There’s something about a hungry child that causes people to
stop and think, to worry, to consider what they might do to help; or to put on
blinders and rush past so they don’t have to deal with the situation. In this
country, people want to help children, but because that gets tricky unless both
parents, (or at least the custodial parent, with minimal interference from the no-custodial
one) ) are in agreement, we often can’t. How many mini-infomercials do you see
asking you to send $19.00 a month, just pennies a day, to support a child? Yet
quite frequently I see those heartbreaking ads dealing with the living
conditions of military veterans, along with a plea to pledge money to help
provide them with food, shelter, and medical care. I get upset when I see one
of those ads asking for $15.00 a month to help veterans, and a few minutes
later there is a plea for $19.00 month to keep abandoned dogs and cats out of
kill shelters, and prevent animal abuse. Don’t hear what I’m not saying, I like
animals, I don’t want to see them abused, and someone needs to be a voice for
them, but we don’t offer vets in this country the same consideration that we might
a stray cat, that has yet another litter of kittens every couple of months. And
children are often lower on the scale than that.
We see
ads for neglected children in other countries, but children in this country are
generally taken care of. There are programs through the schools to ensure that
they get food, medical care, and school supplies; and even in parts of the
country a warm coat for winter. But in other parts of the world, well, it’s
just a little bit different. I’ve written about it before. Parents working long
hours to earn enough to give each member of the family a tiny portion of what
they need to fill their stomachs, and that leaves nothing for clothes, for
hygiene items, school supplies, or so many of the things that growing children
need. The dung covered street is their playground, and for toys, well they
don’t exist. A rock, a stick, a can are the ‘toys’ that many child have.
And
today I want to focus on children in the Dalit class in Asia. These
'untouchables' for the most part have no hope. They have never seen hope, never
experienced it, and rarely even understand what it is. That is until now. There
are nearly 75,000 children enrolled in Gospel for Asia's children's ministry 'Bridge
of Hope' programs. That's 75,000 children who are taught about Jesus. That's
75,000 children who have access to education, health, nutrition, friends, a
safe place, and above all 75,000 children learning that Jesus loves them, and because
of that love, knowing that they do have hope.
Having
recently visited one of the 'slum' areas in India, I can assure you that many
of the children there are poorly fed, dressed poorly, and for whom education,
medical attention, and a healthy diet are not even on the radar screen. This picture
shows what happy, well fed children look like.
As you pray today, tomorrow and the next day, please
remember to pray for the children in the Bridge of Hope program, pray for their
spiritual and physical needs, pray that through them that their family members
would also come to a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And as you pray, ask God to soften hearts so
that through regular giving, this program could expand and another 75,000 or
150,000 or more children could find Hope. Interested in knowing more about the Bridge of Hope programs? Check out this page: check this link
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