A Deep Heart's Yearning...

I found this graphic on Tumblr recently. And I'm sort of in love with it, even though it's awful and shows just how terrible the world actually is.

Sometimes, it's so easy to fall into a pattern of life, where nothing matters but my relatively easy, blissful existence. Then I go to Africa, where people don't have even 1/4 of the things I consider necessary for life--they're thankful for the bare bones, the food they get, the clothes they wear, the roof over their heads. And they're happy with it. My American mind can't wrap itself around that.

Or I go to someplace like China, where it's difficult to be a Christian. (Speaking of which, I got a new shirt for my birthday: it says "This shirt is illegal in 51 countries" on it. And I'm quite pleased with it.) And I realize just how fortunate I actually am. Today in church we had a missionary to Turkey who preached. He talked about how the people there are Muslim because they've never heard the Gospel. For real--literally none of them have ever heard the Gospel. They simply don't know that there's any other way to live life!

I mean, to think that I could have so easily been born somewhere else, where life could have been so radically different because of some random genetic accident...it's amazing. But here I am, having heard the Gospel, having chosen to accept Christ, having Him in my heart and my life, being free...and all for a purpose. I firmly believe that. And I also believe that my purpose has something to do with all those problems that are in that graphic up there.

This world has a caste system. That system is so firmly entrenched that it's virtually impossible to even jostle it. I don't know how to move it one fraction. I don't know if it's even really possible. But one thing I do know, and that is that two men turned the world upside down in Acts. They had an entire nation who knew exactly what they stood for because of one simple belief they held --that there was Someone who loved them, who died for them. Who loved me. Who died for me.

And in the end, the one thing that can cure any spiritual ailment, the one thing that can lift anyone up above what they were born into, is Jesus Christ. It's the Gospel. Simple as that. And that is my life calling.

爱於耶穌,
~Liberty (紫涵)

Birthdays

So as some of you may know, today is the birthday of two very special hobbits! I speak of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, of course.

It's also the birthday of Cassie's little sister, Cora. So happy birthday Cora!

It's also my birthday. I'm officially 17, and so far, it's pretty awesome. My siblings are doing all my chores for me. Haha. So yeah. That's about it!

爱於耶穌,
~Liberty (紫涵)

If the World Were a Village of 100 People

If we could reduce the world’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

The village would have 61 Asians, 13 Africans, 13 people from the Western Hemisphere (North & South America), 12 Europeans, and 1 from the South Pacific
51 would be male, 49 would be female
70 would be non-white; 30 white
67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian

As to their ages:
30 would be 0-14 years old
63 would be 15-64 years old
7 would be 65 years old and older

20 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation
18 would be without access to a safe water supply
39 would lack access to improved sanitation
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
7 people would have access to the Internet
1 would have a college education
1 would have HIV
2 would be near birth; 1 near death
6 would control 59% of the entire world’s wealth; all 6 would be US citizens

Sources: The Global Citizen, May 31, 1990, Donella H. Meadows (unless otherwise noted below), The CIA World Factbook<br>2001 (age, birth, death, internet), 2001 World Development Indicators, World Bank (HIV), Adherents 2001 (religion) Bread for the World (malnourishment), United Nations Population Fund (food security) The Global Supply and Sanitation<br>Assessment 2000 Report (improved water, improved sanitation.)

Found at Jaz's Mission Journal. As he said, it's a very sad view of the world around us, neatly boiled down to show us just how bad things actually are.

爱於耶穌,
~Liberty (紫涵)