Simply Scott: April 2008

My Favorite Quote

If you have food in the refrigerator,
Clothes on your back,
A roof over your head,
And a place to sleep,
You are more wealthy than 75% of the world.
Just by having a house.

If you have money in the bank,
Or money in your wallet,
Or any spare change in your purse or pocket,
You are in the top 8% of the worlds most wealthy.

If you woke up this morning,
With more health than illness,
You are more blessed than the million that will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of a battle,
The loneliness of imprisonment,
The agony of torture,
Or the pains of starvation,
Then you are ahead of five hundred million people in the world.

If you attended church this week without harassment,
Arrest, torture or death,
You are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.

Quote from a friend of Pastor Blackburn.

Poverty Information

"More than 1.4 billion people in the world make less than $1 a day, and 1 billion people go to bed hungry. About 1 billion have no access to clean water." Washington Times Daily- May 29, 2009

"32 [years is the] average lifespan of a man in Swaziland, the lowest in the world, according to the CIA's World Factbook. The problem, again, is average. Most adult males there live much longer- its the large infancy mortality rate that drags down the average." New York Post- Dec. 28, 2008

"South Africa faces a shortage of up to 94,000 teachers by 2015, thanks to poor government planning and the effects of Aids-related diseases." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- Nov. 23, 2008

"The United Nations says that almost half of remaining Zimbabweans (5.1 million of 11 million) will be dependent on international food donations by year-end. Currently, more than 80% of them are also umemployed. The long-term solution, according to the UN and others, would be to restore the country's agricultural industry to its former glory as soon as possibe." Finweek- October 2, 2008

"Ten million children die each year from preventable poverty-related diseases; there are 1.4 billion people in the world surviving on less than $1.25US a day and more than 70 million primary school age children are out of school." Mail & Guardian- September 26, 2008

"At least 35% of South African children are either chronically malnourished, underweight, or acutely malnourished."The Citizen- September 25, 2008

"An estimated 40% of of all the world's severely malnourished children younger than five live in [India]."The Los Angeles Times- August 25, 2008

"An estimated 40% of of all the world's severely malnourished children younger than five live in [India]."The Los Angeles Times- August 25, 2008

"Zimbabwe's soaring inflation now stands at a staggering 42 million percent, economists have said."The Zimbabwean- August 14-20, 2008

"According to a WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water and Sanitation, 62 perent of Africans do not have access to an improved sanitation facility, namely a proper toilet, which seperates human waste from human contact."The Business Day- July 29, 2008

"UNICEF executive director, Ann Veneman, maintains that "40 percent of the world's population lacks access to toilets, and the dignity and safety they provide."The Business Day- July 29, 2008

"Roughly 45 percent of South Africa's 47 million people, vastly black, are impoverished and unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent."Daily Nation- June 2, 2008

"According to the South African Development Committee, 45% of the total population lives on $1 a day."Mail and Guardian- May 30, 2008

"South Africa survey released in March revealed 10 percent of population earned more than 50 percent of the income while the poorest 40 percent accounted for less than 7 percent."Daily Nation- May 26, 2006

"Eighty-one percent of [South Africa's] children experience income and material deprivation, such as not having access to a fridge." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"More than 50% of [South Africa's children] live in households where nobody in employed." Sunday Times of Johannsburg- March 2- 2008

"Seventy-seven percent [of South Africa's children] live in an environment without access to proper toilet facilities, electricity and piped water." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"Twenty-five percent [of South Africa's children] live in households without both parents, or in child-headed households." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"Twelve million children live in poverty in South Africa. Four million of these are starving and up to 40% of those aged under 5 could stuffer stunted growth." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"More than a third of Mexicans live below the poverty line of about [one US dollar] a day." Saturday Nation- January 5, 2008

"More than 40% of the population in Southern Africa are living in abject poverty."
Mail & Guardian- October 26, 2007

"In 2001, 924 million people, or about 31 percent of the world’s urban population, were living in informal settlements or slums, 90 percent of which are located in the developing world. By 2030, the number of world-wide slum dwellers is projected to reach two billion. The East African (Kenya)- October 22, 2007

"A child dies every three seconds as a result of extreme poverty."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"More than 1 billion people around the world live in abject poverty, on less than $1 a day."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"About 800 million people go to bed hungry every night."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"More than 6,000 people die from HIV/Aids everyday."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"Out of the [Mexico's] population of 103 million, nearly 50 million are impoverished."
Baja Times- Feb. 1, 2007

"Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day." World Bank- Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 16,2007

"30% of South Africans don't even have pit latrines; they use buckets." Wall Street Journal -June 21, 2007

"A fifth of the country [Mexico] gets by on less than $2 a day." Wall Street Journal- August 4, 2007

Vital Stats on Amor Ministries (as of 2/5/2009)

Homes built since 1980: 15,588

Projects in 2008
Homes: 1001
Churches/Sunday Schools: 17
Schools: 7
Clinics: 2
Group Homes: 5 (in South Africa)
Rehab Centers: 2

Participants since 1980: 291,552
2008: 21,552
Trips since 1980: 7523
2008: 623

Participants have come from 38 states in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Korea, the U.K., Ireland, and South Africa.

6720 families benefited from the Food Bank in 2008.

1040 children have received school supplies from Amor's back-to-school program in 2007.

# of Amor Team Members: 44
# of Volunteers in 2008: 88
# of Mexico Planning Boards: 5
# of Pastors: 26
# of Amor Camps: 5
Average number of people per work site: 18

Years of ECFA Membership: 16
$$ Spent directly on Programs: 87%
Years as finalist in 50 Best Christian Work Places to Work: 3
# of Board Members: 11

Friday, April 18, 2008

SOUTH AFRICA REFLECTIONS

Its hard for us to believe that nearly two weeks have passed since we all returned from the South Africa mission trip. I think that part of the delay of writing this post is that so many things have been running through all our heads regarding this amazing trip. This was truly a history making, "His Story" making (as author Dan Irving describes it) and life changing experience. We have all come back with memories of amazing experiences, our hearts changed, and a renewed passion to return to South Africa with a fervor.

I thought that I would let this post tell its story in pictures and other people's testimonies before I find the clarity to give my perspective on this trip.

To start with I think seeing the trip video that was created by trip participant, Doug Hurrell (Ribbit Media Productions) tells much of this great story. Click the Youtube link below to see the video Doug created for the Amor and United Kingdom group. Its about 8 minutes.

Youtube Video of Amor/UK South Africa 2008 Mission Trip

Another great link to visit is a Facebook page created by two of our South Africa mission trip participants, Hannah Halpin and Claire-Emily Kingsley. Click the link below to see all sorts of resources and other links:

Facebook Page of Amor/UK South Africa 2008 Mission Trip

You have got to check out the Fickr account we set up for us all to upload our photographs of this trip at the link below. There are 1.419 photos already uploaded and more being sent each week. Some of the people who have contributed to taking and collecting all these photos include Steve Cosgrove, Dan Irving, Steve Horrex, and yours truly, Scotty.

Flickr Photos Page of Amor/UK South Africa 2008 Mission Trip

Humphrey Birkenstock put a photo album on his South Africa radio station's Webite and you can see it by clicking below:

Rainbow FM 90.7 Photo Album of Amor House Housebuilding in Grasmere, South Africa

Dan Irving and Humphrey Birkenstock in Front of 5 New Amor Homes

Oh, one more link I think you might enjoy! Dan Irving spoke in his church, EV Free Chico, just before we left for South Africa. Its about 15 minutes long. Click below:

Dan Irving Speaking At EV Free Chico About The Upcoming South Africa Trip

Momentum for our future in South Africa continues to build as Steve Horrex and Dan Irving facilitate a South Africa celebration this Sunday at EV Free Church in Chico. I continue to work diligently in planning our future trips for 2009.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements on what we have planned South Africa in 2009!!!

Simply Scott

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Vital Stats on Amor Ministries (as of 2/5/2009)

Friday, April 18, 2008

SOUTH AFRICA REFLECTIONS