The Economics of Orphans

Bailouts. Stimulus Packages. Inaguration price tags. Investment Scams. Executive bonuses. Free agency contracts. Movie stars.

Have you paid attention to the economic numbers lately?

$770 billion to Wall Street with a paperless accountability trail. A $300 billion proposed economic plan which might balloon to $1 trillion. $160 million for a three day party in DC. $50 billion in Bernie Madoff's mattress (or offshore bank accounts). $1.6 billion to bail-out bank executives in year end pay. Mark Teixeira gets $180 million for 8 years. That is $22.5 million per season. But is only slightly higher than what Julia Roberts gets paid per film at $20 million. (By the way, you get bonus points if you can name her last box office smash).

Here are some other numbers that are equally staggering.

143 million - the number of orphans in the world
$5,000 - the cost to build a house for 10 orphans
$400 - the monthly cost to provide food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education and love for these same 10 orphans.

So what would it take mathematically to put these orphans in a home with the essentials of life for one year? Approximatley $150 billion. Think Congress or corporations or athletes or actors (we will ignore the embezzelers and thieves) would be willing to siphon some of their funds to create a Orphan Survival package? Probably not.

So the task is left to you and me. And it begins with one orphan at a time.

My family has decided to start in Malawi. This is an African country of 14 million people with more than 1 million orphans. The life expectancy is approximately 40 years. AIDS and famine have touched if not ravaged most families. It is one of the 5 poorest countries in the world. No natural resources of value. Landlocked and desolate. Desperate for real hope and permanent change.

Working with C3 Missions International, we are engaged in a project to build an orphan village outside Salima called Pothawira. This beautiful word means "Safe Haven" in Chichewa and the village will eventually care for 600 orphans. There are several couples spearheading the efforts to raise $300,000 for 60 homes. Our daughter Libby and some friends have started Mizzou for Malawi to raise $25,000 for a school. Integral Life Foundation and some doctors at St. Luke's hospital are constructing a 22,000 sq. ft. medical facility and birthing center. There will be businesses that eventually help the village become self-sustaining.

What a vision and hope for the future! Can you image an orphan village providing health care, education, spiritual direction and hope to the surrounding communities?

600 may seem like an insignificant number compared to the total. But the journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step. And the care for 143 million starts somewhere. For us, the crossroads brought us to Salima.

Where will you begin?

In Search of Simple

I am not sure what awoke me from my blogging coma. Perhaps it was the new year and all those resolutions written in pencil. Maybe it was watching my friend Dan fire up the computer again at Astonished or knowing my daughter Libby has posted more messages on her blog in one week than I did in all of 2008. Or quite possibly it was the restless stirring of thoughts deep in the heart longing for expression.

In any event, I am back at the Crossroads. The journey remains the same. But the focus is slightly different.

I am now in search of simple.

In fact, that is the central theme of my Goal Poster for 2009. I use capital letters with the Goal Poster because its creation is a hallowed event in the Wolfe household. At least for my wife Debi. She has been making these for years and I finally had the good sense to listen to her good sense. She keeps telling me life is more fun when that happens.

So here's the concept. Instead of writting out resolutions in invisible ink and shoving them in a drawer or the back cover of a Bill O'Reilly book, you attempt to capture your goals for the year through a visual presentation of pictures and words.

We started the process on vacation in Mexico during December. We spent a couple of weeks thinking and praying about our goals and dreams for the next year. Then we spent an entire afternoon pouring through magazines to clip out pictures, words, headlines ... anything that might bear relevance to our goals. We bought poster board and I got to use an exacto knife to slice the board in half. It was a quasi-man project until we got to the ruffled trim but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Last Sunday was GP day. We sat down with all our materials and started to bring our goals to life. Debi quickly settled on a concept, sorted her cut outs and began the assembly process. She had 3/4 of a Goal Poster before the end of the first quarter of the Steelers-Chargers game. Maybe I was distracted by the TV but halftime arrived and I had yet to find the end zone. Not even a picture on the board.

Good news though. It must have been nerves because I found my groove in the second half. I focused on a central theme of simplicity. 2009 will be lived through that filter to produce a balanced life.

In my faith, I seek the simple love and grace of God to know and experience His glory. My health and fitness goals address the basic concepts of eating healthy, exercising more, and getting proper rest. My relationships will involve more listening and the joy of fellowship. Teamwork at work. Embracing the cause of orphans ... living simply so others might simply live. A trip to Malawi to see the vision of Pothawira, an orphan village of 600, rise from dust through the prayers, efforts and generous giving of so many who want to change lives. Dreaming of a tomorrow that begins today.

So here is my GP. It is straight forwarded with few frills. Debi managed to incorporate ruffles and pastels. Not my style. But I do embrace the concept of visualizing our dreams and goals, placing them in the care of a loving God who directs our paths each day and waiting with anticipation for what is to come.

2009 ... looking for the simple path at the crossroads of complexity. I hope you will join me.