Did you know...

While preparing for the benefit concert, I was pulling together some statistics and wanted to share here.  Sometimes numbers can be so hard to comprehend---they are out of our realm of understanding the magnitude.  But each number below is a child---someone with a name and a story of their own, many times with much pain that is no fault of their own but often based on where and when they were born. Only by God's grace was I born in a country where my parents could provide for us and give us medical care and an education.  Only by His grace are we able to do the same for our children, never having to decide which child gets which meal (something the moms in Mekele, Ethiopia do daily), never having to wonder how to get medication for my children (other than which cupboard it is in), and never having to decide whether or not to turn my child into an orphanage because I know if I wouldn't they wouldn't survive.  When Jenny and I were in Ethiopia, we found out this is the reality for many of the moms/families there.  Thank You God for that opportunity and for opening my eyes to the need in the world.  Help me to always see ways You have for us to help others and also appreciate Your many blessings, the majority of which we take for granted.

As you read these statistics, try to think of the number as real children---here are pictures of some of the beautiful kids we met in Ethiopia--all who may fit into one of these "numbers" below---

Every day, 5,670 children become orphans.  That is 236 per hour. Almost 4 a minute.

Depending on what you read, the estimates of orphans in the world are 147-162 million children.  147,000,000  to  162,000,000 children.  Half the population of our country.  Each child with a story---each child desiring a family.

If the numbers of orphans were a country, orphans would be the 8th largest in the world!

95% of the world's orphans are over 5.  How many of these kids are overlooked because they aren't young!

In eastern Europe, less than 50% of the orphan population will live to see their 20th birthday.  In eastern Europe, of the orphans that survive their 20th birthday, 50% will end up in organized crime, drugs, or prostitution.

To look at these statistics in a different way, think of what you did in the last hour.

In the past hour---
1,667 children under the age of five died of malnutrition and vaccine-preventable diseases
1,625 children were forced to live on the streets by the death or abuse of an adult
600 children died of starvation
257 children were orphaned because of HIV/AIDS
115 children became victims of sex trafficking

Each of these children, fearfully and wonderfully made.  Each made in the image of God.  Each treasured by Him.