The past year we launched the 58: Initiative, engaging thousands of you in the movement to end poverty. This year we’d like you to join us on the 58: Global Impact Tour.

You can also view the Join the 58: Global Impact Tour video on YouTube.

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Imagine a young couple in the labor and delivery room experiencing the birth of their first child. Hear her groans, see the sweat, and feel the anxious tension.

Now place a bag of potato chips in the husband’s hands and picture him munching away as he watches his wife give birth. As if it were on TV. It’s just wrong!

Or picture the man standing in the baptismal with his pastor. He’s wearing a white robe and preparing to confess Jesus as Lord of his life as he publicly identifies with the death, burial, and resurrection of his Lord in baptism.

Then, out from the folds of his robe, he brings forth the bag of chips and starts munching. Never!

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” “Her mother and I.”

Munch munch.

No!

These are sacred moments. And in sacred moments, we do not eat. It seems wrong to eat. We don’t think about not eating in the moment — it simply feels unnatural and unthinkable.

Scot McKnight defines fasting as the “natural response of a person to a grievous sacred moment.” McKnight emphasizes that fasting is a natural response.

Like not eating during your wedding vows because the moment is too sacred. Like not eating as you look into the casket at a funeral because the moment is too grievous.

McKnight emphasizes that fasting is a response to a very serious situation, not a device to take us from a good level to a better level. Did you get that?

Read the rest of this excerpt from Scott’s book, Fast Living, at Outreach Magazine

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Then over the next several weeks we’ll publish a series of posts to help clearly establish what our definition and understanding of the problem is and explain to you the basis of our holistic approach to ministry.

You might expect that such a fundamental and heavily studied concept as poverty would have a universal definition; however, such is not the case.

Common definitions, such as those from Merriam-Webste’s Online Dictionary, define poverty as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.”

Professional and academic descriptions of poverty often include non-income aspects such as health, security/vulnerability, self-respect/identity, justice, access to services, political voice, freedom, social connectedness and so on.

Unfortunately, the absence of a clear definition is a serious problem for organizations whose missions are to eradicate poverty or, in Compassion’s case, to release children from poverty.

- Scott Todd, Senior Ministry Advisor, Compassion International

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What is Compassion International all about?

Well, first and foremost, we’re about Jesus. We are Christ centered. We “release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.” We work through the local church, and we work in response to the Great Commission.

We demonstrate what we’re about in how we behave – what we do and how we do it.

We’re child focused. We develop children. Each child we serve is ministered to personally, and each church partner we work with tailors its programs to meet the specific needs of the children in its community. We help children in poverty become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults. We give them an opportunity to succeed.

As we do this, we refute the lie of poverty and are that much closer to eliminating extreme poverty altogether.

But how we go about fighting extreme poverty contrasts with how other organizations work toward the same goal. We fight poverty personally, while many organizations fight it communally.

I don’t mean that other organizations aren’t personally invested or committed to eliminating extreme poverty. I mean that a child-focused, child development approach to fighting poverty is distinctly different from a broader, community development approach.

I believe that community development is important work, and I suspect that everyone at Compassion would agree it’s important. But as Tony Neeves, our Vice President of International Development, says, we don’t agree that community development is the best approach to eliminating extreme poverty because over the years we’ve learned that changed circumstances rarely change people’s lives and changed people inevitably change their circumstances.

So, which method do you think is more effective?

What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each? Do the two methods complement one another or work against one another?

And if you had complete control over limited resources to use in the fight against poverty, how would you approach it? Would you focus on children, on communities or something else?

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How do you define a miracle? I heard once that it is “a divine or supernatural invasion into human affairs.” Pretty simple explanation, don’t you think?

I find myself praying for miracles every day and they all look and sound quite different. Some are for healing for friends who are sick. Some are for perfect provision for families. Some are for little, personal things like …  returned e-mails. Perhaps that seems trivial or petty, but there has been an e-mail I have been waiting for, hoping for really, for months now. At this point, it would seem like a miracle to get a response.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but here at Compassion many people believe that we can eliminate extreme poverty in our generation. Let’s put a little more structure in that statement, shall we?

To eliminate means to remove, to expel, to exclude, even to murder.

How big is the problem of extreme poverty? Three billion people worldwide and 1 billion children deep.

You might think we’re “drunk on the spirit,” and that our goal is unrealistic, completely irrational or even not Biblical. I will be honest with you, I thought it was out of reach, too. Truly, I thought it to be an impossible task.

But lately, both personally and professionally, God has been asking me this simple question — “Do you have any idea who I am? I know you think you do. But do you believe that I am the God of the Bible? The one who parts seas, makes rivers in the desert, and brings bread from boulders?

“Do you believe I am a God of signs and wonders? Do you believe I am as big as you tell others I am? Do you believe I still perform miracles, Meredith?”

I wonder if I am the only one who preaches bigger than they pray. I used to be Baptist, which means I get excited when I talk about Jesus and I get loud when I read Scripture. You could say I’m passionate.

But I also play my prayer life safe. I don’t pray big prayers because I’m scared they’re too lofty, too much. And in the event that God would say “No,” to one of my astronomical prayers, I don’t want to be disappointed. So I don’t even risk asking.

Here’s the thing — this is not how we are instructed to pray or live. As Christ kneeled in the garden of Gethsemane, He asked the Lord to take the cup of sacrifice from Him. God said no. But Jesus obeyed, did as He was told, and saved humankind for all time.

We, as believers, are called to defend the poor and needy, to advocate for the oppressed, to fight injustice. If we do as we are told, if we obey God’s call and mandate on our lives, we would be crazy to think that He won’t show up in a big way, being faithful to what He has promised to do.

He cannot deny Himself — and if He is present in your soul, making Himself manifest in your thoughts, words and actions, then He will not deny you or your request.

Pray bigger with me. Pray for miracles. Pray for signs and wonders.

Pray that extreme poverty would come to an end in our lifetime. And after you pray, do something.

It’s not radical …  it’s Biblical.

Editor’s note: Extreme poverty is the severest state of poverty. People living in extreme poverty cannot meet their most basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation and health care.

The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than U.S. $1.25 per day, and estimates that more than 1 billion people currently live under these conditions and another 2 billion survive on less than U.S. $2 per day.

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According to a recent study by the U.N.’s World Health Organization, good progress is being made on health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• Fewer children are dying.
• The estimated percentage of underweight children under 5 has dropped.
• New HIV infections have declined.
• Existing cases of tuberculosis are declining.
• The world is on track to achieve the MDG target on access to safe drinking water.

Let’s just pause for a moment to let this sink in. We are making progress. Let’s celebrate this!

Of course, this doesn’t mean we can slow down in our fight against global poverty. If anything, seeing progress should motivate us to work even harder. And, as has been mentioned around here before, eliminating extreme poverty is just a matter of priorities.

The annual income of Christian American churchgoers is $5.2 trillion. The amount of money needed to end global poverty is about $74 billion a year. … Basically, 1 percent of our annual income a year is what is needed to end extreme poverty.

So the question is, what are your priorities?

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Are you still with me? Still tracking with these thoughts on eliminating poverty? Good.

Now, I’ll share with you some data – data that show the Millennium Development Goals are on target.

We used to say that 40,000 children under age 5 die every day of hunger or preventable diseases. Then about 6 to 7 years ago this number was 30,000. Today, 24,000 children under 5 die every day of hunger or preventable diseases.

These statistics show that in 20 years the number of children who die every day of hunger or preventable diseases has been cut in half. Yet, the birth rate is actually going up. The population is increasing.

The blue line represents the years 1800 to 2000. In 1800, 85 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. Today it’s around 22 percent.

Between 1950 and 2000 there was a dramatic decline from 55 percent to 22 percent.

From 1981 to 2001 the population living in extreme poverty in China dropped from 60 percent to about 10 percent. And the same dramatic decline can be seen in India; the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty has dropped from over 60 percent to about 34 percent.

Between 1990 and 2005 the death rate for children under 5 in the Middle East and North Africa was cut in half. It is on target for the fourth Millennium Development Goal, to reduce by two thirds the mortality of children under 5.

And the same is true for Central America and the Caribbean. The death rate of children has been cut in half in the past 15 years.

Scott proceeded to show graphs from South Asia, Europe, Central Asia and East Asia and the Pacific. All showing that the death rate of children under 5 has drastically decreased.

In fact, the only area where we are behind for decreasing the mortality rate for children under 5 is sub-Saharan Africa, and yet there is still a decline.

All over the world sanitation and water quality have been improving.

As this graph represents, the spread of HIV in Africa has been curbed; it is not increasing as it had in years past; in fact, it seems to be flat-lining.

All these statistics strongly support what Jeffery Sachs (a world-class economist with a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard) has said,

“Ending extreme poverty* is a practical, achievable objective and is an objective that can be completed by our generation.”

He is making this statement through the lens of an economist, as someone looking at the numbers. He is saying this from a secular viewpoint. How much more true his statement is when adopted by us whose belief is rooted in the Creator of the universe. The One who stated, “There shall be no poor among you.”

To bring us to a close, Scott brought us back to Judas’ life. A man who walked with Jesus, who witnessed the miracles and the love of the Lord, yet he betrayed Jesus because of his greed and love for money. He sold Jesus for about half the value of the perfume Mary anointed Jesus with.

Scott states,

“The wealthy church today, the American church, has been entrusted with a purse of the Kingdom. The majority of Christ’s followers live in the developing world. What do they think of us as treasurers? Are they assuming that we would put the treasuries of the Kingdom to celebrating God’s goodness or caring for the poor? How are we doing?”

He then shared a fact that is, to say the least, haunting.

The annual income of Christian American churchgoers is $5.2 trillion. The amount of money needed to end global poverty is about $74 billion a year.

Did you crunch the numbers?

Basically, 1 percent of our annual income a year is what is needed to end extreme poverty.

Can you imagine? It could be said of our generation, “And there were no needy persons among them.”

To add a little perspective, Americans spend ten times more on entertainment ($705 billion) than what is needed to end poverty.

Is it just a matter of priorities?

As Scott ended he pointed out that there are only a few important questions:

1. What does God want? Do we have any doubt about that? Does he want children suffering?
2. Are we willing to join Him in His work?

This is a path that has already been paved by Christ-followers who have gone before us. We have a model to follow. We are not alone. We are fighting with the Lord.

Surely, that was quite a bit to take in. And now I am eager to know, was there that shining light of revelation for you? What is the state of your heart?

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“You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” – John 12:8 (NIV)

“However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you.” – Deuteronomy 15:4 (NIV)

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. And as I promised, here’s a summary of what Scott shared with us at chapel.

Jesus is at a party in the home of Simon the leper in the town of Bethany. Lazarus and his sisters are at this party. Many people who have seen the miracles of Jesus are in attendance; many who have even received miraculous healing by His hand are present. Can you imagine the immense celebration of this party?

People who have experienced the love of Jesus, who have found comfort and strength in Him, people who left everything to make Jesus their everything are guests.

In the midst of this Mary comes into the room with very expensive perfume and anoints Jesus. A moment of worship, of adoration.

The Word even says that the whole house is filled with the smell of this fragrance.

Despite this, in John 12:4 we see Judas Iscariot object. He strongly deems Mary’s act as a waste, something that can be used for the poor.

People who did not know his character or motives may have believed he genuinely cared for the poor. But Judas is speaking to someone who knows his heart and knows the motive of his words, deeply marked by greed.

In John 12:7-8, Jesus replies with the verse that has captured our thoughts as we think about the poor. The verse that is now the most remembered about the poor.

And yet, as Scott clearly and firmly went through the scripture he pointed out that when Jesus made such a statement, he was not talking to us. His use of “you” was not intended to be directed at us. This reference, this statement, was very specifically directed at Judas.

Read it again. “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

But in Matthew 28:20b (NIV) we read, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In John 12:8 Jesus states “you will not always have me,” then in Matthew 28:20 He faithfully promises He will surely always be with us.

Some of us would write this off as a contradiction, or maybe to avoid such an accusation we do not reconcile the two verses. But it is clear that these verses are not working against each other because in John 12:4-8, we see that Jesus’ comment was directed at Judas.

Sadly, many of us know the story of Judas. His love for money allowed no room for His love of Jesus; he had chosen whom he would serve.

In Acts 4 it is revealed to us, as Scott conveyed,

“At least in one place, for one moment of time, in one community, poverty was eradicated because the people of God lived according to the plans God had given them.”

The outcome of poverty is quite different when the master chosen is the Lord. In fact, it is clearly outlined that this community of believers were of one heart and soul, having everything in common and devoted to one master, the Lord. Therefore,

Acts 4:34 (NIV), “There were no needy persons among them.”

Ok, let’s have a heart check, shall we? At this moment in chapel my jaw is slowly dropping. Scott is making connections I have never made. Showing me things I have not thought about. But truly, am I hearing what he’s saying? Poverty … gone … not among us?

Yet there is more. He continued on with some alarming statistics and, blog readers, I got ahold of these stats for you!

In 2000 the Global Community established goals for ending poverty. They are called the Millennium Development Goals. There are eight goals, and I will walk you through how some of these goals are, in fact, on target. But that’s for another day.

Today, I’d like to hear what you have to say about Scott’s interpretation of these verses.

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Yet, as awakening as they can be, they are also piercing, able to transform the deepest parts of my being, to change the way I see. Even to change the way I live. We are not dealing with a quiet God and, most certainly, not a complacent God.

Working at Compassion has brought a concern for the poor more deeply into my life. Poverty is no longer some distant thought to me. It’s not a trip I can reflect on or even a verse I can read. My daily life, for eight-plus hours a day, steeps within it, within the knowledge and awareness of poverty.

Recently, Dr. Scott Todd, our Senior Ministry Advisor, spoke to us at chapel. It was a time when the Lord broke through in revelation for me.

First of all, some background on Scott. He helps define and develop our philosophy on child development and poverty and how we work to combat it, which affects our communications and program design and how they work together. He also coordinates our global advocacy efforts about the importance of children in poverty to the worldwide church. He’s a busy guy — one who the Lord has entrusted much to.

So, back to what I was saying: He presented a powerful message that left me teary-eyed and deeply convicted. I have decided I do not wish to carry the burden of his message alone.

Can We Eliminate Poverty or Not?

Not too long ago we discussed with you why we can’t end poverty, and you shared some really great thoughts with us.

Well in this chapel, Scott asked us to think of the verse that comes to mind when we think of poverty, a question he has asked many other people, including pastors. Do you know what the common response is? The same verse we originally referenced, just from a different gospel.

“You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” — John 12:8 (NIV)

Scott pointed out that this must be the most memorable verse about the poor, seeing as it is the one most referenced. It has come to serve as the foundation of our philosophy about the poor.

For those of us under the burden of caring deeply for the poor and desiring to help them, maybe this verse offers some comfort. We can’t do it all. Jesus even said that the poor will always be with us.

But for those living in poverty, Scott pointed out, what hope is this verse for them? What does it mean for those living in poverty?

If this verse is what we cling to, then what of Deuteronomy 15:4 (niv):

“However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you.”

I’ll share Scott’s belief about the grave misinterpretation of John 12:8 in a couple of days, but before I do, let me know how you feel the two verses work together.

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