Would You Give $10 to Save a Neighbor’s Child?

Well, would you?

I posed this question to my Facebook friends last week. I asked:

“If your neighbor rang the doorbell in a panic and told you their child was in danger of dying – the ambulance was going to take them to the hospital, but the driver needed $10 (insurance co-pay) before they could go – would you give $10 to save your neighbor’s child?”

People were quick to reply. Some had more questions; others gave an emphatic yes. After reading over each of the comments, I found they could be broken into three categories:

1. Those who were skeptical

2. Those who said absolutely

3. Those who were willing to do more

But the general feeling from all of the answers, whether skepticism was present or not, was, “Yes, I would help.” One of the responders put it this way, “$10 is $10. What is the value of the life of a child?”

Precisely. What is the value of a life of a child? (Or any person for that matter.) I mean, wouldn’t you give $10 to save your neighbor’s child? Or your neighbor?

What is $10?

-Lunch for me and my two-year-old at McDonalds

-Three trips to Starbucks for cappuccino

-Fifty extra texts when I go over my limit

-Not quite three gallons of gas (depending on the day)

-2 foot-long sandwiches at Subway

Would you be willing to give up any one of those things to save the life of your neighbor’s child?

Our neighbors’ children are dying by the tens of thousands.

You heard me correctly. CNN news reported, “More than 29,000 children have died over the past three months in what is the most acute food security emergency on Earth.” Children waking up each day in the horn of Africa are facing the worst drought in 60 years. Hunger is their reality, and starvation is a real threat.

Thousands of people are walking days, even weeks, to find food – many never make it. Let me put these numbers in a way you can grasp. If the average elementary school has 650 students, imagine 44 schools filled to capacity. What if every student in all 44 schools died in the course of three months? That would certainly be enough to grab the headlines of every news station in America. And wouldn’t we exhaust all costs in an effort to prevent it from happening to more schools?

As I write this post, my almost two-year-old daughter runs to me three times and asks for “Mo food.” (More food.) I watch her gobble down raisins, picking up each one with her chubby hand and grin when she sees me. I close my eyes with an uneasy inhale of the stark differences of my children and those in Somalia.

With the many stories coming out of this major crisis, the one that leaves me reeling is the one of a mother who has taken a fifteen-day journey to find food, only to have her two and four-year-old die on the way. In an effort to save her children, she lost them. I can’t understand. In America, we’re taught if you work hard enough for something, you can achieve it. It’s the American Dream. The only dream this woman has is that of feeding her children. I look up as my daughter pokes the last raisin between her lips and runs back to her Play-doh. I crack, and tears flow. My mind can’t grasp it – the thought of losing her.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “These people don’t live next door to me…”

“Who is my neighbor?”

 

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

 

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.

 

The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

 

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

 

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:29-37 NIV

 

So, I ask you again, “Would you give $10 to save a neighbor’s child?” What $10 item could you give up this week in order to give hope to a mother whose children are in desperate need of food?

Are you ready to go and do likewise?

World Vision is working to create change in Africa by its Famine No More campaign. To donate $10, please text the word FAMINE to 20222. The $10 will be added to your phone bill.

If you don’t text, you can click HERE to donate any amount of money to help with the food crisis.

If you give $10, I’d love to hear about it. There are also other ways you can help. If you received this post in an email, forward it to 10 friends and challenge them to give. You can link to the post on Facebook, or bloggers can write their own post about the famine. Please help to spread the word. Together we can make a difference.