Posts tagged as:

poverty

God’s mission

February 24, 2010

written by Stephan Joubert

There’s nothing wrong with ambition, progress, technology and the creation of wealth as such, but when personal ambition is pursued at the expense of others, it’s very wrong – end of story! It happens far too often. South Africa is a country where the First World and the Third World meet (and clash!) every day; a country where you have two parallel universes living in tension (and harmony!) next to each other. I realize how important it is to sensitize people to the circumstances of those who suffer extreme poverty. For too many people, daily life is a struggle just to survive. To them survival is definitely not a reality program watched by millions of others in the luxury and comfort of their living rooms. The winner in the real African struggle of survival does not walk away with the first prize of a million rand. No, these ‘winners’ merely live on to ‘play’ the survival game one more day.

A few years ago I read a shocking report on the state of poverty in South Africa. One story in this report that still haunts me was that of a single, jobless mother with a house full of children. One day she couldn’t stand the never-ending struggle for survival any longer. She decided to buy poison to put an end to her family’s misery. But when she got to the shop to buy the poison, she couldn’t afford it! She didn’t have enough money even for poison. What a tragic irony! This poor woman couldn’t afford to live, but neither could she afford to die. What a sad world we live in. Many of the rich just keep on getting richer and more selfish by the day, while the poor keep on getting poorer.

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Poverty is not a reality show

January 20, 2010

written by Stephan Joubert

I cannot but fully agree with Leonard Sweet (The Church of the Perfect Storm, 2008) when he writes the following:

“When we organize around honoring technology as our major God — it is more than crazy; it is suicide.
When we organize around business making money as the ultimate good — it is more than crazy; it is suicide.
When “Mother Nature” is fated to lose her maternal reference because of the wrath we are unleashing in her from our abuse, neglect, and matricide — it is more than crazy; it is suicide.”

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Help!

January 11, 2010

written by Stephan Joubert

Did you know only about $20 billion is needed to substantially help the poorest of the poor throughout Africa and to stimulate sustainable economic growth? Is it really that difficult for the world to extend grace to their neighbors in a not too distant continent? While people in the US spend about $72 billion annually on diet foods, half of the world population has to survive on less than $2 per day. About $17 billion is spent on pet food annually in the United States, $50 billion on tobacco products in Europe and a chilling $105 billion on alcohol by European countries.

For crying out loud, people even spend more on ice cream in the United States every year than the meager $20 billion needed to gracefully alleviate Africa’s most basic needs. Anup Shah (3 July 2007, http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty.asp) writes the following:

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