“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” – Mother Teresa
I think about the kind of loneliness that is worse that not having enough to eat, and I can’t help but think of some of the kids I’ve had the privilege of meeting over the last few years – kids that know what Mother Teresa’s talking about.
Poverty: the lack of food and shelter is one thing. But the lack of love? It pales in comparison.
Today’s World Water Day.
We want to talk about water today because of some very hard realities like this:
Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water related disease. (These are preventable.) That’s 1.4 million children every year DYING because of lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
I just read an article about a High School Physics teacher who was sharing with his class about the tragic and widespread effects of three deadly hurricanes that had recently swept through Haiti. Floodwaters that reached 9’ deep forced school children to escape to the roof of the school where they were stranded for three days. Several kids from that school were HIV+ orphans who lived in the village. After three days of being stranded, they thought, “I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, nobody cares about us,” and so several of them simply slipped into the water. They gave up hope, dropped off the edge, and were swept away.
The teacher used this gripping story to teach about the importance of reclaiming topsoil and taking care of vegetation (one of the key reasons why the floodwaters were so devastating – there was nothing left to hold back the water.) A student raised her hand: “… We do all these science labs in this class, could we learn the same stuff and come up with a way of helping a village or a school purify their water?”
This young girl’s simple question led to a school wide, ongoing project of creating/ advocating/ traveling to Haiti and now other countries to install water purifiers in impoverished areas where clean drinking water is the difference between life and death for many.
Does this strike anyone else as incredibly profound?
On her own, a sophomore girl in High school couldn’t do anything. On his own, the Physics teacher was probably limited. But instead, an entire school and community wrapped their minds around authentic learning that led to practical relief efforts literally saved lives.
I wish I could share the whole article here and pull out the gems from these stories. I ache for the HIV+ orphans who simply had nothing to live for anymore. But I am so encouraged as I see simple questions and ordinary people standing up and making a huge impact in the lives of people they’ve never met. If there was ever a resounding argument that we all have a voice and CAN do something, I think this confirms it.
We can make a difference right where we are.
This blog references an article called “Dots in Blue Water” by Jon Gorman in Ball State Alumnus, Jan 2012 Vol 69
Take Action:
Start asking questions, and see where you can get involved. Check out our website to get started.
To say that we’ve had a lot going on at our Ranch project in Haiti would seem like a major understatement.
Over the last few weeks, several groups from the states have trekked down to Southern Haiti and spent time working with our Haitian staff, training them to build a structurally sound Pole Barn. Others have used their expertise in helping set up a Tilapia Project as we test income generating projects, all at the Ranch.
Still others have helped with some crop production while others have visited our Home of Hope families in the surrounding area and taught basic dental hygiene to the kids.
As we continue to work with the Haitian church and reach out to the surrounding communities, we’re so thankful for the opportunities to build deeper relationships and long-term generational impact with the families we serve in Haiti.
Take Action:
Learn more about the Ranch project in Haiti.
Last week, I was listening to the biography story of a missionary, John Paton here. And as the story unfolded, I was touched with the impact that this man’s father had in his life.
John Paton’s life as a missionary was fraught with fear, pain, and many reasons why he could have given up. But from his father’s example and teaching came great courage. Courage to overcome criticism, to risk losing loved ones, his own sickness and courage for the almost constant threat on his life from the hostilities of the natives. But through it all, Paton made great strides for the kingdom. An entire island turned to Christ. His endurance resulted in a story that awakened thousands to the call of missions and strengthened his home church in some incredible ways.
This man’s father touched his life through example and many conversations and shaped him into a great man of courage – a great man of God. “The impact,” as John Piper rightly states, “of his father’s faith and prayer and love and discipline was immeasurable.”
And as I listened to the making of this man, who touched so many lives, I couldn’t help but think about some of our boys at Kpoux. They were asked to share what they wanted to be when they grew up. More than one responded: “I want to be a preacher like my Dad.” Their dad. Their second father, not by blood, but by love.
We’re not just about placing kids in a loving environment where their needs are met. Those things are incredibly valuable, but there’s SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. In our Home of Hope families, we’re seeing parents raise up their children in the way they should go. We pray that they teach their children the power of a GREAT God, and the character of courage.
Who knows? Maybe there’s another ‘John Paton’ growing up in Kpoux today.
Take Action:
-Invest in the lives of these former orphans regularly. Sponsor a family through our Hand of the Shepherd Program.
- Become a prayer partner with us for these children and their parents. Learn more here.
This is the third post in a series from the book “When Helping Hurts” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. With each of these posts, the goal is to look at poverty through different lenses and gain better understanding as walk forward, both as an organization and as individuals. To see the first and second posts, click on these links.
Participation is not just the means to an end but rather a legitimate end in its own right.
Why? It all goes back to the definition of poverty alleviation… The goal is to restore people to experiencing humanness in the way that God intended. The crucial thing is to help people understand their identity as image bearers, to love their neighbors as themselves, to be stewards over God’s creation, and to bring glory to God in all things.
It is impossible to accomplish such reconciliation of relationships in a blueprint approach in which the outsiders are the ones deciding what to do, how to do it, and how well it worked. Such an approach undermines the action – reflection cycle for poor people, denying them the opportunity to be what God created them to be: image bearers, who, through trial and error, unpack and unfold the wonders of God’s creation.
I am encouraged as I see Haitian couples raising up out of the local church to care for 12 children for a lifetime. I love hearing of the pastors who have taken detailed training and now advocate in their congregations for the end of the restavek (child slavery) system in Haiti. I see so much hope for families as men are given jobs at the Ranch project in Fondfrede. And I’m overjoyed to see the global body of Christ rising up together to change poverty around in many, many ways.
Take Action:
Check out Our Approach online, and see how we’re striving to enable people to lift themselves out of poverty.
These are some fun little guys to hang out with.
For these brothers, this life hanging out and giggling together with abandon is a miracle. You see, these guys are all HIV+. They’ve been ostracized by their communities because people are scared of contracting the virus themselves.
None of these little boys had anticipated living a normal life. Not only do they get sick pretty easily because of the virus, but they need to have anti-retroviral medications constantly, balanced meals, tender care, and lots of rest. Those things just aren’t possible when you grow up in the middle of abject poverty. In fact, you can expect to live a pretty short life. They have watched their parents die from AIDS and knew the horrors of what to expect. Life didn’t hold hope.
This is the meaning of family – the meaning of love. These little boys will likely not live through adulthood. But they know what love is. They know who Jesus is today because there were believers in Haiti and the United States who came together as a body and said these little boys were worth it. These smiles are possible because we have worked together.
I invite you to join us as we make families like this possible and work together with the Haitian church to help one more child. Together, let’s foster hope.
Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Did you know that there’s more slaves in the world today than ever before in human history?
It’s happening all over the world (yes, even here) as young children and entire families are sold to work off debt, or trafficked for sex or factory work. If this be the case, then there’s never been a more urgent time for us to be involved in the fight against modern-day slavery.
The problem is, that until we see the faces and the reality of what modern-day slavery looks like, it’s really easy to brush it off as another sad fact of life, like the drought in Africa that has left millions of starving refugees. But today, I urge to you to take a second look…
CNN recently shared the story of a child they call ‘Miguel’ on the CNN Freedom Project. Miguel was found by Haitian police, naked in a hole near the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He was badly beaten, hadn’t eaten in days and was unable to speak. Miguel was a very real example of human trafficking.
This is Miguel’s story.
Every day, stories like Miguel’s are a reality all around the world. Many of the children in our Homes of Hope in Haiti have been ‘restaveks’ or child slaves. They have suffered incredible pain in their young lives. And every day, I believe we are quietly and simply asked to do something about it.
Take Action:
We’ve entered into a New Year, and if you’re finding it anything like around here, you’ve probably hit the ground running. We’ve got a lot planned for 2012 at LSM, and we’re so excited that you’re following and participating with us in this journey.
Here’s just a bit of what we’re anticipating:
This is far from all we have hopes to do in the next year, and we look forward to what God brings our way in 2012. Will you join us in praying for God’s direction and vision as we go? We want to be constantly committed to following His leading as an organization (which we constantly find exceeds our wildest dreams!) God’s moving, and we see every day the power of God’s people moving together to care for the orphan.
So here’s to a busy New Year! Let’s move forward with God’s leading, and let Him find us working hard to follow His calling to care for the ‘least of these’.
The heat was sweltering, and the smell of sweat and bodies crammed into a cement room was overwhelming. But you’d never notice because it was all overtrumped by a beautiful sound of praise coming from every lip in the place. Worship. The tune sounded familiar, and then I recognized the old hymn and join them in English, “All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all…” Parents and their children, pastors, American missionaries and staff coming together to worship as one family. As the song ended, voices simultaneously lifted up in prayer and my hands were grasped from either side. I heard words I couldn’t understand, but somehow understood them in my heart .
This moment has been burned in my memory, leaving me with that holy feeling of being with people when the Spirit really shows up. But it’s also burned in my memory because as I looked out at the faces of over a hundred bright eyed children, I saw the awe in their faces too. These kids, once orphans, have been grafted into families who not only love them, but love God. They’re watching as their parents worship with all their hearts, and they’re seeing love with open arms and moving feet – parents that are alive in the Spirit.
That’s the power of example. It’s the gift of parents that teach, love unconditionally, and lead their children to healing – physically, emotionally, and ultimately spiritually. That day in a little church building in the middle of Haiti, with over a hundred children and their parents, I got a bigger glimpse of what God’s doing through these Home of Hope families. I see in that moment the power of a big God who reminds me in simple words in a language I can’t understand that He’s cared for these precious children all along. He was with them when their parents died, or when they were sold into slavery, or when they were abused and left on the streets. He brought them to this place, in a little building where they can finally see Him through their new mommies and daddies.
Praise be to God for these kids and their families that are training up their children in the way they should go. We’re so excited that as they see their parents example, they’ll want to reflect that in their lives. And we pray that goes beyond these families to their communities and their countries too.
Take Action:
Learn more about our Homes of Hope here and how you can support a family.
