EXODUS 16 Part 1

Hello all of you nourished and well cared for individuals!!! And hello all you who are not!!!
As promised Part One of the EXODUS 16 series is going to address the topic of basic needs.
You all know what these are. Many of you though may just never think about it like this. Well today is the day you get to.  So hang in there until the end and then take some time to ponder before asking questions.

The idea of basic needs and how they affect our daily lives was studied and written about by many, but society generally gives the credit to a man by the name of, Abraham Maslow. He came up with something we like to call Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Triangle.  Now if you studied even a hint of psychology, business, communication, or education you likely should have heard of this at least once. The problem with this theory is that Maslow is off track a lot of the times. Go ahead and Google Maslow and you will come up with more proof disproving his theory that proving it. So now you are probably thinking, ‘Jesse, you best find someone else to talk about because you’re not helping out much with your credibility here’… I know, but remember, stick with me on this until the end.
So even though Maslow has been disproved regarding many aspects of his theory there are some little bits he has right. And I can prove that. One of the few things Maslow had right is that there are very specific things that every single human being needs to be able to remain alive. This is not just for individualistic cultures. This includes every human being. What are they? Well Maslow uses the term Physiological Needs. Go ahead and start your Google search. When you get a triangle to come up on your screen you are going to see that on the bottom part of that triangle, under physiological needs, he lists things like air, food, water, shelter, warmth, and sleep.

You may find some that lists “sex” as well. Before you get all crazy on me understand why that is on there. From what I have read and come to understand, sex was included because for mankind to continue they must reproduce. Therefore a basic need for any SOCIETY is to have somebody making babies…preferably these are people that are ready to accept the responsibility of being a parent.
Anyway, back to those other basic needs. I would be willing to start a dialogue with anyone who could prove to me that they will be able to live without air, food, water, shelter, warmth, and/or sleep. For those of you who have ever camped or thought about camping, there are very specific things that you bring along with you. You bring your basics.  This includes food, a tent, a sleeping bag, and a water bottle with fresh water or maybe a water filter. You do that because you know that if something happens to you then you know you will survive with those things. Have you ever watched Man vs. Wild? Do you ever pay attention to what things he is always trying to find? It is warmth, shelter, and food. If he doesn’t have one of those things he knows he will not last long out in the wild.

Let’s see if I can give you some examples of how societies realize that basic needs are important. In foster care children are provided with shelter. In fact that is one of the first things I would have to figure out after it was decided that a child needed to be moved. We had to figure out where to put this human being so that they would be in a place that provides protection from the elements. We have homeless shelters in many large cities. Why? If protection from natural elements wasn’t something we needed why would we bother building structures to do that? That’s not just in the United States. Go ahead and open you history books or Google search for ways that people protect themselves from the elements in countries around the world. Examples… igloos? Ummmm teepees? Ummmm any form of tent or sod houses? Temporary housing units in the disaster area here in Japan…

What about water? I’m not an expert but I would be willing to do an experiment for you if we get enough votes. How long could you last without water? How long could you last without water in the desert? What about the rainforest? I don’t think I have to try too hard to prove to you that food and water are essential to your ability to live and function. But just in case, what about what we see public schools doing in the United States? They provide meals in the morning, at lunch and even at the end of the day. WHY? Because. Nourishment is essential to human functioning. Administrators know that when the children walk into the classroom on a full stomach vs. an empty one they are going to be able to focus better and they are going to be able to retain information. The time spent in school will be efficient. But food isn’t the only thing that they need to do that. It is just one of the major players here.

Lastly, what about sleep and warmth? Sleep is another one of those fairly logical ones, right? I mean you might make it a day or even two without sleep.  But when you tried that back in college, honestly, how well did you do at retaining knowledge? Or when you were young or old and you tried to stay out late with an old friend but then went into work the next day…How productive were you? Were you able to use your time efficiently, or did all you think about was how much you wished you could take a nap? Please understand I am just saying this from experience. If you are a super human being that has the ability to go without sleep your whole life and still be as productive and still have the same psychological functioning of someone who does sleep, you best call me up. Because we are going to make a ton of money together!!!

Ok, so then warmth. When is the last time you walked out in 35-degree weather wearing nothing but underwear? If you did that you got cold right? Does it get cold in the desert? FYI…IT DOES!!! Do you remember learning in grade school about warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals? Do you remember hearing about how humans are warm-blooded? Do you remember what that means? If you don’t, go ahead and Google that too.

So why is this important? Well, do you remember how Milwaukee schools feed their kids so that A. they don’t die from starvation and B. so that they are able to perform better in the classroom? That’s what we are getting at here. Humans in a disaster situation, just like humans who are not, need to have their basic needs met. When this happens they are able to be more efficient with their minds and their bodies. It is not to say that they can’t do things with their minds and bodies when these needs are not met, but it’s rather difficult. Try to not sleep for the next couple of days. What do you think about? If you are in one of those colder regions of the world turn off your heat and open your window for the day. What are you thinking about? Now try to sit down and learn something. Try to stalk people on Facebook. It’s hard. You have trouble focusing because all you can think about is what you don’t have, but need. I’m not saying you can’t do it. I’m sure you can for a while. I am saying that you are going to be much more productive, whether it be doing your homework or Facebook stalking, if you are fed, warm in a building, can breathe, and your mouth isn’t dry.

I promised to give you an example from society today. How about Child Welfare (I can speak about that because that is what the majority of my work experience has been with)? In child welfare as a case manager you have to ensure that children on your caseload are getting their basic needs met. That’s why foster parents have to go through so many classes and criminal checks and financial checks. As a case manager you want to know that someone is going to 1. Be able to provide a stable house or apartment for the child. That’s why if there are some pending criminal issues or maybe some evictions on their record we are extra leery about the person. 2. I check their refrigerator and their cupboards to see if they have food in the home for them and the child. 3. I take a look at the living space. Is there a bed for the child so they can sleep? Are there clean linens for the bed with blankets for the child? 4. Do you have an income? How do you pay your bills? What’s your electric bill like usually? I make sure that their heat works and that they will be able to ensure that it will always be working. I also need to do this so that I can ensure that they are able to pay their water bill. 5. Do you have any animals? Is the house clean or is it dusty or musty? Some kids have asthma and I need to ensure that they are able to breathe in whatever home I place them in. There are a whole set of questions I ask after I find out these five points. If at any time one of these first five points is not appropriate or up to par then either a plan must be identified to address it so that it is brought up to par or I move on to the next possible placement.

While I was doing my research about basic needs and about this whole series in general, I found some interesting information regarding other organizations that do Disaster Aide and Relief. For example, there is an organization that gets water purifiers into countries that do not have clean water (Water of Life). BOOM! That’s meeting a basic need. There is an organization that provides goats to families so that they can use this goat for survival. BOOM! That’s meeting a basic need. There is an organization that provides all of the needed basic needs for children in disaster situations specifically. (Convoy of Hope). Boom! There is an organization that provides coats to children who are in need of one. (Operation Warm) UMMMMMM BOOM!That's meeting basic needs! Look up your local food pantry list. If you are in the Milwaukee area, call 211 and ask them, they will give you a list of agencies whose number one purpose is to meet a basic need like nutrition. Guess what?! When you Google Aide and Relief organizations and you look a little bit deeper you will see the same thing I did. Most of the organizations you find will have a religious cornerstone. Why? Because they asked that famous question. What would Jesus do? Take a look at some of these other resources: (Other resources).

What kind of examples can you find of God giving to us (or his people) in situations where his people were in need? When is the last time you read the story about Jesus feeding the five thousand (not including women and children)? Have you read Exodus 16 yet? If not, haven’t you wondered why I titled this blog series that? There are actually a couple of reasons. But in regards to this post I want to focus on this. There were a lot of Israelites. Actually there were 600,000, not including women and children (Exodus 12:37). And they were in the desert and they didn’t have anything to eat. I don’t know about you but I would be willing to make an argument that 600,000+ people not having any food and in the middle of the desert would satisfy the definition of a disaster. So what does God do? Longish story made short, God provides for His people’s basic need to eat.

Catch my drift? If you are curious about what basic needs the LECC Center identified as needing to be met I invite you to take a look at the WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) website under the blogs section (Blogs about Japan Relief). The Jaspersens, who preceded me, have an excellent blog explaining what basic need was met. Have a gander (as Steve Carran would say). You will enjoy it!

We aren’t done yet. I haven’t made my whole point clear yet. Read all of Exodus 16. It is short. You can handle it. Does God just put the quail and manna on a plate for his people every morning? No. He doesn’t. But that’s what the next post will get into. Empowering people!!!! My FAVORITE!!!!
Now if you actually read this whole thing I applaud you! Really, I would have given up two pages ago. I want to let you know that it is all right for you to ask questions on this blog. This is not a blog that I just talk and never listen. I look forward to getting comments. Good or bad. But I warn you, don’t come into my neck of the woods and make a comment without being able to back it up. You better do your research and you best be able to defend a comment that you make. I have no problem being wrong. I love being wrong…it happens all the time.  I love it because then I get to learn. So please comment either on the blog or shoot me an email (hieb.jah@gmail.com). Getting a response is rewarding and encourages me to work harder and harder.

Have a wonderful Monday! God bless your week and if you see my fiancé please let her know that she looks fantastic, for me!!!!