Wednesday, July 14, 2010

After the Bombs

This Sunday in Kampala, Uganda, 76 people lost their lives when explosions tore through crowds watching the World Cup final. The explosions were within just a few miles from the school. "You remember the coffee house your team liked so much?" asked Sara when I called, "The rugby field is just beside that."

All of the TOUCH children, staff, and volunteers are okay, and the church is working to respond to the needs of those who suffered in this attack. While we pray for justice and for safety from further attack,  a lot of us are looking at the news (when we can find it), thinking, "I was just there," or wondering how where our friends were at that moment when the blasts occurred. We wonder how anyone could do such a thing. We wonder how the world will change.

The news that the most-feared terrorist group in Somalia has taken credit for the attacks that they may have had help from another group in Uganda, and the solemn warnings of experts and the media are like a second wave, planting fear and uncertainty.

We don't think about it, but there are other terrorists all around us, every day. Their names are so familiar, that the words themselves hardly cause a stir within us. Divorce. Addiction. Sickness. Poverty.

Each of these is destructive to families and societies and can leave a wake of fear, uncertainty, and cycles of further destruction.
  • We hear that 40% of marriages will end in divorce.*
  • As of December 2005, child pornography was a $3 billion annual industry.*
  • There are over 200 million people worldwide who abuse drugs.*
  • Approximately half of all deaths caused by infectious diseases each year can be attributed to just three diseases: tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS. *
  • Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day*
  • According to UNICEF, 24,000 children die each day due to poverty.*
When 24,000 children are dying every day simply because they are poor - then the biggest terrorists are apathy and inertia.

Each of us must take a stand. We must work and pray for and with each other - Faith and Action together. If you saw someone plant a bomb in a crowd, wouldn't you do something?

sources:
www.divorcestatistics.org
www.infoplease.com
www.globalissues.org
www.safefamilies.org
World Health Organization
UNICEF

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