Our nephew Drew is a medical student at the Medical University of South Carolina and he stopped by today for a visit and to tell us about his recent medical mission trip to Uganda in Africa. Drew had many stories to tell about his visit together with many pictures of a beautiful but very poor country.
With some research I discovered that Ugandans have an average daily income of $1.26 and their average life span is a little less than 50 years old. 84% of the population is Christian, primarily made up of Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Although very poor the country is, in fact, becoming more prosperous under the current democratic government and its policies. They appear to be slowly but steadily climbing out their poverty.
Drew told us that the single hospital in the region that he visited was open air, had no running water, very few types of drugs, non-sterile operating rooms with florescent tube lighting (the surgical light broke), and no accommodations for feeding the patients. (The patients’ families provided meals to the patients.) The hospital has a radiology department with an X-ray machine but they have no X-ray film. There are no RNs at the hospital but rather it is staffed by what we would call Nursing Assistants. He also told us that there are only three doctors to provide health care to the population in that particular area which is about a third of the size of South Carolina.
Note: I have not thought this through yet so the following is really nothing more than my ramblings as I think it through. I hope you can follow my thoughts as they unfold.
This is quite a contrast when compared to the availability of high quality health care we enjoy here in the United States. But why? Why are we in the USA blessed with prosperity while Uganda is not? Beyond that, why do some nations appear to be blessed while others appear not to be? I wish I understood why. Does God look down on the earth and pick and choose at random who will be and who will not be blessed with prosperity? I don’t think so. God is righteous and consistent in his judgments. These are not “random” blessings. Does God look at the people in a particular nation and, based upon the general morality and spirituality of the population decide to or not to bless them? Maybe. He certainly made that decision with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Okay, let’s suppose that this is the case. If, in general, the population of a particular nation is worthy of God’s blessings then they will receive it. If not, then they won’t. The following promise from God in Deuteronomy comes close to explaining this.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 -- If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:
This command is directed toward the nation of Israel. He is telling them that if they obey his commandments the blessing of prosperity will eventually overtake them. Okay. Uganda is becoming more prosperous over the past couple of decades since they have developed a new democratic government and have become a Christian nation. Remember Uganda a few decades ago and the dictator Edi Amin Dada who ruthlessly ruled Uganda through ethnic cleansing, human rights abuse, and gross economic mismanagement? Quite a contrast between the 1970s and today. Maybe God’s blessings are beginning to “overtake” them.
Well here is a scary thought. What about the United States? Our founding fathers were grounded in Judah Christian values. “Created” equal with certain unalienable rights (given to us by God) and, as a result, we have been blessed as a nation. But what has happened to us here in the USA over recent decades? Prayer taken out of the schools. The Ten Commandments no longer displayed. Christmas trees now called holiday trees because we may offend someone. The separation of church and state (I challenge you to find that in the constitution). And on and on and on. Are we heading in the wrong direction? If we continue this downward spiritual spiral will our blessings begin to fall away? Wow, I had no idea my rambling thoughts would bring me to this point.
I think I will leave it here, give it more thought, and perhaps come back to it later.
Lord, thank you for the blessings you have given the United States. I ask you Lord to continue to bless us, make us a prosperous nation, and help us as a people grow closer to you.
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