I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME....

During this Christmas season, I am reminded just how blessed I am. Yesterday, we got in the mail from Compassion International pictures of children who are living in poverty and need to be sponsored. These kids were younger than 7 years of age and they have seen things that I will probably never see in my life. It amazes me how "sheltered" we are in America when we basically have everything handed to us in a silver platter. I don't think we know what it means to be truly hungry and poor.
The average American family will spend $700 on Christmas this year. That is alot compared to what the families who are in poverty have.

660 million people live without sanitation and on less than $2 a day.

385 million people live on less than $1 a day.

There are 2.2 billion children in the world, the number in poverty is 1.9 billion.
Out of that number, 640 million have unadequate shelter.
400 million do not have access to safe water.
270 million do not have access to health services.

Those are just a few statistics out there about poverty.

My family sponsors Kanwagi Yuda from Uganda through Compassion. Kanwagi is 10 years old and has 8 siblings. Our first letter that we received from Kanwagi was so precious!

"Dear Mr and Mrs. Fowler, I love you so much thank you for sponcering me."

This was a child who we've never met, doesn't know what we look like but he loves us because we've changed his life by giving him hope for his future. I hope is that Kanwagi will grown into a godly young man and responcible young man who leads his family and community. We may not be able to totally resolve the world poverty problem but what about changing one life, one family?

My friend, Chris wrote this about Africa on his blog.
"When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. “I am needed here,” I think. “They have so little, and I have so much.” It’s true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in the people. It’s a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day."
It is so true, Kanwagi has such joy even in his circumstances. When we have alot we lose the sight of how blessed we are. When we have little it's easier to treasure what we have.

I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME...
For more information go to compassion.org and mochaclub.org