods, iPads, tablets, and other gadgets that were unheard-of decades ago. Computers? Many of us have laptops, even if just for basic Internet services. Most of us have cell phones. Even many low-income people use what are inaccurately called "Obamaphones." (This was a service started, I believe, under Former President Bill Clinton and funds come from extra billing to users). My own daughter said the other day, "All the other kids have iPhones!" To which Daddy and Mom said, "No they don't. There are many of your friends who don't have iPhones." Purchasing an iPhone is outside of the means of our family, anyway. But this is another story!

The pic above shows what is all-too typical of the pitiful living conditions of those families and individuals who live and suffer in developing countries. These many, many people have probably never seen a computer or a cell phone, let alone more "fancy" gadgets such as iPods , iPads, Tablets, or the link. That image is not pretty or comfortable but it represents what billions of impoverished people in the developing word suffer daily and contantly. You may have no doubt seen images of starving children with extremely thin limbs and unnaturally bloated bellies. I have seen them. The media ought to cover these kind of situations but doing so makes for poor entertainment, it's depressing and uncomfortable and their ratings would plummet. Plus, there is the cost of travel and many of these countries would put journalists at risk because they tend to be or have "hot spots" with harsh governments. But because we are closed off from what is going on in so many of these countries and areas of the world, it's easy to be uninformed as to what is going on and to the extent it all is going on.



When I was growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1960's and 1970's, starving children were often used by adults to get children to eat foods full of nutrition that we did not like. Since I always was (and am) a very picky eater, adults often admonished me, "Eat all the food on your plate; think of all the starving children who won't get any food to eat today" or "Eat your vegetables; starving kids would like to have broccoli or spinach." These kind of admonitions are well-intentioned, but starving children are not helped by what we eat or by our not wasting our food. Cleaning one's plate has been proved to be counterproductive to appetite and weight management; we should not waste anything based on the sheer fact that these things are given to us to be used, NOT squandered. We are familiar with the concepts of relative poverty vs. absolute poverty, and that the poverty of those in developing countries on the continents of South America, Asia and Africa fall in the category of absolute poverty. No, I'm not minimizing the abject poverty, and numerous other sufferings that so many in the developed world are experiencing, and who need our help. Charity "begins at home," after all. The focus of this post is on our responsibility to those on the other side of the world. Yes, we need to take care of our families first and others "in our backyard" first. Yet we may not realize that it doesn't cost much to help fight poverty on the other side of the world.



You have no doubt seen numerous appeals and ads, whether on TV, internet or other media, about child sponsorship. Some fine child sponsorship nonprofits seek to fight world poverty through child sponsorship. You know how it works: They partner with sponsors who provide sponsored children with basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and education. Families and communities are often helped. You who are reading this may already sponsor a child or even more. If you do, I thank you! And I'm sure that the child and his/her family do, too! What is unigue about a child sponsorship nonprofit like Compassion International? I think you need to just check and see for yourself. Don't take my word for it! The monthly amount of $38 is not too pricy and means that you may have to give up a Diet Pepsi habit or a few trips to Burger King. It may mean cutting expenses in other ways. Something to think about. You can find out more by going right here.

All images are courtesy of Compassion International.