"..In as much as you have done to the least of these, you have done to Me"

On Sunday night I attended a missions service at my church to talk about the various missions trips people from our church have been a part of. I was asked to speak about my trip to India, and also got to hear about trips to Caranza Mexico, Africa, Alaska, and Ukraine. It was very encouraging to hear stories of how people have gone and stewarded the story of the Gospel in different states and countries all around the world.

We were then blessed to hear the "Children of the World Choir" perform. They represent children from Africa, India, the Islands, and the Philippines. They are sponsored by World Help, which also allows people to sponsor children in need so that orphans in other countries can receive food, clothes, education, medicine, and a chance to hear the Gospel message. I have heard this choir a few times in my college, but am always so moved when hearing them. Just to hear young children who have gone through so much hardship praising their Savior is such a blessing!

Many of the children that are sponsored through World Help have lost their parents due to the AIDS pandemic, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It's amazing to see how many have been affected by this disease. After the service was over, World Help handed out a free book called "Children of Hope" which talks about the devastation of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Every 14 seconds a child in Africa is orphaned from AIDS. So in the time it's taken you to read this post, at least 13 children have become orphans. To date, 15 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, that number is expected to increase to 40 million by 2010. It all seems so hopeless... What could I do?? Well, there is something I can do and it's not that hard... I learned that if just 80 people in each church that World Help visited sponsored a child for just $30 a month, millions of kids could be saved from living a life of poverty and despair. Part of their education would be dedication to AIDS prevention through teaching abstinence. How can Christians sit back in apathy? If I were in their place, and it's only by the grace of God that I'm not, I would hope and pray that someone would come to my aid.... I have been incredibly moved and I hope anyone reading this is too.

If you want more information about World Help and sponsoring a child, go to: www.worldhelp.net