Kelly's Day 13: It's MY fault.

I threw away about a pound of sliced pineapple this morning. According to my oldest Haitian, "It smelled like beer." He's the one who asked me to buy not one, but two containers because "I [he] LOVE[s] pineapple." I can't stand pineapple. I gag at the very smell. I bought them for him.

Then, he fed my DOG a banana.

I.
LOST.
IT.
I know too much...

"There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use." ~Mother Teresa

You learn this "stuff" when you decide to adopt.

You learn things like:
17.8 million children worldwide have lost both parents.
153 million children worldwide have lost either one parent or both parents.
You learn things like: 
"They do not count the estimated 2 to 8+ million children living in institutions. Nor do current estimates include the vast number of children who are living on the streets, exploited for labor, victims of trafficking, or participating in armed groups."
...and things like:
3.1 million children each year die from poor nutrition, nearly half of total deaths of children.
1 in 9 people on earth do not have enough food to lead a healthy/active lifestyle (805 million people).
*Statistics provided by Mercy Projects and United Nations World Food Programme.

Most of us have seen this picture.
It haunts me.
And, it should. And, it should haunt YOU, too.
This is MY problem.
This is MY fault.
I repent.

"Kevin-Carter-Child-Vulture-Sudan" by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kevin-Carter-Child-Vulture-Sudan.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Kevin-Carter-Child-Vulture-Sudan.jpg

You want to get me started on WATER?
No. You don't.
In short, some women travel 10+ miles a day sans shoes to carry FORTY POUNDS of unsanitary water back to their families...carrying home to their loved ones water bourne illnesses that account for the deaths of 1,400 children per DAY in the world. I waste more than 40 pounds of CLEAN water a day on LAUNDRY. These 1,400 deaths per day? MY FAULT. *Stats by WaterAid America

And, here we are...throwing away a pound of pineapple and feeding bananas to dogs.
My DOG eats better than most of the world, friends. That picture? MY FAULT.

I spent FIVE BUCKS on a jar of organic spaghetti sauce last week, and it was no more than SIX OUNCES! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG with me?! I ate an ELEVEN DOLLAR SALAD last week! I spent NINE DOLLARS on ONE JUICE!!! That picture? MY FAULT.

The World Bank Group reported that in 2010, over 20% of people in the world are living on less than a dollar and a half per day. I spent five times that much at Starbucks yesterday. MY FAULT. What's worse? I know too much about the coffee trade as well. I know that the Ethiopian farmers are making no more than 9 cents per sack of coffee beans. Thank you, Starbucks. The aforementioned picture is YOUR fault, too.

"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.~James 4:17"

People all over the world are fighting the good fight against poverty, malnutrition, child trafficking daily. They are defending the cause. They are on the front line. If WE won't go, we MUST put our efforts and resources to equipping those who WILL with an "it's MY fault" mindset.

One perfect example is sweet Dixie Bickel. Twenty years ago, this registered nurse went to Haiti. She never came back. She knew the good she had to do, and she stayed to do it! She founded God's Littlest Angels Orphanage with her husband and now has one of the ONLY neonatal ICUs in Haiti.

Families bring their infants to Dixie because she brings dry bones back to life with the help of the Great Healer. She and her staff brought my boys' dry bones back to life, and they do it every single day with the orphans entrusted to their care. I was entirely humbled to hug this smiling little bouncing baby boy when I was there:

See what love and good nutrition can do?!

THIS is what happens when God calls us to "COME" out on the waters (see yesterday's post), and we say YES! THIS is what happens when we know the good we ought to do, and we DO IT.

"These days there is a lot of poverty in the world, and that's a scandal when we have so many riches and resources to give to everyone. We all have to think about how we can become a little poorer." ~Pope Francis


I just got a message from my dear friend, Craig, who I met on a missions trip with Kristin a few years ago. It read: "Still game for Haiti in June?" My reply? "Here I am, Lord! Send me! This is my GREAT BIG YES! I'll be your hands! I'll be your feet! Send me!"