No one ask to be born in poverty. But everyday hundreds of children are born into a world in which they will have to struggle for even the basic necessities of life.

Basic physical necessities? What are they really? Food. Clean water. Shelter. Emergency medical care. Yep that’s about it. Hard to believe.

Food, what is the minimum requirement of calories to live? Less than you might think. What about the rules, you know the pyramids and government charts that tell us how many vegetables and fruits to eat, how much grain is enough and how little fat and sweets we should consume. When we plan our menus we take all of this into consideration plus the most important factor… what do we like, what taste good, what we WANT. Can you imagine going to a small food stall and being happy with a couple wrinkly potatoes, a shriveled carrot, small onion, and a single stalk of celery? What we consider scrapes is a large pot of soup for a family. Can you imagine looking into your babies faces and knowing that you are scraping the last of the rice from the bag that was given to you weeks ago? You have stretched and stretched it but it is now empty. How will you feed your children tomorrow?

I know, what about electricity? Nope. Not a neccesity. I see people living without it everyday. Would I want to? Not in a million years. Running Water? That would be another luxury. Can you imagine that every time you turn on your sink or step into a warm shower that you are living in luxury. Secure shelter. Not worrying about your house leaking or blowing away. Not worrying about rats chewing your clothes and bugs eating your children alive. That is something that we expect. We wrinkle up our noses at the very thought of living in a house made of scrapes, sharing the house with vermin and sleeping on a thin mattress on a wet dirt floor. Shelter and secure shelter are really two different things. Medical care, vaccinations, medical check-ups, visits to your doctor when you are ill. You get hurt and you go see the doctor. Emergency medical care is just that, emergency care, when you might be dieing you go to the hospital, the hospital in which you find your own metal gurney, where you hold your IV. The mattresses are ripped with no sheets. Flies buzzing, windows open, no air conditioning or fans, the stench of urine hangs heavy in the air. A sense of despair drapes this place like a heavy blanket.

Education is something that we consider of vital importance for the future of our children. What about education? No one is here watching out for the children. So many children can not afford to buy a uniform. We often complain about buying back to school clothes and supplies. We buy pants, shirts, shoes, back packs, and a long list of school supplies. I know that we spend what would be considered a fortune on our children to make sure that they have all they need and a lot of what they want to go to school. These children need one uniform which they wash over and over; a pair of shoes, not Nikes, not the newest styles just a plain pair of shoes. Basic school supplies.

Basic physical needs, have we spent anytime thanking God for blessing us abundantly? Yes Abundantly! We have so much more than we need and he is happy to provide for us. It brings our heavenly father joy to bring blessings to his children.
How can you bless someone? For those of us that have been given much much is required. You might think that you haven’t been given much but I beg to differ. If you don’t feel blessed take a minute to compare wants and needs. Pray that God will use you to help meet the physical needs of others. Warning: once you let go of all of your wants and start to look to others needs you may become addicted to giving. But never fear you can not out give God.

Basic Physical Needs are yours met? Are you helping to meet others?