You Can... Make A Difference.

You Can... Make A Difference.

The question is... will you?

Tis the season... isn't it... where we tend to go wild as we buy gifts for friends and family. Yet as we do (and I include myself in the we), there are those who go without a gift. As a matter of fact, they go without the basic things we all tend to take for granted. Like clean water... or a satisfying meal.

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you didn't have clean water to drink?

Do you realize that there is a worldwide water crisis going on right now?

Most likely the answer to that question is no... because that crisis doesn't even come close to hitting home. It doesn't affect us in any way shape or form, so we pay no mind to it.

Approximately 1.8 million children die each year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. Around 5,000 deaths a day.

Water-related diseases are the second biggest killer of children worldwide. Number one is acute respiratory infections, such as tuberculosis.

Worldwide, approximately 425 million children under 18 do not have safe water.

Sources: www.who.int, www.wateraid.org, www.unicef.org

As you can guess, I am writing this in regards to the needlessly dying children all across the globe. The statistics are mind numbing... especially when many of the deaths and sicknesses are avoidable.

It seems that eyes are closed to the realities of what so many children may face on a daily basis. We have probably all seen one of the infomercials where they show those horrible images of little children dying of hunger... of thirst... of preventable diseases.

I am not going to be one of those who uses the scriptures to beat you over the head and make you feel guilty for not acting on this information. I am just writing this to inform. Hopefully, with this information in hand... one of you... or many of you will be moved to act on behalf of a child somewhere out there in this cold hard world.

Hunger... how many times have you said the phrase... I am starving..? I know that is something I have said many times throughout my life, and the truth is I have absolutely no idea what it is like to be starving... to waste away for lack of food... to truly know what it means to be hungry. But there are millions of children who know this reality... millions.

More than 6 million children die from malnutrition each year.

Worldwide, 161 million preschool children suffer from chronic malnutrition.

More than 140 million or 25 percent of all children in developing countries are underweight and at risk from the long-term effects of malnourishment.

(Sources: www.wfp.org, www.unicef.org, www.who.int, www.un.org)

It is eye opening to actually see and read these statistics. Yet this is reality. It is a reality that can be changed... maybe not for all... but for some... for one... if you are willing to help.

More than 3 million children under age 5 die each year from diseases because of environment-related causes and conditions.

Each year, acute respiratory infections kill approximately 2 million children under age 5. Worldwide, 60 percent of acute respiratory infections are due to environmental conditions.

Diarrheal diseases take the lives of almost 2 million children each year. Eighty to 90 percent of these diseases are related to environmental conditions, specifically contaminated water and inadequate sanitation.

What if it was your child? Or your grandchild? Your little brother or sister? Your niece or nephew?

Wouldn't you hope upon hope that someone... anyone... would care enough to try to change your reality?

Wouldn't you want for your loved one to have a chance to just live?

I know I would. And not only are there hungry children, thirsty children, sick children, and neglected children all around this world that can be helped by an act of generosity; but there are also those who find themselves stolen from their families and sold as goods.

An estimated 1.2 million children — both boys and girls — are trafficked each year into exploitative work, including mining, factories, armed conflict or commercial sex work.

(Source: Compassion Int.)

The question is who will do something about it? Who is willing to change the reality of just one child... just 1... and give them a chance at life? Are you?

Thanks to the love and concern of some great reputable organizations like Compassion Int. or World Vision, we can have the opportunity to change the life of one child (or more). In all actuality it doesn't cost that much... a little more than a dollar a day to provide food, clean water, school supplies, clean clothes, shoes, medical attention... and on and on. Can you imagine that? Just a bit more than a dollar a day can give all of this to a child in desperate need.

So I am asking you, are you willing?

Yes, for those wondering, I do sponsor a child. Her name is Karla and she lives in Columbia. She will be 9 years old in March. I started sponsoring her in 2008 when she was just 6 years old. Even though she couldn't write when I started sponsoring her, from the moment I did she would have her mother write to me, and tell me that she thanked God for me and prayed for me. She has blessed my life in more ways than I have blessed hers. I don't say any of this as a means to boast about myself... but as evidence to show that just one of us could change the life of just one of these children in need.

So again I ask... are you willing?

This holiday season and beyond may you think about what was written here, pass it on to your friends, and reach out and change the life of a child in need.

Check out the websites of Compassion International, or World Vision, and see what you can do.

Open your eyes to the reality. Open your mind to the possibilities. And open your heart to a child who needs you.

May God bless you and keep you.

http://www.compassion.com/

http://www.worldvision.org/