First World Problems

A couple of days ago I got myself a little fired up. I was attempting to book some airline flights online for a holiday and the web booking system wasn’t cooperating with my request. There was a sale on – and it was set to expire at midnight, so with under two hours to go I was getting restless. After repeated attempts I phoned the airline, only to be told by an automated message that there was a high volume of callers and that I should expect a 30 minute wait. After waiting 5 minutes I hung up – all flustered and frustrated by what should have been a simple booking process. Normally in such a situation I would doggedly persist until the issue was sorted. Yet this time, I chose to give up and go to bed.

As I lay in bed I tried to calm myself down, reminding myself that there’d most probably be another sale or that if lucky, the sale might even be extended another day. Then the story of the student who died from being gang raped and beaten in India passed through my mind. Suddenly I was hit with the wet fish of reality. Here I was getting all worked up cause a website wouldn’t work and a bargain wasn’t had. I was putting thought and energy into what some have called FWP’s (First World Problems) – but I wasn’t directing the same energy to the real injustices in this world. Acknowledging my selfish consumerism, I let the airline booking worries go and I guess writing this now is a small step towards awareness and action for what really matters in this life.

Perhaps this video highlights the situation best – I don’t condone the video beyond 1:19 😉

Serve::Cambodia

Submerge is teaming up with ICC Australia this April to serve the orphans in NW Cambodia. If not enough participants are committed by April we’ll aim for a June experience. Click here for more info.

Prayer and Pennies for Pakistan…

The floods in Pakistan appear to have had a bigger impact than the Boxing Day Tsunami and Haiti earthquake combined. Sadly, the impact is yet to be realised with waterborne diseases, malnutrition and dehydration on the increase. Peter Costello was on the box last night lamenting that not many Aussies had donated dollars – probably because the death toll wasn’t too high. I wonder if it’s our view of Pakistan (supposedly a home/training centre for Islamic terrorists) that his impacted our giving. More probable is that this disaster hasn’t been anywhere near the news headlines – our silly election campaign has taken the media spotlight and aid to developing nations isn’t on anyone’s agenda. Shame on us.

Please spread the word about this horrible situation for the people in Pakistan, and head to pakistan.com.au to make a donation. Thanks.

Ignorance, solutions and you

A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN*. The only question asked was: ‘Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?’ The survey was a huge failure;

In Africa they didn’t know what ‘food’ meant;

In India they didn’t know what ‘honest’ meant;

In Europe they didn’t know what ‘shortage’ meant;

In China they didn’t know what ‘opinion’ meant;

In the Middle East they didn’t know what ‘solution’ meant;

In South America they didn’t know what ‘please’ meant;

And in the USA they didn’t know what ‘the rest of the world’ meant!

In spite of the tongue in cheek generalisations here, the question should be asked about what we don’t know in Australia. Do we know what ‘service’ or ‘sacrifice’ mean? More to the point, is it a priority in our churches and in our lives? I must confess, I know about service and talk about service – but don’t serve very much. I’m talking about getting-my-hands-dirty-to-help-the-needy or mixing-with-uncomfortable-people kind of service. Last Saturday afternoon I joined ten others and helped sort & pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child. All of us loved it – Sabbath was a blessing – we felt like we gave in a small way to the life of a child in need in some part of the world. These are kids who, because of where they’re born, have to deal with poor sanitation, education, medication and nutrition.

The survey I’m still dissecting shows that more than 59% of those who’re disconnected from church and 50% of those who attend every week either ‘rarely’ or ‘hardly ever’ serve their community. It can be overwhelming to know where to start when there are so many issues bigger than us and so many charities vying for our attention and our dollars. But try this – take a browse around the Global Poverty Project and get to a presentation by Hugh Evans if you can. Then find an existing charity/organisation (this could even be your local church) and offer your assistance. Not your $ – your time. If you can’t find an opportunity – look around you – there’s always people in need. And like exercise, you’ll feel better and more importantly will have done what God asks of you (Isaiah 58/Matt 25:31ff).

“Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.” From the last public speech of Martin Luther King Jr.

* From an email – so very possibly not legit.