My son, Christian, recently posted this article about hunger in Liberia. It is a worthy read. If you are interested in following my children's adventures in Liberia, you can subscribe to their blog at liberiacalls.blogspot.com.
Hi, my name is Christian Riley. I live in one of the poorest places in the world. My home, where I live, is Liberia, Africa. When we were going to Africa, I thought this is going to be so fun because I can do whatever I want, be outside, hunt, and have fun. After I got to Liberia, I learned that it was fun but it was also hard. The reason it was hard is because of the disease and the pain. The reason it was fun, is because I can do what I dreamed I could do. When Ebola hit, we came to the USA because we did not want to get it. My first thoughts were, it is so nice here, everyone is so rich, and everything is so fun. The reason I thought that is because the food was so good, my extended family lives here, and you can get everything here. Now, Dad is talking about going back to Liberia. My first thoughts were, no, because I like it here with my family and I like all the fun stuff.
One day, Dad and I where talking in the car. We just got home from finishing our time together. I said, “Why can we not have TV and video games?” Dad said, “No because it is a waste of time and money,” I did not understand. In my mind, I said, “I really, really, really want TV and video games!” That night, I went to bed and listened to my Go Bible. It showed me James 2:14-18. It said, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
That verse showed me that I have to do something. I now realize there are things that are more important than TV and video games. After I read this verse, I was so excited that I ran over and showed it to Dad. Dad listened to me talk about it and then he said the verse had also spoke to him. He played a song he wrote about that verse. The song he wrote was titled, “Are We Alright?” Dad also shared James 1:27. It said, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” After that, I said to myself, “I really, really, really would like to help these people.” Here is a link to Dad's song. https://soundcloud.com/freely-given-music/are-we-alright-2
Dad and I decided to do research on hunger and Ebola in Liberia, Africa. We learned that 9 out of 10 people are eating less food each day. 1.4 million people are hungry due to ebola. Now, food prices are going really high because some ships are not bringing food to Liberia due to the fact that they do not want to get Ebola and spread it. In addition to this, farmers were not able to plant their fields and now are eating their seed rice. That means there will still be high hunger rates next year.
One way I want to help Ebola orphans is through child sponsorship. That is where someone will donate money to pay for a child’s food, clothes, and schooling. My dad has been talking about starting a child sponsorship program for ebola orphans when we return to Liberia. I want to help with this. I also want to try to help adults and families who have no money. I want to try to help them start small businesses so they can feed their families. Dad and I have also been studying how to raise meat rabbits. Maybe God could help us start rabbit farms for the hungry. Rabbits have a high reproduction rate and they have enough meat to feed a family. We will start with maybe 10 rabbits. After we have raised enough rabbits we will pass them out to families who need food. We can help them start rabbit farms.
When I am in Liberia, I am going to keep you up-to-date with my blog. Our family is hoping to return to Liberia in March. Thank you for helping us and our mission.
God Bless,
Christian
No comments:
Post a Comment