One Cup of Water
“For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will be no means lose his reward.” [Mark 9:41]
Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General, was the founder of the Global AIDS and Health Fund to support developing countries in their struggle to care for hurting people. He was born on April 8, 1938, and currently serves as a Ghanaian diplomat. In his effort to raise global awareness on how people live in the world, he has presented incredible statistics from the United Nations Human Development Report. These numbers really put into perspective how we live in America!
• Four percent of the 225 richest men’s wealth could provide for the entire globe: basic education, basic health care, adequate food, clean water, and safe sewers.
• Americans spend $8 billion a year on cosmetics – $2 billion more than the estimated total needed to provide basic education for everyone in the world.
• Americans each consume an average of 260 pounds of meat a year. In Bangladesh, the average is 6.5 pounds.
• The world’s 225 richest individuals, of whom 60 are Americans, have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion – equal to the annual income of the poorest 47 percent of the entire world’s population.
• Europeans spend $11 billion a year on ice cream – $2 billion more than the estimated annual total needed to provide clean water and safe sewers for the world’s population.
• The three richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined gross domestic product of the 48 least-developed countries.
• The richest fifth of the world’s people consumes 86 percent of all goods and services, while the poorest fifth consumes just 1.3 percent. Indeed, the richest fifth consumes 45 percent of all meat and fish, 58 percent of all energy used, 84 percent of all paper, has 74 percent of all telephone lines, and owns 87 percent of all vehicles.
Annan encourages us to not look at faceless statistics, but think of the condition of how many people in our world truly live. When we consider the world’s consumption bill of $24 trillion a year, the numbers seem overwhelming. Yet, in God’s eyes, even a cup of cold water given to a thirsty child is not beneath His notice.
