March 2007 Archives

On Wednesday evening twelve of us honors students took a trip to Feed My Starving Children. This non-profit organization packages meals for thousands of starving people around the world. They run off of volunteers and donations. There we learned that two to three months of nutritious food can bring a dying child back to health.

This trip really added to what we have talked about during class. We have been asking ourselves what we can do to end poverty and starvation. Feed My Starving Children, is one of the answers. Ending poverty starts with ending starvation. Now the children can do more with their time than just finding food to survive. Now they can go to school and get out of the viscous cycle of poverty.

Going to Feed My Starving Children was a very good experience. It also helped prove that one person can make a difference in helping end poverty and starvation. It also is great to follow up on all the talking that we have done in class, and go out and do something.

In honors on Wednesday, Godfrey Melissa came in and talk to us about coming to America and his mission field here within the Swahili speaking community. He told us that over in Africa 80 percent of them are Christians, but when they get to America they lose their faith. They lose their faith because they are focused on earning money and making it in America. He has now come over here to witness to them, and provide services so that they can stay faithful. Godfrey Melissa also talked about his homeland, Tanzania, and how much he missed it. One of the biggest things he misses is the community that he had there. They loved the church and him. Faith, moreover Christianity, was not just something that they “did” on Sunday, but it was part of their everyday life. He says that he will go back to his country and his home someday, but right now he believes that his mission field is still here. Then he talked a little bit more about Tanzania. He said that it is hard for a country to be “thriving” when their total income is less than one grocery store chain in America. The Tanzania government makes less than 2.5 billion dollars a year, and yet they are expected to help all their poor people.

Godfrey Melissa’s message applied very much with what we were talking about in honors the past week. We have been talking about globalization and how it is helping or hurting countries and people. We also have been talking about how to address the problem of poverty. His message clearly states that we need to worry about more than poverty. We also have to worry about what people will give up to get out of poverty.

I got a lot out of Godfrey Melissa’s message on Wednesday. He had a real perspective of what it was like living without “everything.” He also has seen many people go from the transition of being in poverty to being able to provide for their families. But, the biggest point that I understood is that we need to do more than just fight poverty. We need to help the people make the transition without losing their faith. Trading in eternal life, for a life without poverty should not be happening. Christians need to find a way to bring a balance between Christian faith and fulfilling earthly needs, to all people.

Today I am advocating for your Christian community to work together for the poor. The community should have a dinner and silent auction to raise money for the poor. I know that some people do not think that they can help, but it is the duty of a Christian community to support those who have less. Paul writes, “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12). Furthermore, this gift is given for the sake of keeping the gospel alive, and when your community needs help you will get the help. “Our desire . . . that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so in turn their plenty will supply what you need” (2 Corinthians 8:13-14). Some day you will need help, so now when you have enough to fulfill your needs you should help the people who do not have enough. Our first example of a true gift comes from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Thank you for the help and support that you have already given to the less fortunate in your community, and I pray that you will continue this support through the dinner and silent auction. But, only give what has been placed upon your hearts because it is written, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Today most of the Honors kids went to the Neighborhood House, which is a place for immigrants or refuges in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. They offer many programs for adults, kids, and families. We got the opportunity to talk to some of the students from their ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. We also got to take a small tour around their building and see some of their services.


This applies to what we are learning because all of the people who are being helped by the Neighborhood house are part of the poor and marginalized. Most of them come to the country with nothing. Then they have to start all over again without knowing the language or how to get a job. We have learned that it is hard for the poor to get out of the rut of being poor.


Today I talked to two women from Northern Africa and a man from Thailand. To start we all shared a little about ourselves like who was in our family and where we were from. Then I asked them what they would like to talk about and the man told me that he would like to know how to get into college. He also talked about how hard it is to learn English at his age. The last thing he talked about is how hard it is to learn how to work jobs in Minnesota. The younger women had only been in the United States for seven months. She did not like to speak a lot, but when she asked me a question it was about GED’s. She was wondering if it was hard to get one, and if you needed to know how to read to get one. The second woman has lived in the United States for 7 years and in Minnesota for at least 5 years. She has one child and a husband. When she came over two of her other siblings came over, but two had to stay. It was very hard to understand some of the things that they were saying, and even harder to remember others. The hardest things to remember were their names, and even if I did remember them I would have never been able to spell them. It was a great experience to talk to them, because I got to understand where immigrants and refuges come to America. The thing that I will always remember is that the man said that sometimes it is just so hard that he wants to quit. Learning everything all over again after he has already started a family is not something that he wants to do. He has helped put a lot of my frustrations in order.

On Friday the Honors class went to the movie “Amazing Grace.” It is about the abolition of the slave trade in England. William Wilberforce was the one man who used everything that he had to fight the bonds of slavery. Even though he was not by himself, he is the man who changed history. The slaves were the poorest of the poor, because they no longer had even their own soul. They were told that they did not belong to God but to man. It also talks about John Newton and his son “Amazing Grace.” This is the song that inspired nations to stop the slave trade.
This movie is very relevant to the topic of poverty in Honors. First, it shows that it takes many years, many people, and a consuming passion to end something as vast as slavery or poverty. It also shows that every person working against a cause is a great help. If William would have given up slavery would have continued for many years. Furthermore it shows that passion is needed. Like the cliché says, “If there is a will, there is a way.” Also the movie said that once you fight against one part of injustice the others will start being fought against. The ending of the slave trade was the first step in ending poverty.
This movie was very moving. It showed to people in the 21st century how hard it was to fight for the basic right of all humans. The movie also showed me how much we as Americans take for granted. I now see the lack of passion in America’s fight against poverty. Some people have the same passion as William, but the whole nation needs to get involved to stop it. This film had a great job of showing that “religion” or faith in Jesus as your Savior plays a major role in ending the lack rights that humans have. My favorite line of the movie was when John Newton’s character says, “Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly, I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” This movie did a great job of not hiding the truth of God. They let the grace and love of Jesus flow into the hearts of all who were watching.

On Friday in Honors we watched a documentary called “When the Levees Broke.” It not only showed New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, but also the devastation left in the city. We met many people who all had a story of loss, fear, and anger. Thousands of people were flooded out of their home and lost everything they owned. Others were stuck in their homes without food and water for two to three days, with the water at least waste deep. The streets of New Orleans were turned into a lake of people swimming for help, and boats searching for survivors. The grief and desperation was horrible. The people were filled with hopelessness, never knowing when they would see those they loved most again.
This movie connected very well with what we have been talking about the past two weeks. We have been searching for answers on what causes poverty and what is being done to eliminate it. Most of the people that lost everything were already below the poverty line, and now they have nothing. This is the bottom of poverty. Many people had nothing with them, lost everything in the flood waters, and had nowhere to go.
This movie showed what devastation really is. I have seen places where natural disasters when through like St. Peter, but never anything so catastrophic. Sometimes it is easy to believe that one person can not make a difference in a disaster this big, but I believe that the movie showed otherwise. Neighbors were helping neighbors get out of their homes. Every person who helps in the fight against poverty is another push to end poverty in America.