(Being a Presentation made by Joshua T. Abu, at the Course organized for Chairmen of Church Councils of Yola Diocese, held on 23-24/3/2017 at the LCCN Yola Diocese Secretariat, Yola)
Texts:
Leviticus 19: 9-10; Proverbs 10:4-5; II Thessalonians 3:6-10; I Timothy 5:8)
Introduction:
Let me begin by thanking the organizers for the invitation given to me to be one of the resource persons at this retreat organized for Church Elders in the Yola Diocese. It is our hope and prayer that we shall have fruitful interactions. We intend to make this presentation in the following format: Introduction; Defining Poverty; Causes of Poverty and Ways through which the Church Can Fight Poverty.
Basic Statistics:
More than one billion people (one in every six) live on less than $1 a day, with nearly half the world's population (2.8 billion) living on less than $2 a day
Every year more than 10 million children die of hunger and preventable diseases, i.e. one in every seven children
800 million people go to bed hungry every day
One third of deaths – some 18 million people a year, or 50,000 per day – are due to poverty-related causes
Challenging Questions:
How do we as Christians "proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ" to those who are living on less than $1 (N300) a day
How do we as Christians "seek and serve Christ in all persons" who die of hunger and preventable diseases?
How do we as Christians "strive for justice and peace" among the 800 million who go to bed hungry every day"
How do we "respect the dignity" of the 18 million people who die in loneliness, despair and poverty every year?
These are challenging questions - that should lead us into considering ways that we as Christians can, through prayer, education, social outreach, community organizing and public advocacy join the global movement to end poverty and hunger.
Definition of Terms:
What and who is the Church? - The church in the context of discussion is neither the building nor the equipment but the people. It is a community of human beings who profess the Faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is simply a community of believers in Jesus Christ who live in a given and specific neighbourhood space. I will leave it at that as it is a familiar territory for all of us.
What is Poverty? - Poverty could be described as a wide range of circumstances associated with need, hardship and lack of resources. It exists where some persons fall short of reasonably defined minimum levels of wellbeing - like access to certain consumption or income levels such as: housing; health and education facilities; certain recognized rights according to standards of human needs (socio-economic conditions of the society).
People can then be said to be in poverty, when they are deprived of income and other resources needed to obtain the minimum/basic conditions of life such as:
reasonable diets
material goods
amenities
standards and services - which enable them to play their roles in society, meet their obligations and participate in the relationships and customs of their society
The UN defines poverty as:
a denial of choices and opportunities
a violation of human dignity
lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society
not having enough to feed and clothe a family
not having a school or clinic to go to
not having the land on which to grow one’s food
not having a job to earn one’s living
not having access to credit
it means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities
it means susceptibility to violence
it often implies living on marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation (UN Statement, June 1998 – signed by the Heads of all UN Agencies - UN Definition of Poverty)
For the purpose of our discussion we shall adopt the 1995 World Poverty Copenhagen Declaration of 1995, that describes absolute poverty as “a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information." The World Bank identifies "extreme poverty" as being people who live on less than $1 a day, and "poverty" as less than $2 a day.
Causes of Poverty:
The Bible classifies the causes of poverty into four different categories:
The first cause of poverty is oppression and fraud (bad leadership). In the Old Testament (Prov. 14:31; 22:7; 28:15) we find that many people were poor because they were oppressed by individuals or governments. Many times, governments established unjust laws or debased the currency - measures that resulted in the exploitation of individuals.
The second cause of poverty is misfortune, persecution, or judgment. In the book of Job, we learn that God allowed Satan to test Job by bringing misfortune upon him. Elsewhere in the Old Testament (Ps.109:16; Isa. 47:9; Lam. 5:3) we read of misfortune or of God's judgment on a disobedient people. When Israel turned from God's laws, God allowed foreign nations to take them into captivity as a judgment for their disobedience.
The third cause of poverty is laziness (Proverbs 10:4), neglect, or gluttony. Proverbs teaches that some people are poor because of improper habits and apathy (Proverbs 10:4-5; 19:15; 20:13; 23:21; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10).
The fourth cause of poverty is the culture of poverty. Proverbs 10:15 says, "The ruin of the poor is their poverty." Poverty breeds poverty, and the cycle is not easily broken. People who grow up in an impoverished culture usually lack the nutrition and the education that would enable them to be successful in the future.
Others are:
History - colonialism and exploitation
War & political instability
National debt - from other nations or international agencies
Discrimination and social inequality - inequality can feed widespread poverty by barring groups with lower social status from accessing the tools and resources to support themselves- inequalities in income distribution and access to productive resources, basic social services, opportunities, markets, and information can cause and exacerbate poverty
Vulnerability to natural disasters - particularly in less wealthy regions that are prone to flood, earthquakes, and other natural disasters pose significant obstacles to poverty eradication.
Ways through which the Church Can Fight Poverty:
Fight spiritual poverty. One of the best places the church can start is by helping people who are spiritually broken. Spiritual poverty is the root cause of all other forms of poverty. Help people understand that they have hope and help them meet and grow in Jesus, and many times, the other pieces will begin to fall into place for them.
Empower the most Vulnerable: The church should target the most vulnerable and worst hit set – the women, children and young people and seek to empower them in all ramifications of education, health, employment, shelter etc. Help them to acquire relevant and marketable skills. Give them a chance to be the best they can and to attain the highest level of education or skills they can. Identify in particular, kids that are stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty and assist them get education and skills.
Be a voice for those that don’t have a voice. Be the voice they need. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed” (Proverbs 31:8). The church should play advocacy roles to question the underpinning socio-economic and political structures that hinder food production, food security and capacity building of her people. The church must begin to hold governments and other corporate bodies and organizations accountable in the use and distribution of community and national resources and in responsible best practices in corporate governance. It must wage war against every form of oppression including the engagement of child labour for cheap profitability that denies the children the right to education and capacity building and development. In addition, the church should work assiduously against conflicts and wars that turn people to refuges in their own land and destroy lives and properties including the environment.
Let us meet needs, but teach personal responsibility. Instead of just giving away meals, teach on parenting, help someone find a job, ask questions that will help. In short the Church must go beyond turning people to objects of charity in its various intervention programmes in poverty and hunger. The church must evolve a sustainable and transformative livelihood intervention projects targeted at individuals and groups within their community through micro-credit schemes among many small but viable initiatives. As a famous Chinese proverb says: “Give a man a fish, he will hunger again but teach him how to fish, he will never go hungry again.”
Let us empower our congregations to believe in someone else. Often, people don’t believe in themselves enough to get out of a tough situation. Not only do they not believe in themselves – they also do not believe in anyone else. Encourage those you believe to believe in someone else. Let us start by believing in those we lead! Believe in them until they can believe in themselves. Tell them what you see in them. Encourage them and show them the love they may never have had. Then ask them to go and do the same with others in the community!
Partner with those already fighting poverty. There are quite a number of well-established organizations out there that are fighting poverty and doing it well, the church should explore tapping from such organizations.
Let us be aware, so that we could help our church members to be aware. Let us get out of our own little world and look around, then we can help those we lead to do the same. We shall be amazed to see what needs are out there! Let us get out of our houses and comfort zones to open our eyes to the realities in our society. We would become aware, too, then we can help our church become aware of what needs are out there.
Let us help our members discover their vision and passions. Let us not just tell those you lead to look for an organization where they can serve. Help them first discover their life vision and passions. This passion will fuel them in the long run as they serve the community. Identify what they value and help them through (Chad Missildine, © 2017 ChurchLeaders.com).
The church should emulate our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to fulfil the biblical injunction to be in solidarity with the poor, the needy and the hungry including the oppressed. Our faith must be relevant to all the facets of the human life and society as any faith in Christ that is not relevant to the holistic needs of the society is a disaster. Consequently, the church must promote the spirit of brotherhood that cares for each other. Could we for a minute pose and ask these pertinent questions: How many members see their fellow members who come to church without shoes and do something when they have so many pairs of shoes they may never wear in a year? What about giving out some of our many dresses that we may never wear for a long time to fellow members who come to church Sunday after Sunday with the same dress? The church must become a caring community of believers where members share with other members and other people in the community what they lack. The poor must be given access to food, clothing, shelter and job as well as given a voice in the church.
Conclusion:
Let me conclude this presentation by quoting the challenges posed by Bishop Dr. Chibuzo Rapheal Opoko, Secretary of Conference of Methodist Church of Nigeria in Liberia in 2014: “When the church keeps silent to the issues of hunger and poverty, they become partners in crime and demonstrate solidarity with the oppressors and oppressive system and structures. It is pertinent to state that when church members refuse to see the problems and pains of the poor, it then means they are blind; when the church and her members refuses to stand up against unjust structures and policies in whatever guise that exacerbate hunger and poverty, it means they are lame; when the church and her members refuse to speak out against issues of injustice, unjust economic policies and structures that perpetuate hunger and poverty, it means they are dumb. The church must never be silent again” (A Keynote Address Presented at the Opening Session of the 29th General Assembly of the Liberian Council of Churches (LCC), 13th March, 2014).
In closing I wish to leave you with the admonition of Mother Teresa of Calcutta – one of the great healers of modern times: "We try to pray through our work by doing it with Jesus, for Jesus, to Jesus. That helps us put our whole heart and soul into doing it. The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted, the unloved – they are Jesus in disguise."
Thank you all for listening!
