Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away
This child is only six months old,
and weighs less than 3 lbs.
We were able to rush him to a nearby
clinic for emergency care.
and weighs less than 3 lbs.
We were able to rush him to a nearby
clinic for emergency care.
People beginning to line up for food
We were able to distribute 135,000 meals
We read about the rising price of food and wonder if, starting this week, we might have to forgo buying any bottle of wine that cost more than ten dollars.
We hear a news broadcaster forecast that gas for our cars could rise to over five dollars a gallon by the end of the year and make a mental note to check on public transportation or decide to skip the cross-country holiday we were planning.
We hear that in 2005 Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, mandating the use of 4 billion gallons of ethanol in 2006, increasing every year until, in 2012, annual consumption will be 7.5 billion gallons, and think to ourselves, “Great. We need to do something about our oil dependency …hmmm…and maybe I should look into purchasing a Prius.”
Here in Ethiopia, as well as in most every Developing Nation around the world, people respond a bit more dramatically to the rising cost of oil and food, as the more than 30 riots and demonstrations around the world will attest.
Think about it: if you are making $2 a day and the cost of corn triples, or you live in Asia where the cost of rice is up 147%, you will have to take children out of school and forgo meat and vegetables. If you are making $1 a day, you must restrict your diet to maize (corn) and cereals. And if, as here in the countryside of Ethiopia, you are only making about 50 cents a day and the costs of food skyrockets? It means total devastation.
Because of Congress’ (along with their compatriots in Western Europe) idiotic subsidies and mandates regarding turning food into fuel, NGOs and International Aid and Relief Agencies had to cut their food purchases by as much as 50%. One example: World Vision was feeding 2 million children in Ethiopia. This year, because of soaring prices (read: US Energy Policy Act of 2005, plus cost of oil, etc.) it will only be able to feed 700,000 children.
While many of our nation’s leaders appear to be shocked at the present circumstances, they should not be. When you redirect over 25% of US grain into producing fuel, and when you, through subsidies and mandates, inflate its value as fuel higher than its value as food, why be so shocked that people have less to eat?
While some people in the US might be feeling all righteous about their Prius that runs on ethanol … the people here in Ethiopia have a different take on it all.
Because of your prayers and support
We delivered 27 tons of maize, which worked out to be parcels for 1800 children, each child receiving 75 meals, for a total of 135,000 meals.
However
This is a third of what we could do for the same cost only one year ago.
Please pray that our leaders begin rethinking their decisions regarding ethanol and not only start doing things that will actually help us decrease our dependency on foreign oil (you know, things like nuclear power and drilling for oil here in the US), face the horrid consequences around the world of its failed Energy Policy Act of 2005, and overturn it.
We hear a news broadcaster forecast that gas for our cars could rise to over five dollars a gallon by the end of the year and make a mental note to check on public transportation or decide to skip the cross-country holiday we were planning.
We hear that in 2005 Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, mandating the use of 4 billion gallons of ethanol in 2006, increasing every year until, in 2012, annual consumption will be 7.5 billion gallons, and think to ourselves, “Great. We need to do something about our oil dependency …hmmm…and maybe I should look into purchasing a Prius.”
Here in Ethiopia, as well as in most every Developing Nation around the world, people respond a bit more dramatically to the rising cost of oil and food, as the more than 30 riots and demonstrations around the world will attest.
Think about it: if you are making $2 a day and the cost of corn triples, or you live in Asia where the cost of rice is up 147%, you will have to take children out of school and forgo meat and vegetables. If you are making $1 a day, you must restrict your diet to maize (corn) and cereals. And if, as here in the countryside of Ethiopia, you are only making about 50 cents a day and the costs of food skyrockets? It means total devastation.
Because of Congress’ (along with their compatriots in Western Europe) idiotic subsidies and mandates regarding turning food into fuel, NGOs and International Aid and Relief Agencies had to cut their food purchases by as much as 50%. One example: World Vision was feeding 2 million children in Ethiopia. This year, because of soaring prices (read: US Energy Policy Act of 2005, plus cost of oil, etc.) it will only be able to feed 700,000 children.
While many of our nation’s leaders appear to be shocked at the present circumstances, they should not be. When you redirect over 25% of US grain into producing fuel, and when you, through subsidies and mandates, inflate its value as fuel higher than its value as food, why be so shocked that people have less to eat?
While some people in the US might be feeling all righteous about their Prius that runs on ethanol … the people here in Ethiopia have a different take on it all.
Because of your prayers and support
We delivered 27 tons of maize, which worked out to be parcels for 1800 children, each child receiving 75 meals, for a total of 135,000 meals.
However
This is a third of what we could do for the same cost only one year ago.
Please pray that our leaders begin rethinking their decisions regarding ethanol and not only start doing things that will actually help us decrease our dependency on foreign oil (you know, things like nuclear power and drilling for oil here in the US), face the horrid consequences around the world of its failed Energy Policy Act of 2005, and overturn it.
2 comments:
wow, that is incredible.
(the picture of the baby is heart-breaking)
Looks like we all need to get off our duffs and pray for our national leaders instead of speaking death over them like we see in the news media. There is no recession in heaven. There is no oil problem in heaven. We are to pray for them good or bad. We get what we pray for. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Are we actually going to believe we are really born again and a new creation that can call the Kingdom of God down to earth? His unseen kingdom is so much more powerful than the one we see. Light always wins over darkness. We are to be rivers of living water not lakes. Your work is incredible Monte. Your blog brings out the best in us and I want to see the increase of the Kingdom that has no end. You show faith in action but I know there is more. I want more fire from heaven. I want the kind of fire that brings the beauty of holiness to heal and deliver and change the very face of this planet. I will be lifting up Steve and family especially the teenage son who ran her over.
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