(828) Out Live Your life by Max Lucado

I was reading the first chapter when Elizabeth asked me how did I find the book. without thinking, I answered it made me feel sinful.

"And in the five minutes it took you to read these pages, almost ninety children died of preventable diseases. More than half of all Africans do not have access to modern health facilities. ..." This quote was found on page 5. Now what can I do about it? What have I done about it? Nothing! Never have I thought of praying for the Africans in my weekly prayer nights. After reading this book, I will probably sleep well tonight. Tomorrow the sun shall rise and I will eat my breakfast with good appetite.

My limited links with the poor, off hand, are:
1. Giving small articles like tooth brush, hair brush, face towels ... or some cheap food like biscuits, bread, mandarin oranges, ... once a week to needy old folks in front a mosque for slightly more than a year right before I moved away from Silver City. The money for this project came from a few kind ladies ( from my church and neighbourhood)
2. For the past ten years, I have collected good and serviceable clothes. Destinations were: the hill tribes in northern Thailand, a small village near Bacalod, Filiphines, and a poor area in Java.
3. Recycling for disaster relief with a Buddhist organisation for close to six years.

I am by no means considered rich. Yet I have much more than the poor in Africa. After reading Max's book, prayerfully I want to do more. I am holding three books my neighbour left in front of my door. One is a Malay dictionary for Primary School children. Another is a book of opposites and same meanings. The third is Black Beauty. When I see my missionary friend (the same one in Recycling 6) next, I will ask if she wants to keep them as seed books towards her dream: setting up a reading room in a poor area to reach children who have no books at home. Perhaps I should take her to the second hand clothes store that raises funds for single mothers. The founder of the store runs a weekly English class. Maybe a mobile library that opens once a week before the class would be a start.