Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

global poverty

960 million people went to bed hungry last night

So did I.

But not for the same reason.

In a world where 1 in 7 people battles hunger daily, I’m one of the “lucky” ones.

Yesterday was Compassion International’s One Meal One Day campaign, an annual event that encourages people to skip a meal and donate what they would have spent to their work in a country whose people experience extreme hunger. This year’s focus: Ethiopia.OMOD_2013_children

First let me say this: I don’t usually fast. It’s a discipline I’ve not practiced much since college and I almost never look forward to it. Especially as a stay-at-home mom where the food is readily available all day long and the kids need regular nourishment. Plus, I’m cranky when I’m hungry. All good reasons to not do it, I know.

But this seemed like a challenge I could handle. And I wanted to do it. When it came time to decide which meal to skip, I chose dinner specifically so I could go to bed hungry. When’s the last time I did that on purpose?

Some thoughts:

  • I made pork chops and sauerkraut for the rest of the family. I’m not a big fan of sauerkraut. Maybe I did that on purpose. And maybe I’m ashamed that I can choose to skip a meal because I don’t like the food being offered. Who, if they were truly hungry, would turn down food of any kind? 2012 UGANDA IT WORKS+
  • My stomach started growling almost as soon as I started cooking dinner, as if it instinctively knew I would be denying it.
  • Hunger does strange things to your senses. I had to run to the store after “dinner” and when I came back, I was sure the air in town smelled like root beer. Root beer? Weird.
  • When I told my husband my plan to not eat after I started making dinner, he said, “So you’ll drink water. I could put some dirt in it for you.” We chuckled and maybe that makes us insensitive. Truth is, unclean water is a reality for 880 million people around the world. No laughing matter.
  • My husband also ate ice cream and a cupcake in front of me while we watched TV. I think I handled it okay. No one lost an arm.
  • When I woke up this morning, I barely remembered that I hadn’t eaten for 15 or 16 hours. Does a person eventually become accustomed to hunger?
  • I wish I’d known about this event earlier so I could have enlisted more of you to participate. Be forewarned, next year, I’ll be recruiting a team.

Even if you didn’t skip a meal, you can donate to the cause here.

And if you’re interested in sponsoring a child through Compassion, you can click on the banner on the side of the blog and start searching for a child to support.

Skipping a meal and donating a little bit of money doesn’t seem like a big deal with a big impact.

But it’s something.

And when a whole bunch of somethings come together, they can have a greater effect.

My parting words?

Do something.

How to care for the least: Review of Orphan Justice by Johnny Carr

In one of my favorite movies, Ever After (a Cinderella adaptation), the prince, who is being influenced by the lady’s passion for equality and the poor, says these words: “I used to think that if I cared about one thing, I’d have to care about everything.”

I confess, my attitude toward adoption and caring for the world’s orphans has resembled those words. I love children, and the idea that there are children literally starving to death and dying from preventable diseases anywhere in the world breaks my heart. And I have been reluctant to open my heart to that kind of pain, afraid that I would become discouraged that I can’t take them all home, love them like they ought to be loved, or provide for all their basic needs.

So, I’m encouraged by a new book that challenges the Church’s attitude about orphans and adoption, as well as offers varied ways the Church can be involved in orphan care, not only through adoption.

orphan justiceIn Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting, Johnny Carr, who works for the largest adoption and orphan care agency in the U.S., presents a case for the Church to do its part to care for orphaned children, domestically and globally. And he isn’t always nice about it.

Nor should he be.

From the beginning of the book, Carr lays out the problem–153 million kids worldwide who have lost one or both parents, which is twice the total number of children in the U.S.–and reveals his own journey from American Dreamer to Orphan Advocate.

Every time I heard about missionaries digging clean wells, working with HIV/AIDS patients, or trying to alleviate poverty, I rolled my eyes. Why are they wasting their time? I thought. Don’t they know that the gospel is what really counts? … But now as I look back, I see how narrow-minded I was. … I didn’t realize I was missing the true meaning of religion–one that includes BOTH sharing the gospel and meeting people’s physical needs.

Carr and his wife have adopted three children with special needs, and throughout the book, he readily admits his own struggles to care about children with special needs, much less make them part of his family. And I think that’s a strength of this book. Carr’s journey is one many of us can relate to: of wanting to serve God only when it suits us, then being transformed by the real-life plight of those in extreme poverty.

Each chapter addresses an issue related to orphan care, such as human trafficking, orphanages, foster care, and poverty. Carr writes about the impact each of these areas has on the worldwide orphan population and gives ideas of what churches and Christians can do to care for orphans. At the end of each chapter is a three-tiered approach to getting involved, offering ideas that anyone can do, many can do, and a few can do. I appreciate this because Carr doesn’t assume that everyone can contribute at the same level, but he doesn’t let anyone off the hook for getting involved.

Overall, I found Orphan Justice to be informative and inspiring. I learned more about orphan care, including the idea that orphanages are not a “solution” and how churches can support adoptive families and families involved with the foster care system. My “social justice” beliefs are under development and the principles and stories in this book have helped with that development.

I no longer fear a broken heart when confronted with the realities of caring for the least of these. Equipped with practical insight such as is found in this book, I’m more ready to take the risk and be involved in orphan care.

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In exchange for this review, I was given a copy of Orphan Justice.