I've always had a special place in my heart for Africa--especially after going there! But I was not prepared to read what I'm learning in this book. Even after my mom told me about this several years ago.
It tells the true story of thousands of boys who were displaced from their homes by civil and tribal wars in Sudan in the early 90's. (That's not that long ago!) They walked months through deserts, swamps, and enemy territories to get to Ethiopia, where they were safe from fighting. These three boys who tell the story were 5 and 7 when this happened. Can you imagine??
I can't put the book down. But at the same time, I read it and feel physically nauseous at what they've endured. How can these things happen to THOUSANDS of people, and we know nothing about it???
Sadly, these same types of torture are going on RIGHT NOW in the Congo, Darfur, and many other places around the world. It's so heartbreaking.
Every time I read it, I can't help but ask God, "How can I help? What can I possibly do to lessen this suffering???"
One thing Joel and I have talked about is finding a good organization to give to. We've heard of several churches that give to the efforts. At the same time, we want to be cautious about where that money goes--as many of these countries are extremely corrupt. If any of you know of good organizations that provide real relief--please share that!
I'd encourage you to read this book. There are others, too, written about this same event in Sudan. Keep informed about what's happening in the world--I'm trying to do that more. We are such a small piece of it--and my how our lives are SO different from so many others.
5 comments:
Check out charity: water. You can go to this blog: www.jodyrlanders.com and click on the heading WATER at the top of her blog. There are links to Water for Christmas and 300 voices. She is a stay at home mom from Iowa (friends with Eric and Pam Buller, if you know them) Read through some of her posts about water and it is truly amazing. The fact that 4500 people die every day just b/c of a lack of clean water. It's really inspiring the number of people that got involved in her "idea" and the money that has been raised. It's really amazing the difference that just $20 can make. If you can find Scott Harrison's story (founder of charity: water) read it, too. Let me know what you think.
Uh, Samaritan's Purse.
I'm glad you're reading the book! It's so amazing... and made me super angry at the USA for how they did nothing... thank goodness I'm a citizen of Canada too. Check out their website, these guys go around North America and speak... I'd love to go hear them someday.
i remember doing extensive research on the Congo and other parts of Africa in high school. It was so heartbreaking!
MCC is doing work in Sudan. Check it out http://mcc.org/sudancominghome/index.html
There's good photos and videos too to help you see what's happening.
cute blog title!!
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