World poverty
is our responsibility
By Kate Smith
poverty to purely numbers on a graph we dehumanise the problem and make those in poverty victims of
circumstance rather than agents and change makers, which they can be. Throughout His ministry Jesus
enabled people to see the power they had within themselves. When he healed a paralysed man, He did not
carry his mat, but enabled the man to carry the mat for himself (Matthew 9:27-34).
When we are challenged with the global problem of poverty we can be comforted by the fact that God has
given us a mentor and a role model to follow; His Son. Although Jesus was all God, he was also all human
and understands intimately the limitations that go with the human condition. He does not ask that we
solve the entirety of the world’s problems on our own, but that together we work to do what we can. In fact,
one in ten verses in the New Testament directly refers to the poor. The Bible contains account after account
of Jesus showing compassion to individuals on a one-to-one basis and not as a statistic.
Janet Root, an employee of Compassion, after spending time with HIV and AIDS sufferers in Africa, noted,
“I never met one victim or statistic. Instead I met vibrant, fl esh and blood human beings struggling
valiantly to make do with what they have”
As we come alongside and work with our brothers and sisters we share in the communion with their lives
then we too can receive. Giving charitably is not a one-way process, and we can expect to be changed and
challenged when we seek to do His will. ‘He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went
well. Is that not what it means to know me?’ declares the Lord (Jeremiah 22:16).
Kate Smith - Compassion UK - www.compassion.com
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