10 Nov 2014
There are wealthy people in Chad, Africa. Some of them may even be wealthy by Western standards. In Chad, I am wealthy and my family lives on less money than the average teenager makes in a year working at McDonalds in the United States. From my perspective, I am rich because of reasons beyond money.
I've been reading a book that describes 7 Steps to Poverty and it reminded me that I should count my blessings.
(This is from "He Walks Among Us"):
Follow me as, one at a time, I take seven things away from you. And let yourself feel the pain of the poor.
First, I will take away your clothing. Don't panic, I wont take them all. You can keep the ones you are wearing. Can you imagine wearing the same clothes every single day? You can wash them each night but even this small takeaway is humiliating.
Next, I will take away electricity and power. Imagine going home to a dark house each night. None of your appliances work: you cant use your refrigerator, telephone, heater, air conditioner, dishwasher, television, computer or stove. Your showers are cold, and now you have to wash your clothes by hand. Inconvenient is an understatement.
Takeaway number 3 is really tough. Im taking away your clean water. None of your faucets toilets, or showers work, and your only water source is a stagnant water hole about a mile away. You must walk hours each day to fetch the water your family needs, and because it is teeming with bacteria, you and your children are constantly sick. Making this situation even harder is the fact that none of your neighbors have been affected, and they don't even seem to notice your suffering.
Im afraid now I have to take away your home, so you have to live in a 10 x 20 ft mud hut with a dirt floor and no beds, and little furniture. Your whole family sleeps in the same room on the floor.
Takeaway #5 is devastating: food. Long ago your children lost their smiles. Now they are so hungry that the gnawing pain wont go away. You have to find what little food you can by picking through your neighbors' garbage. Already sick from drinking dirty water, your children become malnourished, and their bodies cant fight off diseases. Your 4-year-old daughter seems to be slipping away.
Getting her to the doctor is urgent but, tragically, the 6th takeaway is healthcare. To your horror and disbelief, there is no doctor and you have no option except to watch powerlessly as your daughter, wracked with parasites and diarrhea, dies before your very eyes. How can this be happening?
So what else could I possibly take away? Takeaway #7 is hope. Your hope has died in the ashes of your poverty. And you wonder why no one else has stepped in to help you.
Do these 7 takeaways make you feel compelled to do something about hardships that billions of people endure each day?
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in him? 1 John 3:17
-Mason
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