- As a time of reflection, inspiration, and worship, it was fantastic.
- As a concert, it was pretty crappy... other than a spot on her, the lights almost seemed random, the sound was not the worst I've heard, but it was a long ways from good, and she played some real dogs - especially the last three tunes.
- The opening band was a children's choir from Nyon, just up the road. The came onstage on scooters. I've seen a lot of shows, and some that you would expect to be a little strange... KISS, Ozzy, Alice Cooper... and I think this was the strangest thing I've ever seen on stage. Okay, maybe second to Ted Nugent shooting a flaming arrow into a stuffed buffalo, but it was still pretty strange.
I am especially intrigued by how numbers 1 and 2 go together... how it could be rather less than stunning musically but so compelling spiritually. But then, I guess that's part of the mystery of what makes faith and the spirit so much more than what we can see and touch, and even know. If I had known what the music would be like (and it wasn't bad, it just wasn't U2), I wouldn't have expected to have been moved.
But I was moved.
And here's the other thing about it: it was sponsored by Compassion International. They're an organization who manage sponsorship of children at risk throughout the world. I know that's a good thing... that there are children who need food and don't have it, who are facing bad, bad odds. But I don't think about it much.
Then they showed me this:
- Approximately 143 million children in the developing world (one in 13) are orphans.
- More than 10 million children under age 5 die each year. Two-thirds of these deaths (more than 6 million deaths every year) are preventable.
- Each day, 1,500 children worldwide become infected with HIV, the vast majority of them newborns.
- Every 14 seconds a child is orphaned by AIDS.
- An estimated 300 million children worldwide are subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse including the worst forms of child labor in communities, schools and institutions.
- An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide every year.
1 John 3:17-18 - If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
So I decided I needed to do something. I'm perhaps not going to change the world, but I found a little girl in Indonesia who needs help... she's just a little older than the little chick, and so we're going to help her. It costs $32 a month.
I was devastated as these statistics came up... I've never been able to just sit and hear about children being damaged, but since becoming a father... well, let's just say my tolerance level is almost non-existent. These children need someone to love them... they need to have their basic needs taken care of, and they need to know that they are important, that there is someone who cares about them and who doesn't want to hurt them or use them, someone who just wants what's best for them. Every child should have that, and while I can be that someone for my little girl, these children are in a position that it wrong. It's evil, and it's horrible, and it should never happen. I can't be a father to all of the children who need one, and that breaks my heart.
But here's what I think: even though some of it may be out of our hands, there is some that we can change.
So let's change it.
6 comments:
Here's a question for you: Would number 1 (the worship) have been better if number 2 (the music/concert) had been better? I say yes for the simple reason that I wouldn't be distracted by concert, and I can't stand mediocrity (which seems to plague Christian music). That's the answer for me, but what about for the average person?
On the child sponsoring front, Shara and I are sort of in-between churches and decided to direct our monthly contributions elsewhere for now. One of those contributions was made to sponsor a kid in Indonesia as well for a whole year. His name is Ukir. He looks pretty cute and has big shoes. :) He has been waiting over a year for a sponsor, so I hope he is delighted! If people don't like adding a monthly contribution for sponsoring a kid, doing it in one lump sum is another option.
One cool thing about Compassion is that when you sponsor a kid, you are actually sponsoring a whole family. There are lots of neat things they do to improve the whole family's quality of life.
hi darryl!
I so recognize what you say about your tolerance level being almost non-existent when it comes to children being damaged, etc. I feel like a complete wimp at times :-)
At any rate... I am really with you in the "let's change it." So many people we know by their needs... I have found it move to a completely different level when you know them by name. And that is what engage engaGE Geneva is doing to me.
Keep us posted on what you are planning to do - I would love to join you. With engaGE we will be starting a Wednesday afternoon play time with children living in a women shelter. Take care.
You know what makes me sick. It's just not children in other countries who are exploited or left to fend for them selves but children here in civilized North America. Children are not raised by their parents because they're too busy working to shower them with more than they have the gratitude to deal with and in the meantime they're little impressionable minds are filled with hideous images from television and internet that their own parents purchased for them but aren't around to monitor. Talk to someone who works at the Crisis Pregnancy Centre and you'll see that Children all over the world are being lost.
It's heartbreaking, no matter where it happens, I think. Nicole, I hear you, but at the same time, I have to think that when I try to imagine what child soldiers or children sold into the sex trade have to deal with as their "childhood", MTV is just never going to do that kind of damage. I know what you mean, though - neglect is damaging, for what they will find to fill that void, and also for the message that just goes on and on... "you're not that important".
Troy: yeah, better music would have helped, I think. I mean, I certainly noticed it and if bothered me. It would have been nice to have it out of the way or even adding to it... but then, I don't think that an experience like that responds well to formula. I mean, looking at it from here, I think it would have been better. But would it really have been? I have no idea.
Glad to hear about the sponsorship thing... obviously, I think it's a good idea, and I think they're a good organization to do it with.
Lammert, first of all, it's a pleasure to have you here. As to what I'm going to do... well, I'm going to start by sponsoring one child and encouraging people around me to do the same. Beyond that... I'm open to suggestions.
The play group sounds like a really great idea, especially if you can find some men to be modeling what real fatherly love is supposed to look like; it may be the first look at it some of these children will have. The timing is tough, I would guess...
I attended a Hillsong concert featuring Darlene Zschech once and i love every bit of it.... I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do!
I was thinking, sometimes we can do all we could for these kids in these poor countries i.e Indonesia, Africa. However, i believe that the main people who can get them out of the slump they are in would be their local authorities. Have you heard of the African Children Choir? They are a bunch of christian africans orpans who sings and does concerts in different countries to raise awareness & what's impressive is that they are self-supporting and much of their fund-raising actually goes to help other orphanage in Africa.
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