Startling figures...

I was flipping through my new study Bible last night, and came across some really crazy statistics in the resource section in the back. Some of these were new to me, but others were refreshers... Definitely puts life in perspective, and makes me want to do more. Here are a few for you to ponder and in doing so, I hope you will ask yourself how you can work to change these through your own actions...

1. The United States is the third wealthiest country when looked at in regards to Gross Domestic Product, per capita, at $37,800. When looking at generosity (per capita foreign aid), the U.S. ranks 10th with a measly $23.76 per year. That means that we as a nation only give $0.06 per $100 earned... Pretty pathetic...

2. The economy is certainly tough right now, but again a global view offers perspective... In 2004, our unemployment rate was 5.5%, compared to Zambia's 70%.

3. We as Americans spend $20 billion on ice cream annually, which is an amount that could nourish 83 million children for an entire year. Take into account that every 5 seconds, a child dies of starvation, that means that 6,307,200 die a year... If we each gave up 1 ice cream cone for every 12 we consumed, that would be sufficient to eliminate the death of children due to starvation world-wide...

These few facts give me motivation to continue on our debt reduction path, so that we can allocate more of our resources to reputable agencies that are working to make a difference. Didn't mean for this to be a Debbie-downer post, but figured it would give us all some good food for thought. I think that all of us have a tendency to get stuck in a rut now and then. In those moments, I think we (I know I do) forget how truly blessed we truly are. It is my hope that all of us will spend some time thinking about these figures and what we can do to make more of a difference.

"To whom much is given, much will be required."
Luke 12:48

Heath