We Can Make a Difference
I wonder how you feel when you’re confronted with photos of children living in poverty. You know the photos I’m talking about—the ones that pop up on our Facebook feed, or on day-time television, or appear in our letterboxes with the mail. Photos of severely malnourished babies in the arms of their mothers, or of a child collecting water from a dirty waterhole, or even an Australian child in a torn school uniform with a plastic bag and no lunch. I don’t know about you, but seeing those images usually brings me to tears. And the immense scope of poverty and injustice can seem overwhelming. But let me encourage you, because there are things we can all be doing, and we can all make a difference.
This term at Kidz Church, as part of our focus on Operation Christmas Child, we want to open the eyes of our children to the plight of others in the world who are living in poverty. We are not doing this to overwhelm our children. Nor do we want to make our children feel guilty for living in such wealth (comparatively). But we do want to impress upon them the deep love that God has for all His children, and to make clear what God expects of us in response. We want to stir our children’s hearts to action—to empower them to discover ways they can bring about change for children around the world. So, let me share with you 3 ways we can make a difference.
- We can We can pray for those experiencing poverty, those who are mistreated, those forgotten by the world. We can pray that God would supply all their needs. We can also pray for organisations who provide aid and assistance to the poor – Samaritan’s Purse, New Life Trust, Compassion, TEAR Australia, and many more.
- We can We can give our time, our talents and our money. Later this term our children will be packing shoebox gifts for children living in poverty, and you can be involved. You can give items for the shoeboxes, you can pack a shoebox or two yourself, or you can give money to be used for buying items or covering postage costs (Details in The Quarterly).
- We can speak out. God’s Word is very clear about this. Proverbs 31: 8-9 reads “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly: defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
So, go ahead and cry for the oppressed in this world, don’t be ashamed of those emotions. That’s God’s heart for His children breaking in you. But don’t leave it at that. Allow the Holy Spirit to spur you to action. We are all in the privileged position to be able to pray, to give, and to speak out. It’s my prayer that together as the church of Jesus Christ, we can make a difference.
God bless,
Caroline
