I’ve done a lot of travelling the last two months. Scratch that; I’ve done a lot of travelling the last six years! Most of my travel this year has been via car, but I’ve flown a few times as well. Last week I flew out to L.A. for the weekend. It had been a while since my last time to fly. I was so focused on the new screening processes that I almost forgot the excessive baggage fees.
Fortunately I was flying Southwest where “Bags fly free!” A few weeks ago I saw a report on baggage fees. Did you know that from July to September of 2010 airlines raked in over 900 million dollars in bag fees alone? Delta brought in $1.26 billion the first 9 months. I’m far from a philosopher and I rarely, if ever, use this blog as a political platform; however, something is wrong with this country when there are needs all over the world and even in our own country yet the airlines make this kind of profit on bags alone.
Just out of curiosity I Googled “How much would it cost to end world poverty?” After all we Google everything, right? Anyhow, the first answer I found was “A lot!” Not exactly sure how much “a lot” really is, but to me 3.6 billion dollars (estimated annual baggage income) is a lot. I truly doubt 3.6 billion dollars could end world poverty but it would make a significant dent.
People complain about how little a dollar is any more. They say that a dollar doesn't have the buying power it used to (it takes 25 to reserve a spot for your bag). I’m honestly surprised they still have “one dollar stores.” I figured by now they would at least be the “five dollar stores!” Granted a dollar cannot go quiet as far as it once did. You cannot get a gallon of gas for a dollar. Not that long ago you could get 10 gallons. You cannot get a bag of popcorn at the movies for a dollar. Not that long ago you could buy your movie ticket, coke, and popcorn for a dollar. I can still get my large coke from McDonalds for a dollar but there was a time you could get your entire meal for that dollar.
Just one dollar in our pocket does not provide much peace of mind. Now days $25 in our pocket doesn’t go very far. Kept in our pocket this $25 will not get us too much. However, if you give this $25 to Red Page ministries it can:
- Feed a poor family living in rural Romania for a month.
- Give a child living in rural Romania a Christmas or birthday present.
- Help send a child living in rural Romania to our winter Disciple Now.
- Purchase medical supplies and a personal hygiene kit for families in rural Romania.
- Sponsor a child attending Red Page’s after-school program for a month.
- Help support indigenous staff in rural Romania including social workers, teachers, and ministry coordinators.
- Assist in the construction of the House of Joy community center.
- Help dig a well in Susani, Romania that will provide clean water for over 300 families.
- Assist with ministry support for Red Page.
You see, $25 can go a long way with Red Page Ministries. In addition, your support will allow Red Page to share the Word of God to over 3,000 families in over 30 villages in rural Romania. Twenty five dollars is a long way from $3.6 billion. However, the airline industry received this $3.6 billion $25 at a time, one bag at a time. Many people never give to missions, because they think they can't give enough. I just showed you what one gift of $25 can do. Why not give that gift of 25, 50, or even 100 dollars and let God multiply it and use it?
Asprie to new heights!
Red Page is a 501 (c)(3) and all gifts are tax deductable. You can mail your gift to P.O. Box 53653, Lubbock, TX 79453. We also have a number of trips scheduled for 2011. We would love to have you join one of these trips. Additional information is available on our website.
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