ALL children are at risk.
There are dangers and diseases that stem from poverty and there are dangers and diseases that stem from prosperity.
Throughout my travels to some of the darkest points of poverty on the planet I have witnessed firsthand the dangers and diseases that stem from poverty. And as a result of raising children in the United States I have also witnessed firsthand the dangers and diseases that stem from prosperity.
I have seen children eat dirt to fill their stomachs and children struggling with obesity from too many trips to the nearest fast food chain restaurant. I have paddled a canoe through sewage-strewn water to reach the home of a child living on an island in Ecuador and I have driven my SUV to relatively cavernous homes to visit children living in isolation in the suburbs of the U.S. I have walked into rooms that contain one bed shared by two adults and five children and rooms where a single bed holds a child that sleeps in loneliness.
Unfortunately I have watched the damage that results from broken families in both poverty and prosperity. Unfortunately I have watched the hurt from the disease of alcohol abuse by fathers and mothers in both poverty and prosperity. Unfortunately I have seen the despair that arises from children living in seemingly hopeless situations in both poverty and prosperity.
All children are at risk.
Which is why every child needs a church. Every child needs a family of Jesus-followers to love, nurture, teach and offer the hope that only God can give. Every child needs a community of believers who will hug, encourage, pray for and model what it means to live in a broken world while holding on to the promise of God’s Kingdom right now and for eternity.
All children are at risk . . . Every child needs a church.
This is so poignant Greg. It just occurred to me that every child needs a church to help their parents on the difficult journey they face as well. Just as children of poverty and prosperity are equally at risk, their parents are equally vulnerable. Of course it feels like the parents of prosperity have plenty of power to mitigate their challenges–but of course that’s just the problem. Power and money don’t eliminate risk, especially the spiritual risk of self-reliance and humanism. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says the Lord. For this, every child needs a church (and so do their parents)! Love doing this journey with you.
So glad we’re on the same team my friend!