India!

We've spent the last two weeks talking about India and ways to support our ministries there. So, to start out the new year, we wrote letters to the oldest of our unsponsored students. You guys wrote some awesome letters, and I know the India travelers are really excited to have a personal letter to present to each of them. Way to help make the love of Christ real in a tangible way!

Our 5 minutes of God Time song for the start of the year was an acoustic version of "Live Like That" by Sidewalk Prophets.



And then last week, we talked about our blessings, our relative wealth, and how that plays into our role as Christians- all before we brainstormed ways to support our India ministry. When talking about money and wealth, the vast majority of people in our country will say that they're "middle class"- even if their income level indicates that they're upper-, upper-middle-, or even lower-middle class. Which means that we tend to think of ourselves as averagely wealthy- though our language often tends toward us thinking that we're "broke" or "poor." There's always something else that we could purchase, if we just had enough money. So the glut of options leaves us feeling like we're missing out, that everyone else has more stuff, more money, more _____ than us. The reality is this:

• If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep- you are richer than 75% of the world.
• If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change- you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are better off than the million people who will not survive this week.
• If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation- you are luckier than 500 million people alive and suffering.
• If you can read this message- you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who cannot read it at all.

And then I gave you some even more sobering statistics:

•  If you took a shower this morning, washed your hands after using the bathroom, or drank water out of your tap (or a bottle), you're better off than the 2.5 billion people in the world who are without sufficient water sanitation and access.
• If you ate breakfast today (or had dinner last night, or are planning for lunch after youth group), your stomach is fuller than the 925 million people who are hungry and/or malnourished. In fact, 15 million children will dies this year of malnourishment.
• If you've never had to worry that your parents might sell you to pay a debt or because they couldn't afford to keep you (and you've never been so desperate for money that you were forced to consider selling yourself), your life is a wonderful dream compared to the estimated 29 million people who are modern-day slaves. 75% of those slaves are female, and 50% of them are children. At least 2 million of those children (some even younger than 5 years old) are sex slaves, working in brothels.
•  If you are able to go to the doctor when you feel ill, or you've ever had stitches, crutches, or a cast for a broken bone, you have access to medical care that 1 billion people in our world lack. Millions die each year from diseases and health care issues that are preventable.
• If you're receiving an education (at home, online, or at public/private school), you've been given an opportunity that 72 million children don't have; that's how many children in our world could be, should be in school but aren't. 57% of those children are female.

We are so incredibly blessed in our country- and in our comfort, we often forget what our lives could be. We complain because we don't have our favorite foods, though we've never lived through a famine in which we had to eat dirt just to quiet our stomachs. We're upset about our level of homework and how busy we are with extracurriculars, without stopping to consider what our opportunities in life would be if we didn't have any chance of going to school or learning a trade. And we gripe about our chores or the annoying attention of a sibling, all the while forgetting that we are so blessed to have a family to love us and care for us.

So I asked you to take your 5 Minutes of God Time (Give Thanks) and simply thank your Lord for all of your blessings. And I hope that you'll continue to give thanks throughout the week.

After that, we talked about what the value of $15 is. We all know that $15 is the cost to sponsor a child in our school, giving them education (and access to jobs in the future), food (for the lunch bunch kids), access to medical care and clean water, a school uniform, and someone who is watching out for them and cares about them. And if they can't get to school, Novahu will do something crazy like ask our church for a bus (thank you again to all of you who helped with the India Gala!)! And since we've already established that we're in the top 8% of the world's wealthy, and many of us are even higher up the scale than that, and we all have at least some discretionary spending money, we looked at what we would and do spend $15 on. I'm not asking you to give up any of the $15 items we listed (or the $15 units for larger items)- just that you need to keep in mind what the value of $15 is for us (you know, in case you want ammunition to encourage someone else to use 15 of their bucks to sponsor a child).

And then, keeping in mind what our ministry and our school does, we then brainstormed ways to help support our India ministry- both individually and as a group, and financially and in ways that require no monetary support. I'm so proud of your creativity, and I look forward to putting many of those ideas into practice! I'm not listing either set of brainstormed ideas on the blog, since that would make this long post into a novel- but they are posted on the walls in the youth room, and I encourage you to add to them, modify them, and put them into practice.

So that's the India summary! Our next two weeks are going to be mini-lessons. "Fruit of the Spirit" this Sunday (1/20/13) and Baptism/John the Baptist next Sunday. And then February is our month to help out with JAM Time! See you all tomorrow!