1.4 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day, 3 billion live on less than $2 a day, 700 million have no access to clean, life giving water and 1 million die each year from malaria, death by mosquito. This is extreme global poverty 1. As a result of this, many live their lives without the basic necessities of life, food, water, shelter, clothing or health care. In the Bible Jesus say’s “you will always have the poor with you.” So, what should that do to us and how should we respond?
What would it look like to live a day on $2?
- At $2 a day you only have 1 pair of clothes, so you go to work or school in the same clothes you wore the previous day, the day before that, and the day before that.
- At $2 a day you would have to boil your water to drink, no purified water bottles.
- At $2 to spend on food, your diet would consist of the basics: rice, veggies or bread and water.
- At $2 a day electronics are out. No phone, computer i-Pad or tablet.
- At $2 a day only the head of the home gets shoes, which is most likely the man.
- At $2 a day the kids don’t go to school, they work. And if they do go to school it’s the boy who goes, not the girl.
This is the kind of poverty that the people in the Dey Tmey relocation slum located just outside of Phnom Penh, Cambodia live in every day. These families were forcefully evicted from their homes in 2007 and sent to live in the relocation area. Tim and Melanie Chan, who run the Children at Risk ministry with U of N Cambodia have been working with these families since 2005. Tim, a Cambodian, his wife Mel (American) and their 3 kids have a team of volunteers that serve this community regularly throughout the week . Some of the things they do for the community out of their obedience to Jesus is:
- Running a school support program
- Running a kids club
- Facilitating Bible studies for youth and adults
- Running a sports ministry
- Teaching on social awareness issues such as HIV/Aids, trafficking, substance abuse and sexual exploitation.
They also run a house building ministry that Steps of Justice was a part of 2 years ago. While we are here in Cambodia (October 1-11) we will be partnering with Tim and Mel to build a home for a family in need (pictured above). The family, mom, dad and 5 children live on less than $1 a day, they earn this by sweeping the town market at 4:30am. Our goal, raise $2000USD to build this family a 215 square foot home. We have started building and will complete the house next week.
An easy way for you and I to get involved in doing justice is by making a small donation to this house build. Currently it is coming out of Tim and Melanie’s team budget, but we want to provide for this home so that they can have money for the next house. In the past 2 years Tim and Melanie have seen 18 homes built for the poor in this community.
Please take a moment and ask the Lord and your spouse (if you’re married) if you can and how much you can give. All gifts are tax deductable for the 2013 tax year (if you live in the USA) and 100% of your gift (minus PayPal fees) goes towards the house. You can give here via PayPal or Credit Card.
Giving not only provides for the person/people you are giving to, but it also does something in our lives when we hold our finances loosely enough to help others. This is the greatest commandment, love God and love others. Doing Justice One Step At A Time
**The family will be working alongside us, and some of the money goes to employ locals to build.
***Please share, like and help us raise money for this home.
Feature image by Lindsey Brunsman
In tomorrow’s post, Day 4 we will talk more about this family, and post progress pics of the house.
