"You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave."

Living in India is opening my eyes. It's scary but it's real and I think that is what's important. 2/3 of the children on this Earth are living in dire poverty. 2/3! Did you know that? I didn't. I didn't know that slavery still existed either, but it does. Nor did I know that there are over 10 million children involved in the sex-ring industry. I guess involved really isn't the right word to use – they are forced – because what child would choose into that horrid lifestyle?!

If you are anything like me, these statistics might make you sick to your stomach. They might make you want to close your eyes and pretend that they aren't real, which works for a second until we reopen them and nothing has changed. The truth of the matter is that God doesn't want us to close our eyes. God wants us to know what's up with our brothers and sisters in need. After all, we are family. Would we walk away from our family when they needed bread or water? Would we leave them in the cold, alone and scared? When our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters become sick and beg us for help, do we turn away? God keeps the poorest of poor closest to His heart and He asks us repeatedly to do the same.

In Matthew 25:35 God tells His people, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Then the righteous will answer Him, "Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

The LEAST of these! God straight up hits us with the truth, that when we help a person in need, when we visit a wrongdoing prisoner, we are doing these things directly to Him! It's pretty exciting to think that when you gave that homeless man a dollar last week you were actually giving money to Jesus, huh?! He says something else in this chapter though too. "Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." That one is a little harder to stomach.

Over the last 10 years 60-100 million little girls have gone completely missing from this Earth. Missing as in no one has any idea if they are dead or alive, starving and thirsty, being forced or tortured to do horrible things. Jennifer Toledo, an amazing Believer and passionate speaker, asks us to put faces to these statistics and to stop thinking of these children as numbers. When I do this, I think of my little cousin Emma and imagine her lonely and scared, hungry and homeless, it breaks my heart. Try putting the face of your favorite little girl into these numbers and you might start looking at them differently too.

Let's continue to pray for these suffering babies all over the world, but as your sister in Christ I challenge you to do more. I read a story the other day about a pastor who was praying with his congregation for a group of needy people. They were praying and praying for God to bless these people with a certain amount of needed money, a few hundred dollars. Finally the pastor stopped praying as he had a realization. He and the rest of his congregation where already abundantly blessed financially. They could easily each give a little and completely cover their brother and sisters needs. God doesn't just want us to pray. He wants us to walk with the poor, to give what we can, and to trust that he will provide. "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:42)

It will be easy for me to leave India. It will be easy to hop on that plane in December, knowing that my family and a Starbuck's pumpkin spice latte are waiting for me. But as easy as it will be for me to check out of this place, I can never really leave. I know now that in the summer the orphans sleep in 125 degree heat because they have to keep their doors shut due to thieves. I know that in the winter they don't have enough blankets or clothing to keep warm so they all huddle together on the cold stone floor like puppies, relying on each other's body heat. I know that they pray for everyone else first and themselves last. I know that they are God's children and that He loves them immensely. And, I know that He expects us to do the same.

                I love you all,

                                Kasey

P.S. God CHOSE to be born poor. Something to think about.

P.P.S. I miss you guys! And Starbucks. And America in general. 6 weeks!