los angeles is 1700 miles away from nashville.
this is where people eat.
haiti is 1700 miles from nasvhille.
this is where people eat.
i got this email from brian yesterday, updating us on the food crisis in haiti. it is written by one of the compassion international staff serving there.
The unprecedented rise in the cost of foodstuffs raise concerns in the Haitian community especially those whose daily income is less than $2US. They are all wondering if they will survive at all. Despite the promises made by the Haitian government and the aid programs conducted by the international community, food prices do not stop skyrocketing.
“There is no hope that things are going to be improved; the situation is worsening. The population is silently starving and no one seems to care?? said angrily a young professional.
brian also sent a list of staple food costs.
it.
blew.
my.
mind.
1 half full-sized bag of rice has gone from $28 US to $35 US.
1 full-sized bag of beans has gone from $54.6 US to $63.6 US.
1 full-sized bag of sugar has gone from $25.3 US to $34.8 US.
i responded to brian and asked if children in compassion international projects were guaranteed food, to which he said every child in every project receives at least one meal a day. some receive two hot meals…and they are working very hard to keep adding projects to the two-meal program.
naiva is one of many children in haiti who need to be sponsored. she has been waiting for more than six months. it’s just $32 a month, and with that, you can know that one more child is getting the food she needs to survive.
if she is already sponsored, you can click here to find another child.
you can also make a donation to the global food crisis fund here.
honestly, it is so difficult for me to understand why this happens. it still makes me feel sad, and angry, and guilty, and motivated, and desperate.
you?
Comments
37 responses to “international dining options”
This really struck me tonight. Thank you for being bold enough to pass this on. I have linked to your blog on my page. I assume this is ok but if not please let me know! God Bless
Yes. It makes me feel the same. I hope we can discuss this more…
it happens becasue the rich nations’ people like cell phones. latte’s, i-pods, cars, computers, nice clothes, movies, cable, internet, a/c, bandwidth, crocs, lighting, roads, etc
simple as that – if we can’t understand that well, go figure
we will be held accountable for it, no doubt in my mind. maybe we should actually do something about the ‘least of these’ to help those that will inheret the riches of heaven, while they are on earth
good reminder anne
sad, mostly…
also angry since these conditions largely are the result of sinful choices made by national leaders (loved by God) who could choose otherwise.
Oh Anne…God bless you for your heart.
So true @ tony and John
Every night before we eat, we pray. We’ve taught out 2 year old to not only thank God for the food he has, but also to pray for the children, “his friends” in other countries that dont have food to eat.
Let’s pray. Lets give. Lets believe God.
I continue to be overwhelmed by how much we have and how little we give. I get angry and sad and then I get self-righteous. Then I get convicted. What I’m learning is that I’m responsible for me and for the support we give Compassion and others, and then I’m responsible to pray for God to lead others and move in their hearts. And I think it’s also about teaching the next generation to think outside themselves… which is completely the opposite of our self-indulgent society.
This morning I was reading to my children (ages 6,4,2) about how God’s laws were set in place because He loved us. And how one of the laws in Leviticus was how they were to provide for those who couldn’t provide for themselves. My children asked me this morning if they could support a Compassion child from their money, too. Not sure how we’re going to work that one out yet, but I’m thankful for their hearts.
Thank you so very much for posting this, Anne
Proverbs 24:11-12
11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
It only takes 2, 2 and a half hours tops to get from the United States to Haiti from Miami. We’re only 2 hours removed from the poorest nation in the world that seems to be getting poorer.
My gut tells me that the typical response to these issues by many in the “develeoped” world is to just go on spending resources to entertain ourselves and ignore the suffering. That’s typical of a secular, consumer-driven culture. But it should not be typical of the church, especially where its existence is blessed by so much resource.
We Christians in the “developed” world need to ask ourselves is it worth enterntaining ourselves all the time at the expense of others we could be helping. Why not choose to be entertained by our own radical servanthood towards the Kingdom?
Um… I don’t pretend to be doing this well, but behavior changes and the right kind of faithfulness have to begin with asking the right questions of ourselves.
I heard a pastor talk about kingdoms not so long ago. He said there are really only 2 kingdoms in the world, our personal kingdoms and God’s Kingdom. He asked if we wanted to invest in the one that would fail or the one that would last forever, the one history is giving way to. How do we live in a way that honors that notion? What practical/and yes radical lifestyle changes can we make to give more and be more available to serve the broken hearted and destitute?
Peace,
Emotions run rampant after reading information like this. But, all too quickly, those emotions fade. That’s why feelings can’t and shouldn’t be trusted.
But, what long-term effect will this information have on us? How many of will actually leave the comforts of our own home to help those in Haiti…or down the street, for that matter?
Keep pushing us along Anne. Heck, keep giving up huge shoves!
It pains me and inspires me. A good friend of mine is doing what he can for Hatti – check out his non-profit at http://www.raincatchers.org – he is actually over their right now with a team from Michigan.
The little girl that I have sponsored for 5 years through Compassion is from Haiti. Her name is Yanique and she is beautiful and wonderful. It brings me to tears when I read her letters, because even though she is thankful she still sees a lot of awful stuff.
I am considering sponsoring another child from there. The need is great. Thank you for passing along this information Anne.
I figured a repost about this was stronger than a simple comment. So I did.
Tony is exactly right – our taste for fun toys, more pairs of shoes, and tricked-out church auditoriums is directly related to the starvation of others. In the cities where I work in Congo, about half of the families live on 45 cents a day. Most of those people only eat once every other day. The kids alternate with the adults.
Great post, Anne.
The amazing thing is that it doesn’t take much. When wonderful orgs like Compassion are feeling the pinch in their work, imagine the other smaller NGOs – let alone simple families that are seeking to feed their own children.
Something is clearly wrong with the world. I’ve been trying to figure out what it’s been for a long long time and I finally realized what it was.
Me.
while i would agree that SOME people in l.a. eat in establishments like the one you pictured above … i must note that two blocks from my house is skid row. where thousands of people live under very similar conditions as those in haiti or those in the trash dump community i worked with in honduras. there are more than 85,000 homeless people in l.a. right now and 20,000 of them are families … with kids. who need food and shelter. they dig through dumpsters, sleep on top of them for support and, if they’re lucky, find a tent to reside in underneath a busy freeway.
IF the kids are in school, they may get two meals a day … depending on the funding the school received. if they aren’t, however, these kids rely on dumpster-diving, hand-outs or possible shelters if their parents will get them there in time. otherwise, they go hungry.
while i agree that it is extremely important to keep things in perspective in regards to our spending and unnecessarily lavish lifestyle, i would also argue, “what are we doing in our own cities to alleviate the food crisis?” as you mentioned … food prices are up everywhere. not just in developing countries.
i’m of the belief that if i really cared that people were fed each day and given clean water, i would care about it regardless of whether or not it were in a developing nation or if it were two blocks from my house.
just a thought!
this is a great topic of discussion! (as usual)
I’m putting a link on my blog to yours…just wanted you to know before I did it. This is heartbreaking.
Krysta, that is such a good point – thank you …
I find it easier to have compassion on those in India than those where I live… sad but true … How did I get so jaded?
Wow. It is very sad to think of poverty…and like Krysta (above me) said – in some cases it’s right down the road from where we live!
I am glad there are organizations like Compassion Int. that are doing what they can do to sponsor every child that is in need all over the world. God is surely working through that ministry. Thanks for spreading the awareness, Anne!
I went to Haiti in 1983 and 1984 and it was heartbreaking to see the way people lived. BUT, despite their lack, they were the happiest and most generous people I had ever met. Our group, The New Directions (http://newdirections.org), was there to sing and minister to the Haitians. We were given a feast in Petite-Riviere with Pumpkin Soup and a roasted goat. Those same people gave us their grass mats to sleep on. What an honor! We could learn a lot from the Haitians.
We have it so good — why do we never seem to realize this?
heart stopping. mind blowing.
Anne,
I used this on my blog for today (8/7) My thoughts are expressed there. Thanks for the reminder of what I take for granted.
As I sit here drinking my Diet Coke and eating a granola bar, my privileged, American mind struggles to wrap itself around the fact that there are people…CHILDREN…starving this very minute. As individuals, we can’t do everything, but we HAVE to do something.
My husband and I sponsored our first child through Compassion last night – a little girl named Maria from Nicarauga.
we’re very spoiled and don’t even realize it!
Anyone here NOT sponsora Compassion child?
Yes? Praise God
No? Why not?
We’re sponsoring a child named Nofri. I was at the Willow Creek Simulcast today and they’re sponsoring 10,000 children for one year. Awesome!
This was a lump in my throat kind of post..
I’m signing up…
I know it was for effect… but not everyone eats like that in Los Angeles, there are many many who go with out food.
Haiti situation is horrible and disgusting. I feel and hurt and pray for them tonight… and I’m giving up one of my Los Angeles luxuries so a boy or a girl can eat tonight…
Thank you Anne for challenging me!!!
wow…
Anne, this post really put things in perspective.
I struggle with these kind of things all the time. Every time I sit down to a nice dinner with my wife or go to a movie I’m reminded about how different my options for food and entertainment are here compared to other parts of the world.
Wow. What a comparison.
I am working the Compassion booth at the Summit this week and have been able to listen to the some of the speakers talk about injustice in our world and God’s response to that.
This puts an image on that injustice for sure.
I linked to it on my blog.
Thanks, Anne
Anne Jackson, you rock. Thanks for this post!
Here’s a picture from the capital of the richest nation this world has ever known.
Very sad, yes. But it’s grossly simplistic to blame this – as several commenters seem to do – on rich, spoiled individuals who are too cheap to help or give to charity. There are HUGE systematic political and economic problems that contribute to situations such as Haiti and other third world tragedies.
Remember Burma (or whatever it’s called now)? Individuals and nations were lining up to help in the midst of tragedy. Donations – money, food, people – were pouring in, but not getting to those in need. Why? Their government officials were the ones keeping help and food from getting to the people, for selfish political and personal gain.
We’ve also got price supports (the US government pays some landowners not to plant sugarcane in order to prop up the price of sugar, for example), and many countries have tarriffs on imported food to protect local farmers. Yes, these things may help some people (the local farmers) short term, but in the long term they screw things up for the people as a whole by artificially inflating the cost of food.
Yes, as individuals we should give. And we should be less selfish. But we should also consider how we can work to change the systemic corruption that fuels so many of the problems we see. Just a thought. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers, and no easy target to take all the blame for everything.
Those photos say it all! Here in Mozambique, 40% of kids suffer stunted growth due to malnutrition. How can we just blindly let it keep happening when there is something we can do about it, at least for one child?
I’m reading everyone’s comments and can understand the grief and compassion we all feel for these children. But am I also reading into the comments guilt that we are so blessed to live in the USA? My family would be classified upper middle class with the nice house, cars, gadgets but we do give as much as we can to our church and outside orgs such as CI. I’m not God and I realize that. I can only do so much – that’s where my faith, prayers and obedience come into play but I still can’t fix the world.
I know that our govt isn’t PERFECT but we do have a govt that functions the way our constitution intended us to function. I won’t even get into the 2 political parties and the bickering that goes on between the two parties. But even with the finger pointing between the parties the US is still without the type of corruption that cripples these other countries. We don’t suck.
Most every country that has starving people has a govt that is corrupt and practices some form of communism, socialism and /or other ism.
We should be careful about feeling guilty because of the prosperity of the US. It is because the US is so prosperous that we as individuals can make a difference in the lives of people who live in the type of poverty that Haiti is experiencing. Everyday we should look at pictures of these children so we don’t forget but I won’t be guilty for my blessings and accomplishments.
Yes! Let’s do all we can to bring sponsors, love & help to children in need.:)
Saw this exceptionally well done blog through a link from David Kuo’s blog. I’m very impressed. Unfortunately, the actual link from his site didn’t come across well out here in the desert (we live where you can drive 55 miles to the Colorado border and pass ONE home. And the services we’ve gotten here have often been in close accord with that). So I assumed, at first, that HE’D written a blog, most of which was hidden for unknown reasons, but that stressed how important providing food, and care for orphans, and dealing with poverty were. And I commented with that assumption.
Once I finally found the link, and read your actual blog, I thought I should explain to you how that happened. And invite you to read my comments on his site, rather than repeat them here. In a nutshell, I quoted several little-known Scriptures that heavily stress how important it is to help the people like those in Haiti – the poor, orphans, widows, and others.
Also, if it would help you, a detailed study of what God actually teaches about helping such groups is temporarily posted on our family website, for free use (the URL at the top of this form). You may find parts of that helpful in your own ministry.
You’re welcome to look at it.
God bless your ministry.
i need a phone call from some one in hatti so that i can send 500.00 worth of food from the greater saint john baptist church i dont know if the money will get there because of dis honest people in this world so we will send food pleaseell how to do it..I hate computors so you can call me at 408-991-4226 my name is gianna thanks