What does poverty mean to a child orphaned by cancer and abandoned by his father? It means he has to learn how to dream again.
What does poverty mean to the great aunt taking care of him, and his six year old sister? It means fear. Fear that someone may take the children away from her.
What does poverty mean to a mother who lost her two-year old child to pneumonia while waiting at the hospital for treatment? It means the Body of Christ is a refuge.
What does poverty mean to a man once persecuted because of his faith? It means he becomes a pastor and serves His Savior for 28 years and counting.
What does poverty mean to a boy who learns about Jesus Christ on a regular basis? It means self-respect, self-esteem and the ability to love.
What does poverty mean to you? I don’t know exactly.
But I do know it’s an opportunity to provide an opportunity. And it means possible discomfort and sacrifice.
It definitely means joy too.
It means hope for one who may have given up hope.
It means a future.
What does poverty mean to a child without a sponsor? It means a sponsor is needed.
To the masses of poor, poverty means dependence, marginalization, scarcity, incapacity and restrictions on rights and freedoms.
Poverty is defined by the World Bank as hunger, lack of shelter, being sick and not being able to see a doctor. It’s not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty means not having a job, fear for the future and living one day at a time. Poverty is powerlessness.
But the most important question we need to ask ourselves and each other is,
What does poverty mean to God?
We originally published this post on Nov. 11, 2011. Photos by Keely Marie Scott and Patricia Jones from the Compassion Bloggers trip to Ecuador.