poverty | Ain't Complicated

Billions Without Bibles

Two dollars a day and no Bible. And without the ability to read one anyway. And how many of them have more joy than I do? So read this info and recount the blessings you have.

Two dollars a day and no Bible. And without the ability to read one anyway.

And how many of them have more joy than I do?

So read this info and recount the blessings you have.

Seven billion people in the world in two years

Half the world lives on less than $2 a day. Right now, that’s more than three billion people, but new research suggests the population will hit the seven billion mark within the next two years.

Researchers with the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) also found that the least developed regions, like Africa, Asia and Latin America, are projected to double in population by 2050. PRB, one of the most trusted sources for world population information, recently released these statistics in their 2009 World Population Data Sheet.

International Director for Faith Comes By Hearing Morgan Jackson said that these new figures are troubling because billions of people may never hear the message of hope and truth in God’s Word.

“Already, the world’s poorest of the poor are cut off from the Bible,” said Jackson. “Half of the world’s people are illiterate and too poor to afford a Bible. Five of six African believers will never own their own Bible. And when people don’t have Scripture in a format they can use and understand, the results can be devastating to villages and whole countries.”

[…]

“Small bits of Scripture may be the only truth they have. They just don’t know any different,” said Jackson.

“But modern technology is helping overcome centuries-old barriers of poverty, distance, language, illiteracy, and culture. For the first time in history, we have the tools to reach every person in the world with the Word of God — no matter where they are,” said Jackson.

One of these tools is the Proclaimer, a self-powered audio player that can be used in the most remote and rugged locations. The Proclaimer’s embedded microchip is pre-loaded with the Audio Drama New Testament in the heart languages of the world. Indigenous believers take these life-changing Audio Bibles into their villages and towns and start listening groups. Villagers in groups up to 300 gather around to listen and then discuss what they’ve heard. By interacting with the Word of God, people come to know and follow the God of the Bible.

Currently, New Testament recordings in more than 397 languages are being used in Bible listening programs in 150 countries.

Learn more about The Proclaimer.

I’m thankful to know how to read. In two languages. And to have Bibles in both. And to earn far more than two dollars a day.

Disclaimer: It appears the Mission Network News article comes from a post at the Faith Comes by Hearing site.

Feeling Sorry for Yourself?

Then you should click the link and read the full article:

Afghan girl begs for bread, prays for help

Little Banafsha wakes up in her small mud home, has a cup of tea and braces herself for the day ahead.

She is just 11 years old, but she is the breadwinner for her family. Literally.

Without the bread that she begs from strangers, she, her sisters, her baby brothers and her mom would all go hungry.

[…]

She is not bitter, explaining: “My two younger sisters also work. They beg for bread and sell gum. There’s no choice.”

[…]

“A few days ago, some girls were kidnapped around here, and many people have gone missing. The girls’ mother still comes around here looking for them, but they still haven’t been found,” Banafsha says.

This time of the year, the sun begins to set at 4:30 p.m. in Kabul. But Banafsha continues to roam the dark streets. The 6 o’clock rush hour is her peak business time.

Her eyes well with tears, but she doesn’t allow them to fall, quickly wiping them away and biting her thumb like the vulnerable child she is.

She prays every day: “I say, ‘God, take me out of this poverty and have my father go work so I can go to school.’ ”

[…]

…among the estimated 60,000 other street kids in Kabul, dreaming of a better life.

So?

What of it?

Who will care?

Who will do “to one of the least of these”?

Especially in the name of Jesus?

Where is the Heavenly Father?

I don’t know much of anything about Aschiana, but to the extent that they’re helping this little girl and thousands of others like her, God bless them!

OK, next subject? Now we can move on to our own “real living.”

Two Exciting Investment Opportunities

I’m sure that by now most of you have heard of the financial meltdown being faced by the United States economy. It all started with the banking system starting to tremble. No, wait, it all started with people not being able to pay back all the money they had borrowed from the banks. Actually, I think it all started with real estate prices going down. Well, come to think of it, it really started before that, back when real estate prices went up. Or I guess it started before that, back when the banks decided to loan money to anybody who was willing to borrow money, which is what helped make the land prices go up.

Anyway, it started somewhere, sometime. And by all appearances, getting it started was a lot simpler than getting it stopped is going to be. You see, just this evening President Bush got on the radio, TV, and just about everything else he could get on and told Americans in general that there is going to be a widespread financial disaster. In other words, the average person would lose his house, his job, his retirement, his savings, his insurance, his sanity, and perhaps an arm and a leg. Unless, of course, we allow the government to step in and bail us out. Bail us out, mind you, to the tune of seven hundred billion dollars. For those of you who don’t know how much money that is, it is a 7 with a whole wagon load of zeros.

Anyway, in the midst of a world full of financial turmoil and uncertainty, I thought you would all be excited about a couple of wonderful investment opportunities I recently learned about. These are both guaranteed not to lose any of their value, and will not be affected by moth, rust, thieves, or financial market melt-downs. You have no need to fear when you invest in these securities, because they are backed by a pool of wealth far in excess of a measly 700 billion greenbacks. Read it all