Professor Fiona Stanley, world renowned for her passion for children, paraphrased Nelson Mandela,
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“You can measure a country’s soul by the way it treats its most vulnerable.”[1]
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In recent times, Western society has made quantum leaps in its consideration of the disabled, in building design and town planning, for instance.
But, we could extend the intent of this quote to Global proportions. How will the World respond to the growing Global Food Crisis in places most affected like Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic?[2]
We’re currently being hit with a double-whammy; Global economic crisis on the back of the Global Food Crisis. Paul O’Rourke of Compassion believes these “twin tsunamis” will be the catalyst for the church to experience its finest hour.[3] There is no doubting that the Millennium Development Goals of halving world poverty by 2015 are now in grave jeopardy, so O’Rourke’s call is particularly bold.
How will the World’s most affluent respond to the World’s neediest--our most vulnerable fellow human beings? How will we, the fattest countries, help those on the edge of starvation?
Compassion says that one child is dying every 7 seconds from hunger related causes.
And there are four ways Compassion says we can help as individuals:
Pray – asking God to bless these people with food, and to turn the crisis, and for people to respond in kindness, generosity and love.
Fast - If only we fasted. We could live the starving existence of 800 million affected, even for a day or two. It would actually be good for us, and not life-threatening as it is for the chronically-starved.
Give – our material possessions and a portion of the money we earn.
Share – perhaps this is the most important principle. It’s certainly of Christian heritage.
O’Rourke quotes Proverbs 11:24-25:
“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
The response at the individual level is just as critical as the Global response--if each person gave $5, what a difference that could make.
What about the global church effort? Surely there must be an innovative way to pool resources (globally) for the poor. Imagine the church as truly one in this way. What a wonderful vision. Forget about evangelism, saving lives with the basics is salvific enough.
How will the church help those most vulnerable? Jesus said about the stranger we didn’t help, the unclothed, the unfed, the unwatered, those in prison, and those sick and defenseless, “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” –Matthew 25:45b (NIV).
This is food for thought, pardon the pun.
Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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