Invisible Children

Nothing really earthshattering to share tonight. Just a cause that has grabbed my attention. One of my best friends told me about this organization last week that was doing something called "The Rescue", and the organization's name was Invisible Children. That's pretty much all he told me, and I have spent the following week looking up everything I can find on the internet. One of my friends had access to some dvd's, and I was off and running!

This organization exists to bring awareness of and an end to the longest running war in Africa. The setting is Uganda, and the atrocities that have occured are appalling. I want to encourage you with everything that I have in me to check out the website.

www.invisiblechildren.com

This will be tough for you to see. I want to ask yourself why it is tough. Why is it tough for us to see others suffering? For me, it all goes back to a quote I wrote last week, "To be SAVED costs us nothing. To be a DISCIPLE, costs us everything!" If I truly want to be a DISCIPLE of Christ, then I will care about those that he cared about. I will care about the poor, downcast, outcast, sick, needy people of this world. Actually, I will go a step further than caring. If I am truly a DISCIPLE of Christ, I will do something to alleviate their suffering.

We all have seen that bumpersticker which reads "He who dies with the most toys, still dies." I am not saying to put your family at risk. However, I am asking you to question what your purpose is in life. Is your main goal to live a safe, trouble free life? Is that the kind of life that Jesus lived?????? Now, before you begin to tell me some things you will regret later, think on this:

Jesus promised us that He came to give us life to the full.

If we are true DISCIPLES of His, we will love God and love people.

Do you trust Jesus that life to the full is found in loving God and loving people?

No, you can't possibly help everyone. But I'll bet we can all do more than what we are currently doing.

I came across an interesting, yet sobering website tonight. Check out www.globalrichlist.com and see where you rank. My family's annual earnings put us in the top 1% in the world as far as monetary wealth on an annual basis! I mean, that shatters all the excuses that I don't have much to give. If I, who is in the top 1% in the world, don't give, who will? If I don't help, who will? Yes, my standard of living is higher, but whose fault is that? My family certainly doesn't have to life the lifestyle that we do. Just because it falls within our financial means, doesn't necessarily mean that we should.

A good friend of mine, the same that told me about Invisible Children, counseled me with something that was told to him. "You can't give answers to questions that people are not asking." I realize that for many of you, this may be the farthest thing on your minds right now. You may not care or even think about what goes on in Africa. You may not think or care that 1,000 people die in displacement camps in Uganda every week because of a lack of basic necessities. You may not care that over 20,000 children have been abducted and forced to be child soldiers in Uganda over the past 20+ years. You may not care that countless thousands die every day for lack of food.

However, at this time in my life, I am beginning to care. And while I can't help everyone, I can help to create more awareness. I can encourage people to join me, and to pray with me.

There's a quote in Spiderman that goes something like this. "With great power comes great responsibility." I'd say that being in the top 1% of the world in wealth equals great power. And we all must answer to Christ some day as to what we did with that power, that influence, that ability to make the world a little better. YOU hold the key to changing life for a person TODAY!

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

I guess this was earthshattering, who knew?

www.invisiblechildren.com