It's About Time

This year, in the Western calendar, Easter falls in the month of April. My heart has been gripped recently by the fact that there are things going on in the world that I care very little about, because they seem so far away from where I live. I might catch an occasional news story and shake my head, but ultimately I go on with my life. So, here's the thing: I've decided to take the five weeks in April (a few days fall during the last week in March) and pray for five things that are going on around the world that I don't care about but, as a follower of Christ, should. When you start looking at the numbers, you realize that far from being isolated and remote as I would like to believe they are, these things involve and affect millions of people and happen regularly and frequently. The fact that the Holy Spirit has impressed this on my heart to do during April doesn't make me super-spiritual or in line for sainthood. I'm actually broken over my lack of concern for so much of these things, and I can't think of a better way to engage my heart than to begin praying about them.

1. Human Trafficking -- Each year an estimated 600-800,000 people, human beings, created in the image of God, are trafficked across international borders, in some form of slavery. 70% of these are female and 50% of these are children. Most will end up in the international sex trade industry, which generates $4 billion (42% of all trafficking money) each year. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html

2. Starving People -- Every day, EVERY DAY, 16,000 children under the age of five die from hunger. 840 million people in the world are malnourished. Right now, there are 54 nations in the world that can't produce enough food to feed their citizens and can't afford to import food from other countries. http://www.care.org/campaigns/world-hunger/facts.asp

3. Ethic Cleansing in Sudan -- Since 2003, at least 400,000 people have been killed as a result of the ethnic cleansing going on in this country, and 2.5 million have been displaced due to threat of death or their homes being destroyed. http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/sudan_genocide_genocide_in_sudan.php

4. AIDS -- As of the end of 2007, there were 33 million people living with AIDS worldwide. In Africa, there are an estimated 11.6 million AIDS orphans. There are about 9.7 million people who need immediate medical treatment for AIDS or AIDS-related illness. Only about 2.9 million will get the treatments they need. http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm

5. Mental Health Issues -- As of 2002, there were an estimated 154 million people worldwide suffer from depression, and there were 25 million who suffered from schizophrenia. Few countries have a legal framework to protect people with mental illnesses from human rights abuses. http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm

The promise of the death and resurrection of Christ is hope. Ultimate hope that our souls can be reconciled to God and that one day, all evil will be cast into the Lake of Fire, but also hope for today that all things truly can be made new. What a better time of year to be thinking about the heavier and sadder things of this life?