Another natural disaster in another part of the world. This time it's an earthquake killing 3 to 5 thousand people in southwest China. Can you imagine what it'd be like to be one of the people included in the rounding? What does that say about their lives? Eh, 3 to 5 thousand, give or take a few. The article I just read mentioned that 1 in 10 people in one county were killed or injured in the quake. If I applied that to my classrooms, 15 of the students I'll see today would be killed or injured. And from what I was reading, it sounded like many school buildings collapsed, so students would be more affected than the rest of the population, making that number much higher.
Natural disasters occur all over the world. Msnbc.com also reports that at least 22 have died in tornadoes and storms in the Midwestern United States. I can't help but compare the numbers. 22 in the U.S. 3,000-5,000 in China. 29,000 in Myanmar. Each of these numbers represents a person--a person who is valuable and loved. And yet, I have to ask the question, do we value some of these numbers more than others? Why?
Just last night at church, I saw a presentation representing the world's total population compared to the world's population of missionaries. I don't have specific percentages right now, but the majority of missionaries are focusing on people who already have access and probably have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another small percentage of missionaries are focusing on people who have access to the gospel. They have a Bible in their heart language and probably a Bible-teaching church in their area. A very, very small percentage of missionaries are focusing on people (like those in China and Myanmar) who do not have easy access to the gospel (no Bible in their language and no Bible-teaching church in their area).
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