In the previous post i commented on the global poverty in terms of income. The issue is that low incomes translates itself into untold sufffering of various dimensions. Here are some more terrible statistics from the HDR.
More than 10 million children die each year before the age of five, and more than 98% of these live in poor countries. As the report notes, “they die because of where they are born,” a matter that is especially disturbing given that almost all “of these deaths could be prevented by simple, low-cost interventions.”[1] In some countries more than 50% of children are considered to be underweight for their age, with more than 850 million people worldwide suffering the deleterious effects of malnutrition, which in turn makes them vulnerable to ill health and disease. HIV/AIDS has had a particularly brutal impact on some countries, with infection rates in certain African nations exceeding 15% of the population.[2] The effects of malnutrition and disease are exacerbated by the fact that “more than 1 billion people lack access to safe water and 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation.”[3] Taken altogether, these interrelated dimensions of poverty pursue people throughout their lives, so that citizens of the worlds poorest 32 countries can expect to live an average of less than 46 years. In Sub-Saharan Africa, people born in nations such as Zambia have a life expectancy of as little as 37 years,[4] a figure that is less than half of the average 80 year lifespan of citizens living in the world’s wealthiest nations.
The underlying vital values necessary to ensure a flourishing and healthy life can, in a knowledge based global society, also be said to include access to education. On a global scale, however, there are presently more than 854 million illiterate adults, a direct result of the inability of poor nations to allocate sufficient resources to educating their populations. Thus, for example, in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, less than 60% of primary aged children are enrolled in school, a figure that reduces to 20% for secondary school aged children.[5] On average, people in Mozambique will receive 4 years of education, whereas the average person in North America and Europe is educated for more than 15 years. And these figures say nothing of the quality of the education provided. One example cited by the HDR is that “less than one-quarter of Zambian children emerge from primary school able to pass basic literacy tests.”[6] Related to low levels of education is the lack of availability of modern technologies for most of the population in poorer nations. While more than 50% of people in high income nations now have access to the internet, this figure is less than 2% in low income countries – places in which only 3% of people have access to technology as basic as a mainline telephone.[7] What is readily apparent is that poverty creates a vicious cycle; low incomes leads to malnutrition, sickness and inadequate access to education and technology, which taken together perpetuate poverty.
[1] United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2005, 24.
[2] United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2005, 249.
[3] United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2005, 24.
[4] United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2005, 221-222.
wow - and to think sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves when we go without dessert or have to juggle a lot of things along with our education....it's challenging stuff.
What can the church do? What can I do? Sometimes all the statistics seem so overwhelming and bringing situations anywhere near justice seems so out of reach that we struggle to even try.
I guess a starting point is what you've done, Shane - facing the facts and trying to live conscious of them. I haven't done it for a while, but I should probably do it again - I used to keep a picture of my sponsor child in my wallet to remind myself to handle my money wisely in light of the privilege that I have been entrusted with so much - how can I budget and spend in a way that shows I really want to invest in God's kingdom on earth as in heaven?
Of course I think there were times I took it too far and became rather antisocial because I struggled to go out with friends, and say, buy a Happy Meal knowing the money I spent on that could feed 30 kids in Calcutta for a day.
Where is the balance? We need to live in our society and can't change everything overnight, but we also need to challenge the assumptions and the injustices (such as domination over other races and indigenous peoples, and the state of world economy) that have led to the structures that now put us in a place of significant (unfair?) advantage and power over people who are less fortunate and even more helpless than us to do anything about world poverty.
I wonder what would happen if our churches made deliberate action to think globally? If our wealthy western churches would partner with an underprivileged country or village or school. Not just as an add-on in the missions program, but as a core part of the church's vision; that they would not think they are succeeding in the mandate on their parish until their partner place/people are being measurably set free from the poverty cycle?
But maybe we need to start something like that in college....
Posted by: Deborah Taggart | September 08, 2006 at 12:36 PM
Deb you make some great points in your post above.
Its a fine balance that we walk between living in our Western culture, and where and how we support other poorer cultures.
I agree that compared to those poorer nations the poorest among us are normally very wealthy, in comparison there is no struggling and poor students in our colleges. Yet I wonder if it is helpful to compare the two economies and in doing so become guilt ridden for living in comparatable abundance in the land that God has chosen for us to live?
I remember reading Loren Cunningham from YWAM saying that wealth is created, and I think one of the blessings of the Gospel is one of wealth.
I must point out that I am not preaching a prosperity Gospel, come to Jesus and get rich - which is something I absolutely stand against - what I am saying is that I believe the Gospel message has a impact on the land (Shanes Eco - Theology coming to bear) as well as bringing about health, healing and a better standard of living.
Deb, I whole heartedly agree with your closing paragraph and want to make a note that there is a student at the college already who is aiming to start a school in Mozambique and is shortly going over for a short term trip to check it out.
Posted by: Craig Bennett | September 08, 2006 at 04:41 PM
I am struck with this thought. Why are the medicines that are able to treat such diseases considered "low cost interventions"?
Apparently they are not so "low cost" or available in third world/developing countries, which indicates that they are only relatively "low cost" when viewed from the perspective of a first world country.
If it were not for the strength of the first world economies, (extremely) simply put, everybody would be stuffed. With this in mind, I struggle to understand how we are to approach the concept of wealth distribution, and even the environmental effects of 800 million odd Africans for example, forging through an industrial revolution in the light of global warming and other ecological epidemics.
I read somewhere, that if it were not for the $40 viagra tablets, and those (wealthy first worlders) who would pay for them, the $2 Malaria pills would cost a hell of a lot more. It's definitely an interesting point to ponder.
My point at the end of all this is that there is no simple solution...there are simply too many variables in the world to effect a complete change in the situation, and everything that we do has it's own latent and manifest functions attached.
I think it is interesting that Jesus stated that we would ALWAYS have the poor with us, perhaps because we would ALWAYS be here to make it so.
Even our Protestant work ethic influences such processes...Paul's statement that the worker is worthy of his food is a paradigm that affects how we as Christians treat the rest of the world. Can you hold a truly charitable economic paradigm and remain faithful to the Pauline paradigm of the "Protestant work ethic" that was observed by sociologists?
Posted by: Joshua Ballard | September 09, 2006 at 01:48 AM
Hi Joshua,
I would answer your last paragraph with another question, in that it would depend if we are only feeding the village fish, or teaching them to breed and catch the fish for themselves.
Even in Australia we have a charitable mentality and don't pay for all we use / get on a even basis. The wealthy pay more and subsidise the poor. Such as through the tax system, which pays for public schools, subsidised medicine, medical and hospital to name a few.
Then there is housing assistance, austudy, abstudy, parenting payments etc and so I wonder just how far we as Christians are to take Pauls statement, and should all the students at college refuse to go on austudy, instead have to go and work to support themselves, should we refuse to go on Fee Help as Paul also tells us not to go into debt?
I think the low cost preventions that Shane is talking about are the polio, small pox type vacinations that we take for granted in Australia, and which has virtually been wiped out in our nation, but is still rampant in these nations.
Its interesting regarding Hiv, Rick Warren from Saddleback Church is investing a lot of time and energy in addressing the issue in 3rd world countries,
http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=9779
Posted by: Craig Bennett | September 09, 2006 at 08:16 AM
Jesus might have said "the poor you have with you always" - but that was in reference to people complaining about he and his disciples enjoying life - not a capitulation to poverty. Indeed, Jesus' entire ministry is directed toward preaching good news to the poor, liberating captives etc - a message that sounds thoroughly optimistic to me.
The issue of course is whether there is solutions. Those interested in this topic, might a suggest a fascinating book by Joseph Sachs, The end of poverty.
Posted by: Shane Clifton | September 09, 2006 at 08:50 AM
I do agree, that the ministry of Jesus accomplished such things, and it is an optimistic ministry, however preaching the good news to the poor should not be solely envisaged as the economically downtrodden...otherwise we would ask what this good news would mean to a poor person? What else but prosperity? (That's a Kenneth Copeland special, not mine.)
We have good contextual indicators that the "poor" was a reference to those who were outside of the covenant people of God, and not necessarily people who lived below a certain economic marker. 1st Century social constructions such as Honor/Shame with Client/Patron attachments had much more influence on your ability to eat than having money.
This does not negate the need for ministry of charity to those who have no money, after all, I am a student here too.
Craig's post seems to assume that it is as simple as "teaching a man to fish" rather than feeding the villagers. I do agree that there is an efficiency and a value to teaching the man to fish, but there is a bit of a problem which will manifest down the track as soon as we start to see success. And we will, because we value efficiency.
Can you imagine an un-regulated (un-regulated because it would stifle economic growth in the region) African "fishing" industry rising up in the middle of the 21st century when Kyoto agreements (that we are not a part of) start to come into effect?
The ecological effects of 800 million Africans moving through an industrial revolution would be just as damaging, or if not even MORE damaging to the environment that the European and American industrial revolutions were.
The environmental effects would actually make more people sicker than they already are.
Aids on the other hand is an issue that simply does not NEED to exist. Rick Warren's plans do appear well reasoned, but fails to take into account what happened in western contexts when condoms became freely available, and the risks associated with sex were reduced. And that's in a "Christian" context that has/had a socially stigmatising view on sexuality.
I think that the solution is not ever going to be acheived on a nationwide or regionwide level, at least without having some seriously nasty side effects which have latent functions which will affect - basically - the way the entire planet functions. The success of Africa in recovering from being in the economic toilet would ACTUALLY have a de-stabilising effect on the world stage. All of a sudden you have to take Africa's opinions into account when dealing with international issues of security. It's already hard enough dealing with Russia and China, which is also a part of the reason the Middle East is intentionally kept unstable.
It's much easier economically and politically, to deal with rag-tag bunches of militia, and call it the "war on terror" (which like the "war on drugs" don't have definable goals) than to deal with a self-sustaining government that can fund a large standing army.
Why are we not in North Korea? We don't want the responsibility of cleaning up after that mess.
It's not as simple as forgiving third world debt, or even giving more aid. The way that the entire world interacts with itself needs to change, and short of Jesus himself kicking everyone's asses into line, it ain't gonna happen.
Jesus' ministry was to individuals on an individual basis. He calls his followers personally, or at the very least interacts with them personally and when they come to him en masse, he speaks hard words that whittle down the numbers...it is this individual that eventually moves into community with other individuals, and they then create their own methods of interaction with themselves and others outside the group.
I don't think it is prudent to run around saying that we have solutions to the whole African poverty problem, while decrying the west for it's wealth, because frankly we don't have solutions. The knock on effects of any action that we take will not be catastrophic, but simply more of the same, which would be a catastrophy in itself.
All that we would be doing would be re-defining who the poor are, and we could quickly find that it would be us. What do you think will happen to tithing when THAT happens?
With all of this being said. I am actually for social justice...it is something that I believe strongly in, and cannot be seperated from the ministry of the Spirit.
But our methodologies, and areas of approach will probably turn out to be substantially different.
I hope that this hasn't been too much of a downer for people, but I think that even in the light of all the apparent hopelessness...that we would continue to act. It is a virtue ethic that acts even when pragmatics or utility fail to provide reasonable solutions.
The Christian issue isn't the problem of people being IN poverty, after all, we know that during his ministry Jesus was a peasant whose ministry survived by the generosity of those who followed him. But what is the Christian issue in the face of poverty? the ministry TO those people.
Otherwise Jesus could wave his hand, speak to the ground and undo the curse and all poverty would simply cease.
I wait for THAT day with pure excitement.
Posted by: Joshua Ballard | September 09, 2006 at 04:49 PM
Oh, and please forgive the length of that one...
Posted by: Joshua Ballard | September 09, 2006 at 04:50 PM
Josh, you seem a little fatalistic.
There is no need for a lot of these people to die the way they are. For example children are dying every day because they don’t have basic things like clean water to drink. We can stop that.
This is an emergency. As Christians we have a duty to help these kids in a very dangerous situation. As half decent human beings we have a duty help these kids.
It’s not a matter of “redefining who the poor are”. We are never going to redistribute so much of our wealth than we can’t afford clean drinking water.
You say: “what is the Christian issue in the face of poverty? the ministry TO those people”. I think it is pretty difficult to minister to a corpse.
People dying senselessly and the perpetuation of systems and lifestyles which reinforce extreme inequality resulting in thousands dying every day is a Christian issue.
This should be a much more important issue for Christians than protecting the environment (except insofar as the environment is needed to be in a certain state for human beings to prosper).
Regards
Posted by: Luke P | September 10, 2006 at 01:33 PM
Luke i agree wholeheartedly - until the last sentence. Surely it doesnt have to be either or but both and! Surely all of Gods creation (including humanity) - have value - and we can both minister to the poor and seek to protect the environment
Posted by: Shane Clifton | September 10, 2006 at 05:29 PM
In my opinion, if we take the view that humanity is made in the image of God, thus the value in each person, the issue of poverty in the world ought to be central to the mission of the church. It is unfortunate that today, many churches in affluent countries avoid this issue (Usually not because we don't recognise the importance, but it is something that makes us feel uncomfortable).
One of the ways in which the church can respond is to work together with existing mission organizations or the government in the less-developed countries, to set up basic infrastructures to meet the basic needs of the people. For example, pipe systems that provide clean drinking water for the poor. The church can either help out financially, or send people with the appropriate expertise to help out at various times.
A fine balance has to be maintained, where the church does not just 'pump' money into an area suffering from extreme poverty, resulting in the poor seeing the church as a 'money-provider'. Initially, it would be useful for the church to provide the basic needs to the poor. Afterwhich, the church can help to teach them (in Christian lingo) "how to fish" so as to support, maintain and improve the initial systems that had been set up for them.
Even as we address this issue in our churches, we have to be careful not to have an attitude that condemns those who are financially well-off and are not doing anything to help the poor, neither do we encourage an attitude of self-righteousness for those who are doing their utmost to help alleviate poverty.
Posted by: Caroline Quek | September 11, 2006 at 06:04 PM
These statistics deeply sadden me. It's not so much what these people live in but rather the difficulty in breaking the cycle-the fact that they may never rise above it.
These discussions draw me back to our reading of kevin rudd's article in the sense that our political voice, in my opinion, should be one in support of the poorer people in our nation and beyond. I really think our political voice can make such a difference. I challenge people to look beyond traditional political parties to see which ones are working for the poor. I challenge people to voice their opinions to those who lead us.
I strongly believe its our role as Christians to lead the way in addressing the issue of poverty - not to wait until other leaders and influencial organisations decide they want to focus on it. eg-poverty existed people "make poverty history" - Christians knew about it and could have made a stand. Instead of just talking about making a change, it is time we as Christians decided to take a stand.
Posted by: Liz Langton | September 11, 2006 at 06:13 PM
I don't have anything intelligent to add to this discussion without restating the obvious or irrelevant so instead let me just do one of those shameless plugs for 'Compassion Australia.' I sponsor a little dude in the Dominican Republic with my wife; for $50 a month, he is fed, clothed, educated, tought the gospel, and moreover, his entire family and village is aided as a result. Thr great thing is that its not just a handout, but its giving him the ability to learn how to live and provide for himself. My point is that we ask what we can do, well heres a great place to start. It wont save the whole world, but it helps one family and potentially more people in the childs life.
I mean we sit here forever trying to define the term poor and who fits this category, or we can put our money where our mouth is and do something about it reletive to our current position in life.
Posted by: adam white | September 12, 2006 at 06:54 PM
sorry bout the spelling mistakes, I just read it, woops.
Posted by: adam white | September 12, 2006 at 06:57 PM
Whilst reading this I was again reminded of the time I spent in the Northern Territory. I remember sitting around a campfire with one family one night in an Aboriginal community near Katherine sharing in fellowship with their 'mob'. I had the plivedge of being able to talk to a 10 yr old boy, in year 5 at school, by the name of Nico. Nico and I were doing some maths together cause he told me it was his favourite subject. I would hold up both hands and say whats 5 plus 5 and he would say "7! 6! 8!" It was a shock to me because he barely seemed able to count to 10 even using my fingers to do so. It was so common in many of the communities I visited for children to be quite illiterate if not completely. It was confronting. How do Aboriginal children deal with the everyday things of getting a job, drivers lisence and whatever else with the inability to read?
There were other problems too - lack of fresh food in some places, school buildings that are constantly flooded each wet season so classes can not even go ahead, problems with alcohol and issues associated with isolation.
While, I dont think the majority of the Aboriginal people are in 'extreme poverty',not even close to what it would be in Africa, I do think we need to understand the importance of looking after our people here also. I am definately not...defintately not!!..please hear my heart in that....discounting the importance of supporting mission overseas in places like Africa where poverty is so full on, rather I think we should also seek the Lord for what he would have us to do serve him in the area of the poor here in Australia also.
Returning briefly once more to the area of education again, some communities had Aboriginal teachers teaching the children in the school. I think in any situation of inequality or the poor we need to first address the immediate issues then come alongside those in the community to raise them up to be active in lifting up their own communities. All that needs to be done with the highest level of respect and understanding for individuals and the broader community. Perhaps this could be part of the mission of the church in dealing with issues of poverty and the poor?
Posted by: Sarah Todd | September 12, 2006 at 07:46 PM
Let's do something!
World poverty... The only solution as I see it is economical development. In this discussion don't forget that south East Asia had the same problems as Africa 40-50 years ago. What has happened in South East Asia during the last 40 years is economical development. Things have actually happened and it is possible for the global economy to grow.
As Christians we have to act on all arenas, everything from emergency aid, school projects, micro business enterprise to fare trade agreements for developing countries. Most important is that we don't develop a social welfare mentality in Africa. People must work for themselves. What can we do then...?
My suggestion is that we start to sell Fair trade goods here at SCC. There are companies here in Australia that are a part of the fair-trade organization. One of these companies is Tribes and Nations www.tribesandnations.com.au
To quote their promo material "By buying Fair-trade you are paying farmers and labourers worldwide the fair wage that even today they are being denied. Enjoy the quality and know that the lack of bitterness is more than just skin deep!"
Let’s us do something about it, wouldn’t it be great if we Christian could be leading in a global movement towards Fair-trade instead of sitting on the back bench.
Posted by: Marcus Henningsson | September 13, 2006 at 12:24 PM
I do have to say two things on Joshua's comments. Firstly it would appear from Jesus' own statements that although He relied on the money of those he ministered to, his own statements would suggest he was otherwise wealthier then we think. 2 Corinthians 8v9. It could be a misreading but I think He was wealthy, I think we underestimate the gifts from the magi, and the ability for a family to go into egypt, another country, to live.
Secondly I would think Joshua that their can be significant change, how I do not know, but are we not the kingdom people, are we not filled with the Spirit, can we not acheive the purpose to which we were sent, lest it have been a deceiption that we "could" preach the "gospel"(in its fullest sense) to the world.
I wouldn't right off the Church yet, we may be slow, we may be weak, we may have flaws and a long way to go, but we are children of God and I will not let the victory be taken away before we have a chance to take it. I agree that it seems impossible, I agree that for one person the difference they could make to so much need seems like a drop in the ocean, but I just can't lose hope, and I know that together, with time, we can do something significant, as Adam said, atleast for one person at a time.
I strongly agree with you Caroline and Adam in regards to action, the first thing we need to do is decide to do something. With the goal infront and the wheels moving, then we can make a difference. We can't from our arm chairs.
I also Strongly agree with Sarah as well. I too have spent time in the NT in litchfield park working with Aboriginal Students at a school virtually in the middle of knowhere.
I was shocked to hear and see the difference in standards of living within our very own country.
We can do something here
One thing I must add, I feel like always bringing up government but I would have to say that leadership is a huge key to ensuring economic success. Also peace and justice is essential to any economy. As the proverb goes, "By justice a king gives a country stability," Proverbs (28v4a).
Without peace and justice a fair and equal economy cannot be established. I believe that along with education, aid etc, the leadership musy be reached. The misuse of resources for example is one thing that harms a countries chance for success.
Another thing I must add, In light of global ecology stats and the new awareness on the environment, we can expect large changes to happen to the way our economies run in regards to the environment. A healthy and sustainable balance must be reached, the world is crying out against our misuse of the environment and things need to change now. I found it very insightful your addition of this subject Josh and agree that the industrialisation of all countries will hurt all countries. We need a sort of eco-economy. I think in a sense the way we do life in regards to polution, fossil fuels etc will change. China and India are currently the two fastest growing economies in the world, and the limiting factor for their growth seems to be access to oil, and power from coal and nuclear energy. For instance China doubles our countries entire pollution output I think it was every 9 months. Even if Australia stops all green house gas emission tomorrow, in 9 months China would have taken our share of pollution up anyway (That was John Howards reasons for not enforcing a green house limit on energy companies). This will effect everything we know about life today, and will run hand in hand with all aspects of the gospel we preach and will effect our means of achieving economic growth in the poorer nations and ours as well.
I don't think I have answered anything here but hopefully have stirred the pot for thought
Posted by: Andrew Youd | October 25, 2006 at 11:48 PM
Good post Andrew, The first thing I would like to do is to ponder on some of the statistics posted by Shane:
• More than 10 million children die each year before the age of five, and more than 98% of these live in poor countries.
• Why! “They die because of where they are born.” Almost all “of these deaths could be prevented by simple, low-cost interventions.”
• In some countries more than 50% of children are considered to be underweight.
• More than 850 million people worldwide suffer from the deleterious effects of malnutrition, which in turn makes them vulnerable to ill health and disease.
• HIV/AIDS infection rates in certain African nations exceeding 15% of the population.
• More than 1 billion people lack access to safe water and 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation.
• Citizens of the worlds poorest 32 countries can expect to live an average of less than 46 years. In Sub-Saharan Africa, people born in nations such as Zambia have a life expectancy of as little as 37 years.
• On a global scale, however, there are presently more than 854 million illiterate adults.
• Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, less than 60% of primary aged children are enrolled in school, 20% for secondary school aged children.
• On average, people in Mozambique will receive 4 years of education, whereas the average person in North America and Europe is educated for more than 15 years.
• One-quarter of Zambian children emerge from primary school able to pass basic literacy tests.”
• Non availability of modern technologies for most of the population in poorer nations.
• Less than 2% of low income countries have access to the internet – places in which
• Less than 3% of people have access to technology as basic as a mainline telephone.
I hope none of the readers of this blog see this as just a “cut and paste” exercise; these stats are about REAL PEOPLE!!! When we read them we should feel uncomfortable and uneasy and even a little ashamed. So, what can or should we be doing to help these people?
Josh is both right and wrong when he says, “I don't think it is prudent to run around saying that we have solutions to the whole African poverty problem, while decrying the west for its wealth, because frankly we don't have solutions.” (Quote) We (you and I) do not, nor should we be prudent enough to think that we have the solutions to the whole African poverty problem (as a lot of her problems stem from drought, war, corruption and internal issues) but his statement at the end of this quote is a defeatist statement, and sadly it is all to often the western Christian/non-Christian response.
Although complex we should not become defeatist, like any complex problem when you break it down into manageable bytes, you will find areas of influence where we (you and I) can help. E.g. Aid (food, water and medicine/vaccination) is required to help deal with the short term issues, what can we do here? Even if we only feed one child we are, as Adam rightly says, “not only helping the child but also the people in the child’s life.” (Quote) Secondly, education is urgently required (without this there will not be enough resources to allow you to kick start the economy) hopefully; all of us are receiving a good education, so why not use this to influence and help. This doesn’t necessarily mean building a school in Central Africa, but we can go back to our own countries and influence others to do this. What I’m trying to say, in a roundabout way is we can become effective, if we really want to.
Internally, the governments and peoples of poverty stricken nations need to be challenged. As Andrew says, “Without peace and justice a fair and equal economy cannot be established. I believe that along with education, aid etc, the leadership must be reached. The misuse of resources for example is one thing that harms a countries chance for success.” (Quote) This is such a good quote, and totally correct as some of these countries have been at war for decades, and it’s not only destroying lives, but it’s also eating away at the sociological/economical infrastructures; it claims to be upholding or protecting.
I’m not going to go into the (Jesus rich or poor argument) as I feel it only detracts from the issue in hand. However, I would like to comment on some of the problems that may affect western economies, should we have a prosperous Africa. Josh’s statement that, “. The success of Africa in recovering from being in the economic toilet would ACTUALLY have a de-stabilising effect on the world stage. All of a sudden you have to take Africa's opinions into account when dealing with international issues of security. It's already hard enough dealing with Russia and China, which is also a part of the reason the Middle East, is intentionally kept unstable.” (Quote) Sorry, but this sounds like something I’d expect to here from one of GW Bush’s advisors, although I agree, in part, with you comments. But should we allow this to stop or stem the economical growth in Africa. I think not, China and Russia may have their problems but they also have two of the largest economies in the world, and we should use this to our advantage. (America, Britain, Australia and most of Europe already do). I would see this, not as a threat to western sociological/economical stability but as an opportunity to grow even bigger, after all a prosperous Africa opens up a whole new market to trade with. As for the military issue, it’s something we will always have to deal with in a falling world. (yes, I know this is a bit blasé but if we allow these thing to stall us we will never do anything).
As I’ve said earlier, this is an extremely complex problem, but, as Christians, following the teachings of Jesus, (not only His teachings but also His worldly ministry and examples – for more information read the four Gospels) we should see this as our challenge, a challenge we should rise up to, and a challenge that should stir our hearts and reverberate through our every bone, and drive us to act! James 2:14-18 (I’ll show you my faith by what I do) As was said in one of the colleges devotions “sometimes we are called to move the mountain one shovel at a time”. We (you and I) need to stir up this attitude inside ourselves and allow this to become so infectious that every person (Christian and non-Christian) whom we come into contact with gets the message to act and help alleviate and eliminate these problems. What we must never forget, as we (you and I) all too often do, and as I said at the beginning of the blog, “we are talking about real people, dying from the lack of basic low cost commodities” and this needs to STOP.
Posted by: David McAuley | October 26, 2006 at 10:15 AM
I believe God saved us for a reason. Jesus called us and delievered us from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light(The Kingdom of God) for a reason. He definately wants us, His children through the power He is working in us to change or transform the world into the likeness of His Kingdom. Yes, the world needs help in food, water, clothes, shelter and hopely we as Christian does not forget that the Spiritual foods is not neglected. I was pondering about the word Jesus said in the Bible. Jesus stated that "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."(Mat 14:7) I believe Jesus is trying to tell us the world is always having needs to be met and we as human being will try to meet this needs such as the material needs. Jesus says we will always have the poor and He is right. We usually look directly to their physical needs and try to help them. Hey! Jesus says that we will not always have Him! Probably we have been focusing too much of the physical needs of the poor when Jesus is actually emphazising the need of the people who are spiritually lost. I believe He knew if the gospel are to be taken seriously-that is if we share the good news of salvation to them(send more missionaries there),these spiritually poor will give their heart to the Lord Jesus Christ they then will pray in supernatural power of God, God will send His supernatural intervention to help them overcome their poverty which you and I are are trying to think how help eliminate poverty from this earth. Jesus is saying the poor is always around. Perhaps through their personal acceptance of Jesus Christ into their heart and our helps in supplying foods, shelters,clothes,etc will quickly eventually eliminate poverty problems. Yes God is true to His Words and promises. His promises is "Yes" and "Amen". Personally, I have seen God move supernaturally in my life. As you know I am a student and I do not earn a lot of finance but through the prompting of Holy Spirit to sponsor the children in Africa. I gave out of my nothingness and in 2 days time, God miraculously blessed me one thousand dollar for my fees. This is our God. He wants us to walk by faith. He is rich. All He wants us to do is to respond to the needs of the poor,the lost and the needy. My contribution to the children in Africa on monthyly basis is still ongoing and God providing me free accommodations for 1 year. God is amazing. The Bible says "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go."(Jos 1:7) Let us be encourage to help the poor all the times and do it in Jesus ways.
Posted by: Joy Oon | November 04, 2006 at 10:24 PM
I believe God saved us for a reason. Jesus called us and delievered us from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light(The Kingdom of God) for a reason. He definately wants us, His children through the power He is working in us to change or transform the world into the likeness of His Kingdom. Yes, the world needs help in food, water, clothes, shelter and hopely we as Christian does not forget that the Spiritual foods is not neglected. I was pondering about the word Jesus said in the Bible. Jesus stated that "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."(Mat 14:7) I believe Jesus is trying to tell us the world is always having needs to be met and we as human being will try to meet this needs such as the material needs. Jesus says we will always have the poor and He is right. We usually look directly to their physical needs and try to help them. Hey! Jesus says that we will not always have Him! Probably we have been focusing too much of the physical needs of the poor when Jesus is actually emphazising the need of the people who are spiritually lost. I believe He knew if the gospel are to be taken seriously-that is if we share the good news of salvation to them(send more missionaries there),these spiritually poor will give their heart to the Lord Jesus Christ they then will pray in supernatural power of God, God will send His supernatural intervention to help them overcome their poverty which you and I are are trying to think how help eliminate poverty from this earth. Jesus is saying the poor is always around. Perhaps through their personal acceptance of Jesus Christ into their heart and our helps in supplying foods, shelters,clothes,etc will quickly eventually eliminate poverty problems. Yes God is true to His Words and promises. His promises is "Yes" and "Amen". Personally, I have seen God move supernaturally in my life. As you know I am a student and I do not earn a lot of finance but through the prompting of Holy Spirit to sponsor the children in Africa. I gave out of my nothingness and in 2 days time, God miraculously blessed me one thousand dollar for my fees. This is our God. He wants us to walk by faith. He is rich. All He wants us to do is to respond to the needs of the poor,the lost and the needy. My contribution to the children in Africa on monthyly basis is still ongoing and God providing me free accommodations for 1 year. God is amazing. The Bible says "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go."(Jos 1:7) Let us be encourage to help the poor all the times and do it in Jesus ways.
Posted by: Joy Oon | November 04, 2006 at 10:24 PM
I believe God saved us for a reason. Jesus called us and delievered us from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light(The Kingdom of God) for a reason. He definately wants us, His children through the power He is working in us to change or transform the world into the likeness of His Kingdom. Yes, the world needs help in food, water, clothes, shelter and hopely we as Christian does not forget that the Spiritual foods is not neglected. I was pondering about the word Jesus said in the Bible. Jesus stated that "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."(Mat 14:7) I believe Jesus is trying to tell us the world is always having needs to be met and we as human being will try to meet this needs such as the material needs. Jesus says we will always have the poor and He is right. We usually look directly to their physical needs and try to help them. Hey! Jesus says that we will not always have Him! Probably we have been focusing too much of the physical needs of the poor when Jesus is actually emphazising the need of the people who are spiritually lost. I believe He knew if the gospel are to be taken seriously-that is if we share the good news of salvation to them(send more missionaries there),these spiritually poor will give their heart to the Lord Jesus Christ they then will pray in supernatural power of God, God will send His supernatural intervention to help them overcome their poverty which you and I are are trying to think how help eliminate poverty from this earth. Jesus is saying the poor is always around. Perhaps through their personal acceptance of Jesus Christ into their heart and our helps in supplying foods, shelters,clothes,etc will quickly eventually eliminate poverty problems. Yes God is true to His Words and promises. His promises is "Yes" and "Amen". Personally, I have seen God move supernaturally in my life. As you know I am a student and I do not earn a lot of finance but through the prompting of Holy Spirit to sponsor the children in Africa. I gave out of my nothingness and in 2 days time, God miraculously blessed me one thousand dollar for my fees. This is our God. He wants us to walk by faith. He is rich. All He wants us to do is to respond to the needs of the poor,the lost and the needy. My contribution to the children in Africa on monthyly basis is still ongoing and God providing me free accommodations for 1 year. God is amazing. The Bible says "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go."(Jos 1:7) Let us be encourage to help the poor all the times and do it in Jesus ways.
Posted by: Joy Oon | November 04, 2006 at 10:26 PM
As the global church have been presented to the issue of poverty, it needs to react with urgency. As the media more than ever gives us access to information, the sense of responsibility needs to grow. The boundaries of the countries are being teared down in a rapidly paste. Basically the process of globalization that have taken place throughout the last decade, puts a demand on us as a church to react.
The wealthy western church cannot exclude themselves from the responsibility of the welfare of the UNIVERSAL CHURCH. The scriptures urge christians to go into the world and make disciples of all men. I believe this can be seen from the angle regarding the responsibility of discipleship. If we focus on doing social work on different levels in our third world countries, we automatically expand the kingdom of God. When we help the people in need that are so present all around us, we minister the love and grace of our almighty God that WILL lead people to Salvation!!
The church should stress people's awareness of what happenes outside the four walls of the church, and as a part of that make them aware of the responsibilty which then will lead to great action.
I have used the word responsibilty a whole lot through my response. Because that is what I think the issue of poverty is. And may I say, that I can see an increase of understanding of this in some churches. Obviously, society, there is a sense of what people may say is a trend, that is to remove poverty. Pop stars and celebrities are doing something about poverty, why shouldn't we?
Well, I think it is a bit disturbing when Christians starts condemning those that are already acting on their responsibility because they think that 'the Church should be the leading force.' And yes, ofcourse we have to do something SIGNIFICANT with the global issue of poverty, but shouldn't we also cheer the unsaved pop stars and celebrities on to continue taking the focus on themselves and help people in their world? In believe, in the midst of their sacrifice in doing this, they WILL discover and realize the power of the ONE who TRUUULY sacrificed. I believe it will be a double effect word wide!!! Any how, the kingdom of God will expand.
Posted by: Cathrin Pedersen | November 06, 2006 at 10:12 PM
there is quite a large gulf between prosperity teaching and liberation teaching. one would say give and youll receive more back and use your wealth to help others. in opposition, liberating people spiritualy with the gospel and helping them with mindsets etc is the other option. while debates after debates continue as to how we should approach this issue, it would seem that we have forgotten to act at all. Christians have gotten really good at arguing about how we should help, and really bad at the actual helping. Lets remember that God is looking for our response to poverty. we each have a responsibility. lets start doing something, whether we are giving every dollar (which seems unwise) or solely preaching the Gospel to the poor (which also seems to lack understanding) lets start doing something. too many people are talking but not enough people are actually helping anyone! note: i am preaching to myself more than anyone!
Posted by: jared shaw | November 16, 2006 at 02:04 PM
The response of the church weighs heavily upon many. In recent years I have found that the society of most all the western world has given much greater attention to the poverty world wide. It has become some what of a trend to have a sponsor child, build wells, support building initiative and provide food for those who could not survive without outside assistance. It has come so far that now there are campaigns such as (RED) that has been developed to help to eliminate aids and to help those who suffer from it. This touches our every day lives through the use of a credit card, i pods, clothing and so on. It's part of the way the world has chosen to invite the masses into changing world sickness and poverty. There is a sense of significance and accomplishment when one purchases one of these things as they are, 'helping to change world poverty.'
For the church though I wonder if we have just stepped aside and accepted this as the extent of what we (and the world) can do and just follow on after the world initiatives. The church has in recent years made huge headway in making a difference on world poverty, providing education and medical clinics. Yet, I don’t think that we have gone far enough. I do believe that we have a responsibility and that we should not shy away from issues that are ‘bigger’ then ourselves. The western church is a church of great wealth and I personally would not condemn that. For the more wealth we possess the more wealth we can give. As believers I believe we should seek to establish ourselves financially and to be known as wealthy. Not wealthy for that which we possess necessarily but wealthy for that which we do for the world in regards to poverty and sickness.
I believe within the church there are creative minds who can come up with new ideas and initiatives to actually make a difference upon the world scene. And that we should be working along side those who are already doing such things to make a difference and be leading the way in other areas where the world has not yet stepped up.
Posted by: Rachel Haynes | November 17, 2006 at 09:15 AM
Reading the statistics and the numbers, it's quite impossible not to feel a sense of impotence in front of such suffering, disease and lack. And the fact that it affects the children and the younger generations make it even more dramatic. The church has a task ahead to do whatever is in its possibility to come towards these needs. Even if that would signify personal sacrifice. On one hand I agree with Rachel in not condemning the western Church for its wealth, because it can be used to bles those in need. The problem is when that doesn't happen. An ethical question should be addressed by the Church and raised in the conscience of every believer: a wise use of money is necessary, we shouldn't be wasting it. If anyone should live aware of the immense need in another part of the world, it is not only to consider ourselves lucky or blessed, but it is to be ready to bless and give. To go a step further, maybe we could restrict some of our wealth to bless them, not because that would solve the problem, but because that would make us humble, and would keep our conscience sensitive. With so many distractions in our society, in fact, it is easy to get distracted by so many things: we could listen to terrific statistics, see incredible devastating images, but a couple of hours later we just have forgotten about it, and maybe not think about it anymore till the next news, or newspaper would point out the problem again. One thing that could be healthy for the church members is to get on a mission-trip or just to visit a third world country, to see once by near the life conditions of those people. It could bring that reality much closer to our heart, and the Church would surely be ready to do more.Sponsoring childen is the most common response that many Churches have been giving lately to poverty, but another idea would be finding skilled people willing to get in some third world country, not only to bring the gospel, but also to do train and teach people to new activities and jobs, giving an actual solution, but also a future investment for those local communities. Every kind of intervention,though, could still seem just a little drop of water in a desert. But its time a rain of many little drops of water could fall in those barren and needy lands.
Posted by: Stefan Bachmann | November 20, 2006 at 11:03 AM