Poverty

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. — 1 John 3:17-18

The Bibles speaks repeatedly about the responsibility of the people of God to care for those in need. Deuteronomy 15:11 says “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. In the New Testament our care for the needs of others is a demonstration of the internal transformation Christ brings to our lives. Therefore we must be well informed about the needs around the world so that we can show God’s word active in our lives in the way we care for the poor.

963 million people do not have enough food to eat, more than the entire populations of USA, Canada and the European Union combined. (Source: FAO news release, 9 Dec 2008)

Stats:

  • 25,000 people (adults and children) die every day from hunger and related causes; (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)
  • More than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women; (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2006)
  • 65 percent of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)
  • Under nutrition contributes to 53 percent of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries. This means that one child dies every six seconds from malnutrition and related causes. (Source: Under five deaths by cause, UNICEF, 2006)

How can I get involved?

Pray that God would send out laborers to meet the needs of both the physically thirsty and the spiritually thirsty around the world. Pray also for the body of Christ in areas that lack safe drinking water—that they may show the sufficiency of Christ in the midst of difficult circumstances and boldly proclaim that Jesus is the living water.

More Information

For more information, check out the following resources: