#world impact

[georgeanntremblyblog]

[corporatefitnessworks]

What if the World Went Vegetarian? (via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANUoAdXfA60)

[hs-favoritethings-blog]

[skyeway]

This is a post I wrote ages ago that i still relevant.

Today in class I was taken out of my comfort zone. Today I had a class which highlighted some of the struggles of the people in the world. Don't skim read this, and don't think you have heard it all before. We heard about Cambodia, who in the 70's the government wanted equality so shot all the educated and forced people to work hard and not enjoy life. The effects of this now is still obvious in the sex trade industry. The 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 14 countries had girls who were seeking medical care, and without parents they would be kidnapped and sold as sex slaves. This is history repeating itself today. The floods in Pakistan are roughly the size of England and have left 20 million people homeless! In China there are floods which have destroyed 1.36million homes! Think about it, thats more than 1 in 4 Melbournians homeless. It's a massive issue. Russia is experiencing a heatwave and drought that reportedly has killed up to 15,000 people. When I think about all theses problems in the world I feel so small, insignificant, useless and abundantly blessed by God to be where I am now. What can I do to help solve these problems. Sex slavery, child soliders, poverty, suffering, loss. I can give money. And regardless of how much money you earn or how much debt you are in, an Australian can afford to give, to each cause. Even if its just 2 or 5 or 10 dollars it makes a difference. If you can afford to buy anything you want and don't need you can afford to give. These people need us to give. The second and most important thing you can do is pray. God will intervene and we need to keep holding these people up in prayer, you never know how much God has changed someones life through your prayers. The impact we make on people overseas may and probably will never be shown to us, so we need to continue in faith that we are changing the world. One prayer at a time.

The second part of our class talked about fairtrade or direct trade. The amount of money that goes to suppliers or people who work for the brand is massive compared to the people who work to make your products. Although sweatshops do keep thousands of people in a job, it is practically slave labor and we are enabling people to be used by buying products that use sweat shop employees.These people would be better off if they were paid properly and educated and trained. Spending more money to buy a fairtrade or direct trade product is basically giving to the needy. Lets lower the demand for fairtade products and hopefully close up some of these sweatshops.

The hardest part of this lesson was one I got from God. I read in Romans 14 last week "Blessed are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right.But if you have doubts whether or not you should eat something you are sinning if you go ahead and eat it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning." Probably someone is going to say that this verse is specifically written to the gentiles who were sent to preach Jesus to the jews who would not eat pig/meat with dairy etcetera, but I think it applies to us and what we eat, wear, and anything else that we purchase. - fair trade vs slave trade. Go with your convictions and although it will be difficult at first the glory will be given to God when you decide to go with what you think is right. Live an extraordinary life, make an impact on the world you live in. Get out of your comfort zone.