The Children are the Future

7 Ways to Pray for the Children of Kodera (and all children around the world)

We often say “the children are the future”, but not all children in the US or around the world are privileged to have access to even the most basic necessities like clean water, the love of a parent or a safe, warm home.

It only takes a moment to pray; to be thankful for the resources we have available to us, for the life that we were given and the life we are able to give our children. We challenge you to take a moment to think of your life differently – to write down 5 things that you are truly thankful for and relate them to everyday occurrences. Learn to change the way you think of your life, and to be thankful even for the most simple of things.

Below is an article from World Vision to help you get started.

1) Shower Time = Clean Water
Nearly 1.1 billion people are without access to clean water – that’s more than the combined populations of North America and the European Union. Without access to clean drinking water, children are at a much higher risk for life-threatening diseases like diarrhea, intestinal worms and cholera.

2) Off to Work = Child Labor
The U.S. national minimum wage is $5.85 per hour. Many children worldwide earn less than $1 a day, if they are even paid at all. About 126 million children work in ways that are likely to harm their health, safety, or moral development.

3) Lunch Time = Hungry Kids
McDonald’s serves 47 million people worldwide each day. Nearly three times that number of children are underweight, leaving them undernourished, vulnerable to disease, and prone to stunted growth.

4) News Break = Education
There are 72 million children worldwide not attending primary school. In comparison, 40 million Americans have a four-year college degree. Without education, children will struggle to provide for themselves and their families.

5) Heading Home = Displaced Children
More than 34 million people – mostly women and children – have been forced to leave their homes by violence or disaster. That’s nearly 10 times the number of homeless people in the United States.

6) Take a Vitamin = Medical Access
Every year, nearly 15 times the number of children die of readily preventable diseases than Americans who are killed by heart disease (the leading cause of death in the U.S.). Many children lack access to health care simply because they are poor.

7) Bed Time = Orphans
There are more than 6 times the number of orphans in the world than children under the age of 5 in the U.S. The prevalence of orphans is increasing in Africa, largely due to the AIDS pandemic.