The cost of Living.

Over the past couple days, I’ve had some conversations that have gotten me thinking. What better place to share these thoughts than on a blog that, quite frankly, I’m sure no one reads. But as I’ve said plenty of times, this blog is a journal to what God puts on my heart, so it’s ok if it never gets read. I just have to say it somehow.

 But before I even begin, let me just send out a little disclaimer.

As I describe particular conversations and encounters, please understand my heart. I’m in no way frustrated with an individual or particular conversation, it simply sparked something in me that I’ve been passionate about and wish to share.

I’ve written many blogs concerning the way Americans will look at world issues. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, look up my recent post called Injustice.

It’s still a burning cry of my heart.

But even more frustrating is how we as Americans can hear of these issues, over and over and over, and every time we hear it, we treat it like it’s the first time. We hear the mass numbers of those dying from preventable diseases. We hear of people who literally live in trash heaps with “homes” made of garbage. We hear of slaves that consistently have their bodies broken to produce our means of comfort. And every time we drop our jaws and shake our heads for a moment, only to go back to our own world the next, forgetting all about what we just heard.

I fall prey to this as well, and it breaks my heart more than anything. Honestly, it’s not easy living in the comfort that we do and keeping our perspective straight. A friend of mine observed recently that we call ourselves blessed to live in America. But how much of a blessing is it when it causes us to grow so blind to the Kingdom and work of God?

I had a conversation with someone the other day who bought a huge supply of coffee for a very cheap price. It was a great deal actually, but when I noticed it wasn’t Fair Trade, my heart began to grow heavy. I understand that this is hard and I struggle with it myself. I hate waste. I hate spending money. And when we find great deals like that, it’s so easy to jump on them.

But what we don’t realize is that companies are often able to sell coffee and the like at such a discounted price because they are not having to pay the laborers who make it.

We value the extra $10 that we save over the life of the man producing it.

It seems like an extreme statement, but that is what it boils down to. Our consumerist society is so keen on our daily comforts that it’s hard for us to break out of routines. We decide “well, I’ve been buying this brand of coffee for years, it’s too much trouble to find a new brand for such a great price.”

And the slavery continues.

___________________

There is a man who goes to my church by the name of Derreck Kayongo.

His smile, beautifully contagious, welcomes you as a friend at first glance.

You would never have guessed the story behind it.

Born to a soap maker in Uganda in a time of war, he had been through more than any of us can possibly imagine by the age of nine. As refugees in Kenya with his parents, Derreck knows first hand of a life where nearly 2 million children die yearly simply from lack of sanitation. What seems to us as a simple disease can quickly become a killer because a child could not wash their hands. Countless numbers of women and infants die in child birth simply because of pathogens transferred from a midwife who could not sanitize their hands before delivery. Soap, although available, is a luxury that cannot be afforded.

Derreck has never taken soap for granted.

After coming to America, he learned that hotels throw away 8 million bars of soap in one year alone.

8 Million

So Derreck took action.

The Global Soap Project gathers and recycles partially used soap from hotels around the country, melts it down, recuts it, and delivers it to children throughout Africa. They teach them how to use it properly and not to waste it. Through this project, Derreck is not simply bringing a way to stay clean and healthy, but he is bringing hope to children where hope itself is hard to come by.

(Derreck is currently in the running for CNN’s Hero, a contest honoring those who take action in our world today. You can support him with votes, as well as see videos on the Global Soap Project here: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive11/derreck.kayongo.html)

After hearing from Derreck, I was listening to a conversation discussing how stunning it was that children die from something so little. While I understand this is truly shocking to many here in America, this is an issue that has been very dear to my heart for some time. In fact, Scotty and I are leaving soon to be trained in primary healthcare in order to be able to visit these places and fight against many diseases that could so easily be prevented. Needless to say, I talk about it a lot, so I was shocked to see it viewed as new information to people so close to me.

(Once again, a reminder of the disclaimer. It’s not the conversation that was hard for me, but the realization that came from it)

I feel like in America, these issues simply go in one ear and out the other. While it may be something that actually touches our hearts in the moment, its so far in the distance that it’s easy to stay disconnected.

But my challenge for all my readers, even for myself, is to get involved. Find an organization and volunteer time. Donate money, go and visit these children. However the Lord leads, don’t be afraid to act.

And we can make a difference right here by the choices we make.

One of the greatest causes of slavery comes from the supply and demand of the west. Think of the change that could happen if as a nation, we refused to accept any product that wasn’t ethically produced? This isn’t something that is going to happen with our government. It’s up to you. It’s up to me. It’s a choice that has to be made as an individual to be willing to pay an extra dollar for a candy bar if it saves the life of a man who was forced to produce it.

And of course if you’ve ever followed along with any of my other posts, you know that I will always emphasize the power behind our prayer.

Pray for the children, for the organizations, for the countries, the governments.

If there is one way to stay involved, one way to feel God’s heart in these issues, it’s through prayer.

Prayer moves the Supernatural. Prayer moves God.

And if you don’t know how to pray into issues like these, pray for the heart and ear to learn how.

I don’t want to sound holier-than-thou in this post. I don’t want to sound hateful in the least. I love my country, my church, and all the anointed organizations coming out of America. But it breaks my heart more than anything to see the apathy towards greater issues. We are to seek first the Kingdom and that stretches far beyond American Suburbia. The reason I post so frequently about issues such as these is because I am in need of constant reminder as well.

So let’s join together, you and I. Let’s lift our voices to the King in prayer and petition. Let’s decide to choose the lives of the poor against the extra money for a different brand of coffee. Let’s be willing to be the movement.

It starts with us.