Throughout the world’s history politicians, diplomats, artists, athletes, musicians, pastors, scholars and people of all walks of life have all reinforced that children are perhaps the most valuable investments for a brighter future. Indian political leader Mohandes Ghandi once articulated his belief in the younger generation in this way, “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.” Children represent hope, life, and potential, making them instruments of peace worth defending. As former president of Standford University, Ray L. Wilbur puts it, “The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation.” They have significant purpose in creation as a whole and as individuals. Pablo Casals, the cellist and conductor, views children as unique miracles, “The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” But more than any other human being on the earth, Jesus demonstrated in actions and not solely through words that He loves and values children more than the world ever could. Even when Jesus’ own disciples felt that Jesus was too important to spend time with the little ones He replied, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14 NIV) Jesus demonstrates that children are worth taking His time with when He was amongst hundreds vying for His attention.
Regretfully there are those in the world who hold the opposite view. Instead of loving children and training them in the way they should go, children are treated as mere devices that are less than human in a world of corruption and violence. Thus is the story of a child soldier. They are not looked upon as God’s treasures but as combatants for wars lead by dark hearts seeking power. Children are abducted and brainwashed to be militant forces purposed by nothing more than stealing, killing and destroying whatever and whoever they are commanded to- even if that means their own family members. Corrupt leaders manipulate young minds that have not developed enough to understand fully what they are being asked to do. Many are not yet teenagers as children at a tender age of just seven years old have been taken as soldiers. Not every child soldier is forcibly recruited, as some will volunteer themselves when they see their peers receiving food and protection. Why would anyone much less a child subject himself or herself to this kind of life? When you take a step back to assess the types of situations that these children are coming from you can see why it easy for them to be convinced. Many of the children that fall prey to a life of soldiering are extremely poor, without family, live in areas of conflict, have limited access to education, or a combination of these factors. According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers there are up to 86 countries and territories that participate in recruiting more than 500,000 children under the age of 18 for hostile purposes. And of the 9 countries that are most known for child soldiering, 8 of them are receiving military assistance from the United States. These countries include Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivorie, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda.
Girls are not exempt from the horrors of child soldiering, as the heads of these armies do not see gender lines as a limitation in their quest for control. Boys and girls alike will serve not only as front-line combatants but also as cooks, guards, sex slaves, spies, suicide bombers, and mine sweepers. Girls make up a larger percentage of child soldiers than one might expect. About a third of the child soldiers in countries like Nepal, Uganda, and Sri Lanka are in fact females. In some circumstances the young girls are given to military commanders as “wives.”
Terrorized and trained to follow orders, the child soldiers murder many and jeopardize their own life in the process. In the last decade, 2 million children have been killed, and 6 million are seriously injured or disabled because of war and conflict. Beyond the physical detriments, the children suffer from severe emotional and psychological damage. From brutal initiation and punishments to harsh training and torturous practices you can imagine the toll that takes on any individual’s heart and mind, much less a child’s. It is not outside of the commanders’ methods to also give the children drugs and alcohol in order to break down their mental barriers to the atrocities they are made to take part in. Some of the affects from the trauma that they experience usually include but are not limited to night terrors, excessive aggression and substance abuse. Below is one girls’s testimony of the scarring memories she has of another boy when they were child soldiers in the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda.
“One boy tried to escape but he was caught. His hands were tied and then they made us, the other new captives, kill him with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before; we were from the same village. I refused to do it and they told me they would shoot me. They pointed a gun at me, so I had to do it… I see him in my dreams and he is saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying.”
Accounts like this are all too common, and the reintegration of child soldiers back into society, given they are ever able to escape or be rescued, is a whole other battle in itself. Therefore, it is necessary that rehabilitation programs include psychosocial care and recovery in order for the process to be successful.
One of the longest wars involving child soldiering has been taking place in Uganda over the last 23 years. Millions of innocent citizens are caught in the middle as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) fail to ever make peace or come to a resolution. The origins of the war date back to the 1980’s when a woman named Alice Lakwena claimed that the Holy Spirit had instructed her to overthrow the Ugandan government because of injustice towards the Acholi people. After she was exiled, a man named Joseph Kony took over claiming to be her cousin and transformed her rebel army into the LRA. He did not receive the same amount of support that Alice had which lead him to abducting and indoctrinating children to become troops in his army. About 90% of the LRA consists of children as soldiers. In recent years, the conflict has finally been brought into the limelight through an organization called The Invisible Children after a long period of being overlooked by most of the world. Governments began to take notice and in 2001 the US Patriot Act declared the LRA a terrorist group. The first American legislation passed regarding the conflict was the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act in 2004. International pressure has instigated negotiation between the LRA and the GoU on multiple occasions, and while some progress has been made, movement is too slow for lasting resolution and thousands of children remain imprisoned to a life of fighting and fear.
Let us not settle for such a fate for thousands of God’s children and instead take a stand for their finding liberty, hope and a new life in their ultimate advocate- Christ Jesus our Lord. Join in with those already fighting so that these young soldiers no longer have to.
Organizations fighting for the Child Soldier:
♥ Invisible Children
♥ Amnesty International
♥ World Vision
♥ Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
The Hub of the Cycle
When was the last time you were without food or water and had no available resources to get the nourishment you needed? This desperation for basic needs is a foreign mindset for most reading this, but all too familiar for the 2.8 billion people across the globe who are living on less than $2 a day. Six hundred million people within that population are children who live on next to nothing at less than $1 a day. This statistic rings especially true for the orphan. Extreme poverty leads to many of the problems that stand in the way of an orphan breaking out of the cycle they are caught in. Helpless children in a sate of hunger and despair fall into lives of even deeper darkness. Some live in poverty because they are orphans, while others become orphans because of the affects of it. For example, the need for money brings families to the point that they sell their children into slavery in order to have food on the table. Abandoned children are persuaded with false promises of being cared for into lives of soldiering or prostitution. The lack of resources for clean water, healthy nutrition, and good hygiene that results from poverty leads to disabling or fatal diseases that rob the orphan of a productive life. In fact, it is estimated that every two minutes a child dies from AIDS and extreme poverty. This means that more than 9 million children under the age of 5 are dying each year. Two-thirds of these young deaths are considered preventable but are allowed to happen because of poverty. The facts keep revealing the magnitude of the devastating effects that poverty has on the abandoned and orphaned and may leave you wondering what life is really like for one of these children.
UNICEF provides stories that they have collected about the livelihood of children of impoverished backgrounds. Each of them are unique in their experiences but a common struggle of lacking what is needed for survival dictates their everyday lives in ways that we cannot even comprehend. For example, Ali is a 16-year-old boy who relies on a strenuous job of working in fields for extended hours to help feed himself and his siblings. He is only one of 40,000 youth working day in and day out to get by in Jordan. Unable to attend school, the future looks bleak for kids like Ali who cannot find better jobs without a decent education. Another story is of a Venezuelan girl, Yuleini, who was given to her grandmother to raise while her sixteen year old mother searched for work. She never was registered as a baby, so when her grandmother passed away and Yuleini was left again with her mother who lied to the schools that she did not have any documents because she did not have any parents. Now at only 13, Yuleini cares for her four younger siblings and does all the cooking and washing as her mother works from dawn until dusk. Poverty’s hold on this family effected multiple generations as the burdens of each one passed down to the next. The cycle continues.
Why are so many children in such great need? Has the Father turned his back on them in their state of destitution? To the worldly view it would seem so, but when looked at from a Biblical perspective it is clear that it is not the Father that has turned His back but His people. The Lord shows his concern for the poor in Psalm 12:5 (NIV), “The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.” God clearly loves and watches out for the poor.
However, in our selfish nature we have blinded ourselves by ignorance or disobedience, while the Father is crying out for those who follow Him to open their eyes to see the needs of those who cannot help themselves. So devoted is the heart of God to the poor that those who turn away from people in poverty may not truly have His love within them. As 1 John 3:17 (NIV) says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” Loving the poor enough to meet their needs is a response to God’s love in the hearts of individuals. He gives wealth so that it will be shared from hearts of gratitude for all He has done. In fact He holds us responsible to give, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48b NIV) This does not mean merely handing out the excesses to check a giving quota off the “to-do” list and wipe our hands free of responsibility. Instead, true giving is characterized by the kind of sacrifice depicted by the Good Samaritan who gave his best to care for someone that the world would consider his enemy or by Boaz who choose to provide for Ruth as much as she and Naomi needed- true sacrifices from those whom God has given much to provide for the least of these. Probably one of the most beautiful stories of sacrificial giving is of the widow who gave the only two coins she had to live on for the Lord to use. Jesus was so pleased with her giving that he said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43-44 NIV) This is reiterated in Proverbs 19:17 (ESV) as He promises blessing to those caring for the poor, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.”
There is hope. Biblical examples are an immense encouragement, but it also is motivating to see progress things being addressed among some of the world’s most prominent leaders. The United Nations reported to MSNBC, “Global poverty can be cut in half by 2015 and eliminated by 2025 if the world’s richest countries including the United States, Japan and Germany more than double aid to the poorest countries.” An end could be accomplished, and thankfully advocates of the poor and the fatherless are not waiting for the government to take action.
Many organizations and individuals have caught on to what is happening, understood what the scriptures say about it, and mobilized to fight poverty and help orphans affected by it. Compassion International and World Vision both have sponsor-a-child programs that provide food, education, and other basic needs to children all over the world. With a touch of a button, one person can change a child’s life forever and ultimately have an impact on them for eternity. Compassion also is breaking the cycle of poverty through a leadership development program to help young people be able to afford the education they need to lead their generation and the one to come in a fight for a better future for themselves and their respective communities. Kiva (www.kiva.org) provides microloans for entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries that are starting small businesses to provide for themselves and boost their local economy. Though not all of these programs are directly related to the orphan, their causes do help orphans as they improve the environments that these children are surrounded by. These orphans are treasures worth investing our money, time and prayers in. You too, can have a part in the eternal impact that results from His work being done to meet people’s needs.
UNICEF provides stories that they have collected about the livelihood of children of impoverished backgrounds. Each of them are unique in their experiences but a common struggle of lacking what is needed for survival dictates their everyday lives in ways that we cannot even comprehend. For example, Ali is a 16-year-old boy who relies on a strenuous job of working in fields for extended hours to help feed himself and his siblings. He is only one of 40,000 youth working day in and day out to get by in Jordan. Unable to attend school, the future looks bleak for kids like Ali who cannot find better jobs without a decent education. Another story is of a Venezuelan girl, Yuleini, who was given to her grandmother to raise while her sixteen year old mother searched for work. She never was registered as a baby, so when her grandmother passed away and Yuleini was left again with her mother who lied to the schools that she did not have any documents because she did not have any parents. Now at only 13, Yuleini cares for her four younger siblings and does all the cooking and washing as her mother works from dawn until dusk. Poverty’s hold on this family effected multiple generations as the burdens of each one passed down to the next. The cycle continues.
Why are so many children in such great need? Has the Father turned his back on them in their state of destitution? To the worldly view it would seem so, but when looked at from a Biblical perspective it is clear that it is not the Father that has turned His back but His people. The Lord shows his concern for the poor in Psalm 12:5 (NIV), “The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.” God clearly loves and watches out for the poor.
However, in our selfish nature we have blinded ourselves by ignorance or disobedience, while the Father is crying out for those who follow Him to open their eyes to see the needs of those who cannot help themselves. So devoted is the heart of God to the poor that those who turn away from people in poverty may not truly have His love within them. As 1 John 3:17 (NIV) says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” Loving the poor enough to meet their needs is a response to God’s love in the hearts of individuals. He gives wealth so that it will be shared from hearts of gratitude for all He has done. In fact He holds us responsible to give, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48b NIV) This does not mean merely handing out the excesses to check a giving quota off the “to-do” list and wipe our hands free of responsibility. Instead, true giving is characterized by the kind of sacrifice depicted by the Good Samaritan who gave his best to care for someone that the world would consider his enemy or by Boaz who choose to provide for Ruth as much as she and Naomi needed- true sacrifices from those whom God has given much to provide for the least of these. Probably one of the most beautiful stories of sacrificial giving is of the widow who gave the only two coins she had to live on for the Lord to use. Jesus was so pleased with her giving that he said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43-44 NIV) This is reiterated in Proverbs 19:17 (ESV) as He promises blessing to those caring for the poor, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.”
There is hope. Biblical examples are an immense encouragement, but it also is motivating to see progress things being addressed among some of the world’s most prominent leaders. The United Nations reported to MSNBC, “Global poverty can be cut in half by 2015 and eliminated by 2025 if the world’s richest countries including the United States, Japan and Germany more than double aid to the poorest countries.” An end could be accomplished, and thankfully advocates of the poor and the fatherless are not waiting for the government to take action.
Many organizations and individuals have caught on to what is happening, understood what the scriptures say about it, and mobilized to fight poverty and help orphans affected by it. Compassion International and World Vision both have sponsor-a-child programs that provide food, education, and other basic needs to children all over the world. With a touch of a button, one person can change a child’s life forever and ultimately have an impact on them for eternity. Compassion also is breaking the cycle of poverty through a leadership development program to help young people be able to afford the education they need to lead their generation and the one to come in a fight for a better future for themselves and their respective communities. Kiva (www.kiva.org) provides microloans for entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries that are starting small businesses to provide for themselves and boost their local economy. Though not all of these programs are directly related to the orphan, their causes do help orphans as they improve the environments that these children are surrounded by. These orphans are treasures worth investing our money, time and prayers in. You too, can have a part in the eternal impact that results from His work being done to meet people’s needs.
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