At this moment, there are more than 7 billion people on the earth! It is hard to picture, so if we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this*:
- The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific
- 51 would be male, 49 would be female
- 67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian
- 80 would live in substandard housing
- 67 would be unable to read
- 60 are always hungry
- 50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation
- 33 would be without access to a safe water supply
- 39 would lack access to improved sanitation
- 24 have televisions in their homes
- 24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)
- 22 will speak Chinese.
- 20 earn less than a dollar a day
- 7 people would have access to the Internet
- 1 will have own computer
- 1 would have a college education
- 1 would have HIV
- 2 would be near birth; 1 near death
- 33 would be receiving and attempting to live on only 3% of the income of "the village"
- 89 will be heterosexual, 11 gay
- 5 people will hold 59 % of the world's riches, most of them will be American
How would you interpret it?
If you live in a good house, have enough food to eat and can read, you are one of the fortunate few in the world.
If you woke up healthy, you are more fortunate than the million who will not survive this week.
If you have never been in a war, are not lonely, not in jail and not starving of hunger, you are more fortunate than 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend church without being persecuted, jailed, or killed, you are more blessed than 3 billion people who do not have that privilege.
If you have food in your fridge, a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in, you are richer than 75% of the world.
If you have money in the bank, you are in the top 8% of the world's richest.
If your parents are alive and still married, you are an exception.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than 2 billion people who cannot read.
Count your blessings everyday!
But why does the statistics look so dire? Probably because we as humans go against the natural "survival of the fittest" principle. We spend so much money and time to try and preserve the weak, instead of really helping to uplift them. That throws the balance out and the numbers start to take over, making this an impossible situation to recover from.
I don't think soup kitchens and shelters, however necessary, are a long term solution. We will have more success by educating and evangelising people, so they can start to become sustainable and help lift this heavy burden.
1 John 3:17. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
Give some of your time and money today, and help uplift one person in your community for a start. You were put in a community for a purpose. No need to travel to the ends of the earth to do good there.
You are needed here.
If each of us helps someone in our community, the world will already be a better place. Count your blessings every time you feel like complaining about something trivial.
* Dr. Phillip M. Harter, Stanford University in America " If the world were a village" & Harrismith Chronicle, 17 April 2009
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