Jesus and the blind man

I've been reading about poverty and disability for a project I'm hoping to work on. Man, it is a stark reminder of the impact that poverty has upon every life decision you can make, life is a lot, lot harder if you are poor and have a disability.

Feeling overwhelmed by all the problems in the world - how can I even begin to make a dent on these or in my family. No, I thought, hang on, I have thought about this stuff before. The point is not to get overwhelmed by everything in the world, the point is, to do something, however small, not nothing. Right, I can involve myself and my family in learning about issues of poverty, disability and link it to our faith- what does Jesus have to say?

The story of the blind man keeps leaping into my mind, so I'm going from there. I can't stop thinking about the man calling out, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me".

Family Fun Night Idea#1
1. Clear the floor of sharp furniture and lurking toys,
2. sweep or vacuum if necessary, or if time!
3. Blindfold each family member (not the baby perhaps)
4. Throw lollies around, or slightly hide them under the couch cushions,
5. Hunt for lollies, save them up for dessert.

Try to eat dinner still blindfolded. Here are some ideas for discussion:
What would it be like to be blind?
Are there any things you might get better at is you were blind? Could there be any good things?

You know, in Jesus' time there were blind people. If you are blind it is hard to care for your family by working, you need others to help you, or you need to beg to get money. Here's what the bible says... Read Luke 18:35-42, or tell it in your own words, or something in between.
What do you think about what Jesus did and said? What do you think the man did and said?

Do you know what makes people blind today? People can be born that way, disease, malnutrition, injury.
God is still at work today, here is a story about Niry from Madagascar and about how she has been helped to see.

(I've taken this story from the CBM website, go and have a look for more information)

Niry's Story:
"When Niry was brought from Madagascar to a CBM eye clinic, her eyes were weeping uncontrollably.

She was at the end stage of a disease caused by Vitamin A deficiency.

In fact, our ophthalmologist described Niry’s eyes as melting. One eye was already lost.

Thankfully, Niry received treatment straight away in the form of massive

doses of Vitamin A and a nutrition program to improve her health.

In just a few days the sight in her remaining eye was saved.

Niry is proof of the difference you can make in a child’s life simply be providing Vitamin A."

These CBM people are being like Jesus hands and feet to Niry.

How would you like to respond today? pray, draw a picture, something else? (I'm deliberately trying not to tell my kids how to respond. I would like to have a discussion, with my own response as one in the mix, let's see how that goes!)

The Meeting

Well, I involved and took my 7 year old to visit our local member of parliament today. Before we went I talked with him about how many children in developing countries get sick and die unnecessarily from easily preventable diseases such as pneumonia (which he had twice as a baby and due to great medical care quickly recovered), malaria, and diarrhoea. We talked about how children who don't have enough to eat are more susceptible to disease and illness. We also talked about how many illnesses are easily prevented by providing access to clean water and immunisations. Our conversation included talking about how mothers are key players to healthy kids and that by keeping mothers healthy and by educating them everyone was healthier. Sam generally has his own comments and observations to make as we talked about these things, as he linked the things in our conversation with things we had already talked about and things he'd learnt doing Kids 4 Kids programs with me.
We went with a couple of people from our community. We wanted to be part of the Micah Challenge voice to let our government know that we want to see global poverty halved by 2015 and especially see more movement by our government by contributing to aid projects targeted specifically on MDGs 4 and 5. Sam understands about sharing, and I wanted him to understand that we are asking the Australian Government to share from our bounty. Sam was in our midst during our discussions around what we would say. He made a card with a "5" on it and helped with the colourful cupcakes I made to highlight the issue of wanting all children to reach their fifth birthday. He might have played with his cars during our discussion time with Martin Ferguson but he was there. Who knows how this kind of action will shape his ideas about the world and the outworkings of his faith. Who knows. I'm glad he was there.