Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
On TV over the past few days, there have been a few vox pops around the country where people have been saying that the reduction in VAT will have little impact on them this Christmas. That may be true, but what a difference it would make to children across the world if those same people donated £2.50 for every £100 they spent this Christmas.
Two charities close to my heart:
Child Care International provides safe shelter, food, basic health care, education and training
which enables children to develop their potential and play a positive role in their communities.
Without help, many children, whose families can barely etch out a living, would never step foot
into a classroom. Without care, homeless and abused children often turn to crime, drug abuse and prostitution
which enables children to develop their potential and play a positive role in their communities.
Without help, many children, whose families can barely etch out a living, would never step foot
into a classroom. Without care, homeless and abused children often turn to crime, drug abuse and prostitution
On a bare patch of dirt in the bush outskirts of the community I met Jaos (9) and Luisa (7): a brother and sister that lived under a tarp tied to a tree. Their mother died last year and their father was in an accident and can't use his arm or earn income. In April the family’s few clothes, blankets and cooking pots were stolen from beneath the open tarp, and church volunteers found the kids shivering in the cold winter evening.
Jaos and Luisa pass entire days without a meal. The only food they get is by begging from other already poor neighbors or by offering to pound (by hand) a neighbor’s corn kernels into flour for a fee of a handful of the flour. Neither of them is in school. They can’t afford exercise books or pens. But without food, they couldn’t concentrate enough to learn anyway.
Jaos and Luisa pass entire days without a meal. The only food they get is by begging from other already poor neighbors or by offering to pound (by hand) a neighbor’s corn kernels into flour for a fee of a handful of the flour. Neither of them is in school. They can’t afford exercise books or pens. But without food, they couldn’t concentrate enough to learn anyway.