Self Help?

There is a lot of debate going on right now concerning the massive influx of illegal aliens entering the US via the southern border. There seems to be a propensity for the left wing liberals to debase anyone desiring to secure the border as inhumane. I have personally been involved in previous events of a similar nature - the Haitian boat exodus. I can personally vouch for the fact that we “screened out” innocent children as “economic refugees” while we knowingly “screened in” personnel who were former torturers for the “secret police”, the HIV positive, the MSRA TB positive, and known criminals. First off, the national health risk posed to the general population is rapidly escalating and is undeniable. This situation is an unprecedented opportunity for terrorists to easily penetrate our borders - practically an invitation from Obama himself! If liberals want to talk about humanitarian needs they could - but will not - look closer to home.

In the USA, the US government says that 1 in 5 children go hungry. According to the No Kid Hungry organization, food insecurity—the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food - exists in 17.2 million households in America, 3.9 million of them with children. That’s a lot of kids that need our help who do not pose a danger to national safety; and the needs at home do not end there.

As many as 1 in 6 seniors go hungry too. Organizations such as Meals on Wheels, who address the issue of senior hunger, need financial donations as well as volunteers.

The number of homeless in the USA is growing and with it a need for clothing donations. A caution though - not all organizations are truly giving to those in need though - some are multi-million dollar thieves. A good place to check out the credibility of a charity is Charity Watch.

There are literally hundreds of ways to fulfill the commandment to love your neighbor. Most programs, such as the nationwide VA “No Veteran Dies Alone” program, will cost you the only thing you can give to YHWH that He does not already own - your time.

We are told, as individuals, to get our own act right before we try to “fix” our brother. The same can be said for the actions of a nation as well. The USA should heed the saying, “physician, heal thyself”! If only the politicians would leave their million dollar homes and neighborhoods to at least “visit” the neighborhoods of the average US citizen they would find plenty of “crises” needing humanitarian actions that, like the “border crisis”, the politicians themselves have had a hand in creating.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence." - Ronald Reagan

Comment: This quote relates to the old adage, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; but, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”. Too many folks do not care enough to put forth an individual effort to help others. These folks would rather have the government hand out so called “entitlements”; but, this methodology does not address the roots causes of the issue of poverty and so does not benefit anyone in the long run. True love for your neighbor means more than throwing money at a problem - it means giving up your time and effort to help.

DID YOU KNOW?

In 2013, child poverty reached record high levels in the U.S., with 16.7 million children living in “food insecure” households and 47 million Americans depending on food banks - more than 30% above 2007 levels.

In 2012, in the US, 31 million low-income children received free or reduced-price meals daily through the government National School lunch program. During that same timeframe nearly 14 million children are estimated to have been served by just one civilian program - Feeding America.

Comment: Child hunger is a worldwide problem - including the USA; and, hunger has no race, no religion, no border. Of all the charities and programs out there I know of none that directly serve and help more people than local food banks. In AZ one local town’s food bank shut down this year due to low food supplies and a lack of volunteers - and this town has several “Christian” churches! And Jesus said:

And before Him shall be gathered all the nations; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And indeed He will set the sheep off His right, but the goats off the left hand. Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, the blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat; I thirsted and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer, saying, Master, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and gave you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and took you in; or naked and clothed you? And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and came to you? And answering, the King will say to them, truly I say to you, in so far as you did it to one of these, the least of my brothers, you did it to me. Then He will also say to those on His left, Go away from me, cursed ones, into the everlasting fire having been prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not give me a thing to eat; I thirsted and you did not give me a thing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in; naked and you did not clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer Him, saying, Master, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not help you? Then He will answer them, saying, truly I say to you, in so far as you did not do it to one of these, the least, neither did you do it to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.

(Matthew 25:32-46)