something I read...

I won't say much. I'm just going to give yall an excerpt from the book Revolution in World Missions. A really long excerpt, but please, read!

The author, K.P. Yohannan, is explaining the real reason for hunger and poverty in third world countries such as India, his home country.(I will make the words he says blue, so it's easy to distinguish between mine and his.) He says,

"But what causes the hunger? Asian Christians know these horrible conditions are only symptoms of the real problem--spiritual bondage to satanic philosophies. The key factor--and the most neglected--in understanding India's hunger problem is the Hindu belief system and its effect on food production. Most people know of the "sacred cows" that roam free, eating tons of grain while nearby people starve. But a lesser known and more sinister culprit is another animal protected by religious belief- the rat.

According to those who believe in reincarnation, the rat must be protected as a likely recipient for a reincarnated soul on its way up the ladder of spiritual evolution to Nirvana. Though many reject this and seek to poison rats, large scale efforts of extermination have been thwarted by religious outcry. As one of India's statesmen has said, 'India's problems will never cease until her religion changes.'

Rats eat or spoil 20% of India's food grain every year. A recent survey in the wheat-growing district of Hapur in north India revealed an average of ten rats per house.

Of the 1982 harvest of cereals in India, including maize, wheat, rice, millet and so on--a total of 134million metric tons-- the 20% loss from rats amounted to 26.8 million metric tons. The picture becomes more comprehensible by imagining a train of boxcars carrying that amount of grain. With each car holding about 82 metric tons, the train would contain 327,000 cars and stretch for 3,097 miles. The annual food grain loss in India would fill a train longer than the distance between New York and Los Angeles.

The devastating effects of the rat in India should make it an object of scorn. Instead, because of the spiritual blindness of the people, the rat is protected and in some places, like a temple thirty miles south of Bikaner in north India, even worshiped."

wow. Church, we are so set on saving the world, sending medical attention to the hidden places of the earth, and taking care of helpless peoples' physical needs, that we aren't getting to the root of the problem. We are just covering up the real problem, temporarily at that! If we were to go out and be offensive with the Scriptures I have no doubt that some, if not most or all, of Asia's physical needs would be met as well. And, in case you thought there were already enough missionaries in third world countries, preaching the Gospel, think again. Here's another excerpt:

"Recently, for instance, one native missionary, who serves the Lord in Jammu, asked a shopkeeper at the market if he knew Jesus. After thinking a moment, he said, 'Sir, I know everyone in our village. There is not one by that name who lives here. Why don't you go to the next village? He may live there.'

Frequently native missionary evangelists find people who ask if Jesus is the brand name of a new soap or patent medicine."

I think the last one speaks for itself. I hope this stirred your spirit.

-shelby

P.S.-- Alabama Adventure (see this post) in the morning!! It's too late to sign up, but if you're goin, be at the church at 8:00am! We can't wait on you if you're late. sorry..... :)