Red Letters: Living A Faith That Bleeds

November 7, 2007 | Filed Under books, justice |

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I recently finished reading Red Letters: Living A Faith That Bleeds by Tom Davis.  With heart-wrenching stories Davis shines the spot light on the devastation surrounding the issues of world poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. His message to the church is that the gospel is not just to be read, but it is to be lived. Furthermore, there is absolutely no excuse for the church to not step up to the task. He writes:

Poverty has many faces and none of them is pretty. Consider these difficult-to-comprehend facts: 1.2 billion people are estimated to live on less than one dollar per day, and almost 3 billion on less than two dollars per day. Do the math: That’s 3.9 billion of the 6.5 billion people who live in our world.

Doesn’t it seem ridiculous to you that billions of people are living in poverty? With all our wealth, all our technology, and all our resources, why haven’t we solved this problem? Almost 2.5 million children die every year because of malaria. Hello? We have medicine that kills malaria. It’s cheap. It’s easy to transport. Yet, we aren’t doing what it takes to get the medicine to the people who need it. Here’s a surprising and disturbing truth about poverty that really ticks me off: It’s preventable.

In regards to AIDS, which Davis calls the “greatest crisis” he states the following:

Experts tell us World War II killed 62 million people. Even with all of the advances in medicine, AIDS continues on a path to eclipse that number, having already killed 25 million people since the first case in 1981. The UN estimates that 39.5 million people are now living with HIV. Of that total, 4.3 million were new infections in 2006. There were 2.9 million AIDS deaths in 2006, the highest number reported in any year.

How do you describe a crisis like this? Catastrophic? Disastrous? Devastating?

Words just can’t paint an accurate picture of what this disease is doing to our world. Dr. Peter Piot, the executive director of UNAIDS, said, “Countries are not moving at the same speed as their epidemics.” Without rapid improvements, the pandemic will only worsen, the officials said. This is the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced.

Davis doesn’t leave the topics of poverty and AIDS without some specific ways to get involved. “Taking a step of faith can rescue someone from poverty, provide life-saving medicine for a person suffering from AIDS, or offer an educational opportunity otherwise unavailable to a school-age child.”

In the last chapter of Red Letters Davis shares 5 things every person can do to help the 50 million people in our world suffering from HIV/AIDS. Here’s how it works:

Give 5 minutes a day to pray for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Give 5 hours a week to fast for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Give 5 dollars a month to the Five for 50 Fund and support worthy causes.
Give 5 days a year to travel overseas & help alleviate poverty & suffering.
Give 5 people an opportunity to join you on your journey.

You can learn more about what you and your church can do at 5 For Fifty.

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  1. Missional Meanderings &laquo Missional Church Network July 28, 2008 12:44 am

    [...] Davis and “Why Christians S**k.” If you are not familiar with Davis check out a couple posts on his book Red Letters. If you are not sure what the Bible says about God’s heart for the poor check out this list [...]