Christians' Beliefs About Problems in Developing Countries

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Christians' Beliefs About Problems in Developing Countries

This essay will be focusing on two specific examples of problems which

are faced by people in the Third World countries. The problems of

developing countries are inter-linked with crippling poverty of the

people because of: the arms race, inability to recover from natural

disasters, a cycle of debt, the population explosion, unjust trading

conditions, illiteracy and ignorance.

One of the problems faced by people in developing countries is famine.

More than 15 Million people in Southern Africa are suffering from

hunger. The causes of food shortages in these countries are various.

The country may lack money for the necessary imports of food which it

cannot produce itself. Sometimes the food that can be grown is

destroyed by pests or long droughts. Above all, developing nations

cannot recover from a bad year because they have no real resources to

cover a natural disaster.

Furthermore, famine in Sudan, results in two main diseases which

afflict many people when hunger is a severe problem. Marasmus, through

lack of food, cause children to become so thin that they suffer from

sickness and diarrhoea and die. Kwashiorkor occurs when malnutrition

is present through lack of protein in the diet, which can lead to

death.

However, the organisation called the Brandt Report recommended more

funds for developing: agriculture, irrigation, agricultural research,

crop storage, fertilisers and fisheries. The Brandt Report emphasises

that there must be an end to mass hunger and malnutrition. Food aid

was recommended, but not at the expense of helping the people

themselves to increa...

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...mbating disease and famine are identified in James 2:14-19:

(Faith and deeds) and in Luke 10: 25-37: (Good Samaritan). In the

parable faith and deeds, Jesus illustrates to Christians that people

should put their faith into practice, this is shown in the words

"Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead". Also,

in the parable of the Good Samaritan, a Samaritan takes pity over a

beaten up Jew and takes care of him. In this parable Jesus shows a

model for Christian generosity.

Overall, Article 25 of the Human Rights Act 2000 states that "Human

dignity demands a reasonable standard of living. Everyone has the same

basic needs of food, clothing, healthcare and shelter". All who have

been baptised share in the risen life of Christ and Christians should

try to "bring the good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18).

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