Children at War

6 million disabled

20 milion left homeless

2 million killed in the 1990s

300,000 child soldiers

1 million children are sold, forced or otherwise coerced into the commercial sex trade each year.

An untold number of children are sexually abused by family members, neighbors, pedophiles and others, but the crimes are never reported.

Every day, 8,500 children are reported abused and neglected in the U.S.

Over half a billion children struggle to survive on less than $1 per day.

30,000 children die each day from preventable diseases.

Over 13.2 million children have been orphaned due to AIDS.

It is estimated that 25 million will have lost one or both parents to AIDS by the year 2010.

Nearly 2.7 million children under age 15 die from AIDS-related causes every year.

250,000 children and young people are infected with HIV/AIDS every month.

73 million of all child laborers are less than 10 years old.

246 million children are in hazardous labor.

In addition to the number of children involved in hazardous work, it is estimated that
8.4 million are victims of slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution,
pornography and other illicit activities.

130 million children lack access to education.

In the U.S., 3,500 children drop out of school every day.

Over 1,400 children are born to teenage mothers in the U.S. every day.

In many parts of the world, the girl child is everything but a child; she is denied education.

Girls represent nearly 60 percent of the children out of school.

Tyrannical dictatorships use starvation as a means of control and ethnic cleansing. In rural
areas of North Korea, there is no food, clean water, medicine or fuel for heat.

Humanitarian relief experts report that more than 4 million North Koreans, including children, have died of starvation since 1995, despite the fact that North Korea receives more food aid than any other nation in the world.
Eye witnesses report that President Kim Jong II stockpiles food for the military.

Others report that the president also sells donated food for cash.

"Why, God? Why, in heaven's name, have You done nothing to alleviate all this suffering?"

A long pause...

A great silence...

And God answered...

"I did do something - I sent you. Pray for my children."