Not All Poverty is Created Equal

Blog post by Jeff P., Team Haiti 2011

We were visiting with some children in an orphanage in central Mexico.  The Casa Hogar is about 2 hours inland from the Gulf of Mexico.  It sits in a valley that is mainly agricultural.  The two crops of choice are agave and sugar cane. The Casa Hogar sits 5 miles from the Sierra Madre and 5 miles outside of a city.  This city is a typical middle class city of Mexico.  It has a population of around 100,000.  There are a few wealthy people, a moderate group of middle class, and many poor people who live in the area.  The only major industry in the city is a sugar mill.  Many of the poor live in the outer edge of the city or in a rural areas.

The Issue of Child Labor

Blog post by Amanda W., Team Haiti 2011

CHILD LABOR

“An estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour – one in six children in the world. Millions of children are engaged in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations. ”

Delta College student raises funds for Uganda Journey

Delta College student Jessica Duncan, of Cedarville, is raising money to go on a mission trip to Uganda this summer with a group of people from across the country. Photo by Alicia Dale, The Bay City Times

Article from mLive.com

FRANKENLUST TWP. — Faith hasn’t always been easy for Jessica Duncan.

The religious beliefs of the 19-year-old Delta College student have been challenged by unfortunate circumstances in recent years.

“I’ve experienced a lot of deaths in my family,” said Duncan, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who attends St. Paul Lutheran Church in Frankenlust Township during the school year.

“I’ve lost a lot of people, and it made me question my faith. I really questioned God.”

Duncan, a sophomore studying to become a nurse, has lost two grandfathers and an aunt in the past four years.

But out of tragedy was born an opportunity to revitalize her faith….

Continue Reading Article at mLive.com

The Horrors of Child Sex Trafficking

Blog posted by Amber Cassady

Ponder back to some of your favorite childhood activities. For me, I think one of my fun memories was on a hot summer days, putting the sprinkler under the trampoline and jumping to my heart’s content as the cool water splashed up through the little holes in the trampoline. My little brother and I would laugh for hours doing this until we couldn’t jump anymore. Imagine having no fond memories of your childhood like these. How would your life look differently if you never had the chance to run and play, as children should? What if instead of reminiscing about the fun days of hide and seek and playing “house,” all you had were nightmares of abuse and being forced to have sex with men you did not even know?

I Will Follow You

Blog post by Trista H., Team Uganda 2011

I Will Follow

“Where You go, I’ll go.

Where You stay, I’ll stay.

When You move, I’ll move.

I will follow…”  by Chris Tomlin

This song sums up perfectly the reason I am going on this Journey.  God has really laid it on my heart through prayer, church, friends, and family that this is what He wants me to do.

From the time I was young, I have loved working with and interacting with kids.  I had a very clear goal in mind to become a teacher.  I served in the children’s program at church throughout middle and high school; I worked at daycare centers and summer camps.  Eventually I achieved my goal of becoming a teacher.  After a couple of years teaching, I wanted something more.  While I love the kids and families I currently work with, I had a desire to really reach out and connect with hurting children who need someone to love them.  It was around this time that I heard of the organization World Orphans….

Once an Orphan: Taiwan Adoptee Serves the Fatherless

Blog post by Sarah Z., Team Uganda 2011

God of Justice, Savior to all

Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us
Freely we’ve received
Now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go

To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in every way
Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us, what You require
Freely we’ve received
Now freely we will give

Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord

Since hearing Tim Hughes’s song “We Must Go” in the spring of 2008, I have been compelled to go and do something rather than just sit and think about doing things.

One Orphan at a Time

132 million. This number astounds and overwhelms me and, sadly, grows daily. This is the number of orphans in our world TODAY (according to UNICEF). I am not okay with this statistic and have known for quite some time that God was calling me to do something about it. No, I cannot possibly rescue and care for all 132 million of these precious children, but I can do something about it one child at a time. Let me tell you about my friend, Sengenoi, an orphan in rural Kenya.

A Dollar a Day Challenge

Lacey Howe, recent Journey 117 team member, felt challenged to learn what it truly means to live in poverty. Check out this video she made along with friend Amanda Walton to watch their Journey.