This month’s assignment for Compassion Bloggers involved playing a game online. Who doesn’t love the challenge of playing a game? My son and I sat down to try out the game on the 58: website. What is 58:? “58: is an unprecedented global alliance of Christians, churches and world-class poverty-fighting organizations working together to end extreme poverty in our lifetime.” Compassion International is one such organization.
We were assigned a woman from India and we were to make the decisions she makes each and everyday. Living off of $1.25 each day, we were presented with a series of choices to make in how to use our money. (My son is seven, so I edited some of the questions that had to do with topics too old for him). The challenge was to make it an entire month on our little income making choices such as: should we pull our son out of school because we couldn’t afford his uniform?, should we eat food that was covered in mold after a recent flood or starve?, should we vaccinate our children? and should we pull our child out of school once a week to walk three hours for clean water or just drink the dirty water close to home?
We only made it to day 17.
My son learned a lot from the game, and frankly so did I. It was eye-opening to the realities faced by real people around the world. Every day parents have to make tough, life or death decisions that I simply don’t have to face.
To be honest, I could not live on $1.25 a day and neither can anyone else.
Yet 1.3 billion people live in poverty around the world. Want to get involved? Learn more about 58: and its mission here. Join Compassion International’s efforts here. And see how you do at living on $1.25 a day by playing Survive 125 here.
That’s a really neat way to help kids learn the reality of others’ situations. I’m going to share this with my readers in my next “Needles in a Haystack” post. Thanks for sharing!!!!
Wow….what a powerful message. I feel like even though we budget, we still have no real idea of what it’s like to have these circumstances…thank you for this reminder.
Blessings,
Michy
Wow, great post! It overwhelms me to think about such poverty. I sift through my own complaints and it sickens me. Thanks for bringing awareness to such a needy cause. Blessings!
I love the compassion ministry… no matter how many times I hear the stories of the worldwide poverty my heart breaks. What a powerful “game” to play with your seven year old, planting seeds of compassion and ministry in his heart for years to come. Beautiful post! Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog and leave a comment. Blessings~
I had this assignment, too. Such an impactful game, with so many impossible choices to make. Thank you for sharing this. So important.
Wow Christina ,
thank you so much for your support of the work we’re doing!
I’m so excited that you found the game to be so helpful! We’re rolling out a lot of new improvements for Live 58 in the next month or so, including a new version of the website, a new version of survive125, and changes to projects and recurring giving.
We’re also trying to connect with more churches by helping them host their own free screenings of 58: The Film. Would you be interested in getting involved with these new efforts? If so, shoot me an email at [email protected].
thanks,
Adam J. Woodward
Church Engagement & Social Media
Live 58
What a great lesson. I am also so used to a much more comfortable lifestyle! It is very important to step back and survey the world around us as it truly is. We can (and are called to) help.