The Trends (Part 1)

I want to use this next bit to overview some of these trends. So here is a quick overview of each one. Its certainly not exhaustive, but there are plenty of sources on the website, if you desire further info and research.

HIV/AIDS Pandemic and Other Health Issues
Its been said that HIV/AIDS pandemic is the greatest health crisis in the history of the world. The numbers are staggering: 6,000 people infected every day; 8,500 people die every day; and currently around 45 million people are infected around the globe. The majority of those infected live in Sub-Saharan Africa (and are women), with growing rates in Russia, China, and India. In some countries, entire generations have been wiped out by the disease, so that life expectantcy has dropped to as low as 27. Flatly, HIV/AIDS is devasting nations, cultures, economies, and families. That is to say nothing of the close to 20 million AIDS orphans (and growing).

AIDS has also been called a crisis of hope, in that the stigma and lack of care and treatment for the majority for the majority of the people infected leads also to a spiritual devastation of despair.

Add to this the fact that millions of people (in Africa, where 80% of malaria cases are treated at home, the disease kills one child in twenty before the age of five.) die each year in undeveloped countries from diseases which are completely preventable and treatable, such as malaria. That is to say, that millions are dieing each year of disease that we in America and Europe do not have worry about. The resources and intelligence exist to save and better millions of lives (especially within the western church), however the question is: "Does the theological and pastoral will exist?"

Children at Risk
The AIDS issue with its rise of orphaned children also poors into this trend. Essentially, Children at Risk refers to the millions of young children (the weakest and most vulnerable of humanity) who live in the developing world who are at risk of serious exploitation. This exploitation often comes in the form of sexual slavery (there are 2 million child sex slaves) , labor exploitation(there are 246 million child laborers), or child soldiers (300,000 children are currently forced to be child soldiers). Moreover, over 150 million children are estimated to live on the streets. These numbers are quite staggering.

Does the gospel have anything to offer these children? Does Christ's admonishment to let the little children come to him, have any bearing on this present day darkness?

Global Poverty
Today, more than 1 billion people live on less than a dollar a day. Also, 3,800 children die every day from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, and 2.6 billion people, or 42 percent of the world's population, have inadequate or nonexistent access to proper sanitation. Grinding poverty is also a spiritual issue in that it crushes people, denigrates their value, and keeps them from living as God intends them.

The Bible has actually alot to say about poverty, and how a follower of Christ deals with the poor. We must realize that as believers God calls us to care for and act on behalf of the marginalized and weak. At the same time, we must be cognizant of the fact that much of our comfort and wealth is often predicated upon the poverty and exploitation of others. How do we as Christians act for the poor, in our particular situation?

All of these trends have much in common, in that they are connected and feed off of each other. They each breed further suffering and marginalization that exsacerbate the other problems. What is more, they mainly affect those in the developing world, those who are most weak (women and children), and those who have no access to the instituions and means of bettering their lives.