With less than two weeks to go until the Famine, I found it so encouraging to hear Isaiah 58:10 read out in my local Church on the weekend.
"Spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed..."
No matter what faith background you come from can you join with me in a dream:
To free those living in oppressed conditions, heavy burdened with debt, family, famine, drought, flooding. The 1 billion living in desperate poverty are often not to blame for their circumstances. They work harder than most Australians (They definitely do not get 8 hours each day for work, for rest, and for play) yet they never seem to be able to catch a break in life: even a simple sickness like diahorrea can be deadly.
In Nepal we...
... met domestic labourers and heard their stories of exploitation and injustice from a young age.
... met children as young as 2 years old hunting and gathered food for their families for hours before they could go to school.
... saw families struggling in middle of the slums in Kathmandu.
... saw a building on the Nepal/India trying to stop young girls from being trafficked into India.
... saw children under 10 years old carrying huge bundles of firewood and animal fodder on their backs. The bundles would have weighed around 30 kilograms!
... heard the stories farmers who every year had to start again after the river flooded their homes.
Meeting the Nepali people, and hearing their daily struggles is still really challenging me.
That is why I find this verse, and chapter, in Isaiah is so encouraging - and I hope it encourages you too.
As thousands of people around Australia prepare to go hungry to help satisfy the needs of the oppressed I find it so exciting to know that by participating in the 40 Hour Famine this August.
Together we are helping to give freedom to the oppressed.