Take a look

This is the page I need you to visit. It's a very important page. It is filled with cute kids that need to be prayed over and SPONSORED!

You don't have to sponsor a child to look at this page. You don't have to sponsor a child to pray over them.  But, it would be nice if you could.

Look over the page.

Does a child jump out at you?
Does a country jump out at you?
Does a symbol jump out at you?

Pray for that child.
Pray for the care centers in that country.
Pray for the situation that symbol represents.

Look. Pray. Sponsor if you can.

Hunger

I'm sitting here listening to Outside The Camp practice and, while they are excellent musicians, they are extremely loud. So, if there are any mistakes in this post it will be their fault.

The following statistics come from UNICEF, United Nations World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. I found them through Compassion International. My comments are in italics.

• 925 million people worldwide are chronically hungry - almost one in seven. Almost 73 million people in the United States of America are obese.
  

• 75% of the world's hungry live in rural areas, primarily in villages in Africa and Asia.

• 146 million children in developing countries are underweight, the result of chronic and acute hunger. And here in the USA we can find news stories everyday about our children being obese. One out of three are considered overweight or obese.
  

• 17 million children each year are born underweight, "inheriting" malnutrition from their undernourished mothers. Malnourished mothers have trouble breastfeeding their babies and in developing countries other feeding options aren't readily available.
  

• 7.7 million children die each year before age 5. In 53% of these deaths malnutrition is a factor. One child is too many. It is completely unacceptable.
  

The effects of hunger on the body:

• Normal growth is compromised.
• Physical activity is difficult.
• Resistance to disease is lessened.
• Learning ability is diminished.

The following are the numbers that really got to me.
Nutrition Comparisons: On average, the body needs at least 2,100 calories per day to allow for a normal, healthy life.

In 2007, these three countries averaged the most calories consumed per person per day:

• United States - 3,770
• Austria - 3,760
• Greece - 3,700

These three countries where Compassion works have the least calories consumed per person per day:

• Haiti - 1,850
• Ethiopia - 1,950
• Tanzania - 2,020

There's more than a tad bit of difference there.

Click here to find out how you can make a difference in the life of a child.

You're Always 17 In Your Hometown

I grew up in an itty bitty East Texas town. When I was there we only had one traffic light. It now has three, but that’s because the state highway built around the town and cars trying to cross the highway on their way to or from town were taking a beating. So, an overpass was built and two more signals put in. Now there’s a whopping three lights. That’s two too many for me. I don’t like “progress” messing with my memories. There’s a new high school. Instead of a bell they play classical music between classes. What in the heck is up with that? Actually, I think it is pretty cool. Not the lights, the classical music.

Anyway, a great guy in my hometown started an email list for anyone that loves the community to join. It has given birth to an “opinions” forum that a select few belong to. I think one of my opinions might have helped in that birthing process. It set the email list on its ear and there are heads probably still reeling from my bizarre views. I’m considered by some the liberal of the bunch. I choose to live in a fairly large city. Racial slurs send me over the edge. I believe if you make a statement you better be able to back it up, especially if you are trashing someone. Jesus is greater than ANYTHING. We should be reaching out to the “least of these”. I live in America because that is where God has put me, but I would move to a “less desirable nation” if that is where He wanted me to live. I don’t believe that our nation was built on Christianity. You get the picture. I’m not East Texas normal.

The great guy in my hometown that started the email list is hurting right now. His son is back in the hospital for the third time in two weeks. He has battled cancer, but the doctors don’t think that is what is going on right now, yet they haven’t ruled it out.

I grew up with Dick’s children. His son is a little older than me. Dick is a prince. He takes my kidding and harassment and dishes it right back to me. He is my kind of guy. I think some people were a little distressed by the way we went back and forth with our jabs, but he cleared it up that it was all in love and I explained that I only beat up on those I care dearly about.

Pray for Dick’s family. They are in pain. I was in bed, but I had this great urge to get this out.

Programs Over People, Entertainment Over Ministry

It warms my heart when I see a church leader put the wants of a program over the needs of hurting people. Joy flooded my soul today as I learned that the opportunity to minister to many was passed over to make a way to entertain a few. Being the church just doesn't get any better than this.