Justice Day 3 Poor and Hopeless?

Proverbs 31:8-9
Psalm 113:5-8
Luke 6:20-21  

I currently live in one of the fastest growing counties in Georgia. Everywhere you look, land that used to stretch for miles, has been plowed to make room for more and more housing developments. You would think with all of the building and families relocating to our area it would mean that we live in a fairly wealthy place, and while that may be true to a certain degree, if you drive just a few minutes from my apartment you’ll enter a completely different world.

One where an entire family lives in a 600sq ft home with nothing but a pallet on the floor for all the children and five radishes in the fridge. You’d see children who rely on breakfast and lunch at school and starve in the summertime. You’d see eyes of sadness, as they search for someone to help them, and no one will look up to see the need right before them.

These precious sons and daughters of God are in my backyard, and I am so guilty of driving right by without stopping. Poverty isn’t just found in third world countries, it surrounds us every day.

A few months ago, I messaged one of my dearest friends, Anna, whom I met on my first trip to Kenya, seven years ago. Anna, and her husband Ryan, are co-founders of the non-profit organization, One Heart Africa, and have lived on a farm in Swaziland for the last three years. Anna sees poverty every day, so I asked her a simple question: help me see what you see.
Here’s what she said….

I know this isn’t the most graceful way to say this, but… poverty sucks.
I see families ripped apart as one parent leaves to find work elsewhere and never returns.
I see poverty play a role in the spread of treatable and/or preventable illnesses like HIV, parasites, ringworm, malnutrition, and malaria just to name a few.
I see bright young men and women full of hope and potential dropping out of high school because they can no longer afford the $300-ish for school fees.
I am constantly followed in the grocery store by kids and adults who ask me if I can buy their groceries.
I despise feeling guilty when I don’t.

But, most of all, I hate how poverty completely alters the brains of those who have experienced it.

I think the best illustration of this kind of “re-wiring” is the little girl and boy who live on the farm with us. They are seven and five, and grew up in an informal settlement (kind of like a slum area) where their parents struggled to keep work and life was anything but stable.  

Now, both of their parents have dependable employment on the farm, they have safe housing, steady meals, and are deeply loved, protected, and cared for. But, every time they see food, they inhale it. If there’s any left over, they stick it in their pockets to save for later. We often find them using things that we’ve thrown away (like paper and plastic food packaging). The kids make toys out of bottle caps and coke cans despite having been gifted toys. Building trust is hard, making plans is hard, teaching budgeting is hard.

Poverty teaches the brain to only do what needs to be done to survive. 

I’ve given away meals, clothes, school supplies and medicine.
I’ve seen people living in trash dumps, tents, huts, and shacks made of scrap. But, after all of that, this is the conclusion I’ve come to:
being physically poor is not the worst thing that a person can be.

Penniless is one thing.
Hopeless is another.

There are plenty of people I know who lack “things” and yet, God takes care of them. It’s such a beautiful picture of trust and provision.
In fact, Jesus blesses the poor!

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours in the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.” (Luke 6:20-21)

But, being poor and hopeless?
That’s a problem.
So, that’s our job—to bless those who we would consider to be less fortunate or have less than ourselves through much more than tangible gifts, but with the eternal HOPE.
Sometimes that blessing DOES look like meeting the physical need of another person, right then and there.

We MUST realize that “blessing someone” is not just giving away stuff.
It also looks like sitting down, listening to their struggles, making plans, searching for opportunity, sharing hope, confronting the ugly stuff, crying, humbling ourselves, asking for forgiveness, and praying. A lot.  

So today, my sweet sister, what needs could you meet for someone?
Not just the physical needs, but the spiritual and emotional needs too.
Do you have a local mission you could partner with to be the hands and feet of Jesus?
Do you have someone in mind that could use the extra baby clothes you have stored away?
How is God moving in you to love the impoverished today?

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