A few weeks ago I went out to lunch with a friend, this was no surprise but the topic of conversation that day was to be! Across the table from me Ryan began to speak of this little mentioned country called Somalia. He shared with me a glimpse of the current state of affairs and how tragic and desperate the situation is.
Somalia and surrounding countries including Ethiopia and Kenya are currently suffering the worst drought in 60 years. This drought has pushed five (to date) regions of Somalia into famine. Famine is defined by the UN as 1 death per 5000 people per day from starvation. The current situation is the single greatest humanitarian crisis that the world has experienced in approximately 20 years and Africa's worst food security crisis since Somalia's 1991-92 famine. There are currently 12 million people at risk of starvation according to UN figures. That's almost half the population of Australia!
Right now across Somalia and parts of Kenya and Ethiopia there are 3.2 million people on the brink of starvation, with 12.4 million in the region malnourished and at risk of starvation. The famine has been described as 'The Children’s famine' due to the number of children that are starving to death every day. More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have starved to death in the last 90 days in southern Somalia alone. The roads leading south out of Somalia into Kenya have been described as 'roads of death' as parents are forced to abandon their dead or dying children along the road side as they flee their homes in search of food. 
The world however has refused to be deaf to the needs of these Africans and to date 1.3 $billion has been donated from across the globe. For this situation to be reversed a further 1.2 $billion is needed. That sounds like a lot of money right, but let’s put it into perspective for a second. Last year, Australia spent just under 1 $billion on weight loss. In 2010 the U.S. spent 61 $billion on weight loss! These figures are staggering and don't take into account the amount of extra money that was poured into the overeating that makes weight loss necessary.
Currently in Somalia there are mothers who aren’t getting enough food for their bodies, the result of which means they are unable to produce breast milk, and so their own babies are starving to death in their arms. Families are having to up leave their homes to try to find something to eat meaning parents are left to watch their children starve to death as they head out in an attempt to find food. This is happening right now, at the same time that we’re battling obesity and overconsumption.
Something is seriously wrong. The distribution of wealth in this world is so severely skewed in our western favour. We live the lives that we do here in Australia simply because this is where we entered the world. We were born into wealth and affluence. Had we have been born in Somalia, we would most likely find ourselves desperately searching for something to eat right now and trying to figure out how we might be able to keep our families alive.
To respond to this tragedy doesn't require money. It requires love! It requires people to listen to these stories, research the facts, examine the photos and let them break your heart. We have to let this situation, or other situations of poverty, and death, and hopelessness break our hearts, because when it does then we will see change begin to occur.
Throughout the New Testament Jesus repeatedly calls for us to give to the poor. But only according to a constant theme and consistency that always our response needs to be motivated by love, not fear or guilt or regret or obligation or even affluence. The key has always been love. Our attitude towards giving has to be an attitude of love or it’s meaningless. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says that if I give ALL I possess to the poor... but do not have love, I gain nothing, and neither does this world. But if we allow this situation to move us, to touch our heart's, then a movement is born and transformation can begin!
It was this knowledge that resonated not just in Ryan's spirit, but mine as he shared this situation over lunch, that demanded we do something. So we did! We called our mates, invited them over for a party, told them about the situation and invited them to give if they wanted. The result blew us away, as we tallied a total of more than $3000 from the 60 - 80 people who came, and friends they told. That money we gave directly to World Vision’s 'East Africa Emergency Appeal'. We decided to give to World Vision because they’re one of the few charities that are actually on the ground operating within the region. 
I write this so that you too might be stirred, not just to respond financially but to point others to this information, to speak to your friends of the current state of affairs, to pray, to lobby governments, to go and see, but most importantly to love, people who are just like you and I, but do not have the privileges we do!
If you want to read some more on the situation check out the links below. I'd also like to say a huge thank you to Ryan Henry, who made not just the event happen, but helped me and consequently you become aware.
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