If the world were a village of only 100 people, this is what it would look like:
- 60 Asians
- 14 Africans
- 12 Europeans
- 8 people from Central America, South America, Mexico and the Carribean
- 5 people from the USA and Canada
- 1 person from Australia and New Zealand
The people of the village would have much difficulty communicating because:
- 14 people would speak Mandarin
- 8 people would speak Hindi/Urdu
- 8 English
- 7 Spanish
- 4 Russian
- 4 Arabic
(This list accounts for less than half of the population of 100. The others speak Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French and 200 other languages.)
In the village there would be:
- 33 Christians
- 22 Moslems
- 15 Hindus
- 14 Non-religious, Agnostics, or Atheists
- 6 Buddhists
- 10 following other religions
In the 100-person village:
- 80 would live in sub-standard housing.
- 67 adults live there and half of them are illiterate.
- 50 would suffer from malnutrition.
- 33 would not have access to clean, safe drinking water.
- 24 would not have electricity.
- 76 having electricity would only be able to use it for light at night.
- 7 would own an automobile. (Some would own more than one.)
- 5 people would possess 32% of the entire village’s wealth and these would all be from the USA
- The poorest 1/3 of the people would receive only 3% of the entire income of the village.
- In the village there would be 42 radios, 24 televisions, 14 telephones and 7 computers and some would own more than one of each.
Some other interesting thoughts for you to consider:
- If you woke up this morning healthy, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
- If you have never experienced the danger of war, the fear and loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pain of starvation, you are better of than 500 million people in the world today.
- If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are more comfortable than 75% of the people in the world.
- If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% most wealthy people in the world.
- If you can read this, you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, it becomes both evident and vital that education, acceptance and compassion are essential for the progress of the world’s people.
The Only One who can truly help and change the condition of humanity is the ONE TRUE and LIVING GOD—Jesus Christ.