“The opposite of poverty is enough.”

Have you heard us say this before?

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We recently gave you the opportunity ask our president, Wess, any questions you like. We’re publishing his transcribed answers one day at a time. If you want to catch up, here’s the background skinny.

• What do you think is the largest challenge in eradicating poverty on the earth? (Allan)

The biggest challenge of eradicating poverty in the world isn’t finding enough money to throw at it. We often think that poverty is a lack of money. That’s a big piece of it, but it’s not the whole of it, or even the most critical part of it. If it was, I think we could probably organize our world to throw enough money at it to make it go away.

But poverty is much more complicated than that — it’s not about the kind of house that you live in or whether a sewer runs in front of your house. It’s not about the amount of calories you take in or the amount of money you have. Those are only the symptoms of poverty. That’s not real poverty. Real poverty is much more complicated than that and it doesn’t just happen overnight. It rolls down through the generations.

At Compassion we realize that the biggest challenge of poverty is a mindset — a lie that says to a child:

Look around you, nothing works, nothing is pretty nothing smells good — you don’t matter. Look at you. It’s all garbage and so are you. So give up. There’s nobody coming to your rescue. Nobody cares about you, just give up.

We must go into the midst of that abject poverty and breathe hope and love and life. We can meet the critical needs, but there’s no end of that. Scripture says, “So what does a man profit if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”

What I think is the hardest thing is mobilizing God’s people around the world to not only send their money but to send their hearts and enter into the hurt of a little child and breathe hope:

Don’t give up. I’m watching you grow. I got your report card. I got your picture. I pray for you every night. I think you’re wonderful. Don’t give up.

If we could get enough people in the western world — this rich world that you talk about, Allan — to do that, we could absolutely end poverty on our planet. It’s not going to end with more effort. It’s not going to end with more money. It’s going to end with more heart.

Those of us who have been blessed have been blessed for one reason and one reason only, and that is to be a blessing. Anything God gives you beyond enough ought to be given away to lift someone else up to enough.

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1. Do you have a favorite Bible verse or story that has personal meaning to you?

Yes, I do. My favorite Bible verse is Lamentations 3:21-25. And if you read the whole chapter you’ll see why even more.

My favorite Bible story is the story of Joseph, for I can associate with how brothers (and sisters in my case) can disown you or treat you in a way that suggests that you are not part of the family, and how God uses all those bad experiences not only for His glory but also to lift us up and to bless others in the process.

2. What piece of the Compassion program had the biggest impact on you and your life? (Fellowship with Christians, having access to medical care, meals that were provided, educational opportunities, or something else?)

Gosh, it’s really hard to pick one program that had the most impact because all of them played a major role in my life as I was growing up, but the one that comes to mind was the Thursday Bible study I used to attend when I was 9 years old. It was here that I was exposed to the word of God, which gave me a chance to give my life to Christ (my best decision ever) and equip me with the basic foundation for the Word of God and fellowship with others - something I still treasure to date.

By the way, I can’t forget the meals (which tells you I love to eat … Ha!) coz honestly, this was the only place where most of us children from the slums had the chance to enjoy three meals a day.

And yes, educational opportunities, because I wouldn’t be where I am were it not for the chance to go to school.

3. Are there things Compassion could do to improve their service to young people and families?

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