What are the rights of children...the rest of the story?

The United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) have proclaimed that all children should have the basic right to live free from hunger, fear and exploitation; as well as to have those opportunities for healthcare and education.

Unlike most of the animal kingdom, God created man into a setting of extreme infantile dependency and a lengthy childhood maturation process. The Design He establishes is for the immature and powerless to be cared for by God through the nurturement and protection provided by us, His children.

Or do we simply close our eyes and turn away when we become aware of these global problems, such as:

• The 200 million children under five (5) who go to bed hungry every night (don’t think about the $70 million spent each day on candy alone for American children);
• The 1.2 billion people who lack access to clean drinking water (this excluding the 15% of the world’s residents who can simply turn on a tap to get fresh water at home);
• An estimated 27,000 children under 5 yrs. of age who die every day from preventable causes (inoculations, vitamins, etc.);
• The 20% of all children ages 5-14 in the developing world who go to work instead of to school;
• Or the estimated 7.7 million children who are fleeing war, violence, and persecution TODAY.
• Then there are AIDS orphans, those sold into child prostitution, or abducted as child soldiers.

It’s a wonderful testimony of His Love and Mercy as The Church responds to the many needs of these hurting children around the world.

But let us not overlook the most special right of every child…The Right to Experience God… to feel His embrace through our touch; to be faithful to the beckoning words of Jesus, “Let the little children come to Me.”

We, at LYDIA International, are committed to addressing these all-important rights of children, especially the hope of a personal connection with one of these little ones to our Heavenly Father.