1 What is poverty and how does our understanding affect our approach?

2 What is poverty? The result of poor decisions made by individuals?

3 What is poverty? The result of a system that limits what decisions can be made and compounds the impact of poor decisions?

4 What is poverty? Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways.  Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action -- for the poor and the wealthy alike -- a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities. --World Bank

5 Why Poverty?

6 1 John 3:17 (NET) But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?

7 1 John 3:17 (MSG) This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

8 Did God really mean…? There should be no poor among you? (Deut. 15:4-5) Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God? (Matt 5:3)

9 The struggle is real… The Bible was primarily BY, FOR, and TO oppressed people

10 Scripture doesn’t call us to care about poverty today or tomorrowScripture doesn’t call us to care about poverty today or tomorrow. It calls us to a way of life in which poverty is no longer something that rules anyone’s life. This requires a different approach than perhaps we are used to.

11 Am I trying to change a person or am I trying to change a system?

12 A person’s poor decisions  povertyModus Operandi A person’s poor decisions  poverty

13 “Culture of Poverty” Oscar Lewis 1961 The Children of SanchezExtrapolated to the population as a whole

14 Deficit thinking Us Them

15 Deficit thinking Us okay Them deficient

16 Because of the ”culture of poverty” poor people make poor decisions and we need to fix them.

17 What does this cause? allows us to make quick judgments about people and to bypass an investment relationships allows us to think that the source of the issue is disconnected from our daily actions as Christians doesn't require us to question our personal relationship with money, power, or privilege

18 Deep roots | Inadequate | Grains of truth“Culture of Poverty” Deep roots | Inadequate | Grains of truth

19 55 Years of Research 83% of children from low-income families had at least one employed parent 60% had at least on full-time employed parent Poor working adults spend more hours working than wealthier counterparts. National Center for Children in Poverty (2004), Economic Policy Institute (2002)

20 55 Years of Research Of the working-age poor who are eligible to work…63% are working 44% are working full-time Economic Policy Institute (2013)

21 55 Years of Research Low-income parents value education the same way wealthy parents do. Compton-Lilly, C. (2003). Reading families: The literate lives of urban children. New York: Teachers College Press.

22 55 Years of Research Drug use is equally distributed across “class”National evaluation of the fighting back program: General population surveys, 1995–1999. New York: City University of New York Graduate Center.

23 55 Years of Research Wealthy people are far more likely than poor people to abuse alcohol. Galea, S., Ahern, J., Tracy, M., & Vlahov, D. (2007). Neighborhood income and income distribution and the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(6), 195–202.

24 55 Years of Research There is not one set of values among the poorThere is not one set of common behaviors among the poor The root problem isn’t poor people, it is poverty.

25 We as the western church seem to have embraced the “culture of poverty” concept because it is easier to do ministry with that as the underlying assumption.

26 Problem  Easy solutionPoor people use drugs  free addiction counseling Poor people don’t value education  give adults who do We can ”hire” stunt Christians to do the things I don’t want to do.

27 Grains of truth… Free addiction counseling, educational help, food, clothing, financial counseling, etc.

28 Not all bad… We might miss

29 So what can we do? Do and Learn

30 So what can we do? Do and LearnWork together to walk alongside the poor AND Create safe places to have conversations with key leaders in your church. Do and Learn

31 Do… Empower Sioux Falls Build relationships with the poorSeek to change the system the compounds the issue

32 Conversations about… How our American experience has shaped our theology of.. Success Stewardship The Kingdom of God God’s Provision

33 Conversations about… The witness of the church. The witness of the church is not in the number of converts or disciples it makes. Rather, it is in the character and kingdom ethic it's community of disciples exhibits which manifests itself in the transformation of the neighborhoods in which they reside. A development paradigm not a service paradigm.

34 Conversations about… Our definitions of PovertyWhat does poverty look like in Sioux Falls? What is the poverty rate and should it be our measurement?

35 Conversations about… The connection between power, prestige, and poverty. Where are the best traditional public schools located in Sioux Falls?

36 Conversations about… “Accountable freewill individualism” My life, faith, and personal relationship with God is a direct result of my choices and actions. Michael Emerson, Divided by Faith

37 Conversations about… The connections between race and poverty.Being a minority in the United States will cost you: 40% of your income 90% of your wealth 5 to 10 years of your life Michael Emerson, Divided by Faith

38 Conversations about… The connections between race and poverty. A significantly higher incidence of high cost loans for African- American and Hispanic borrowers event after controlling for key mortgage risk factors. Race, Ethnicity and High Cost Mortgage Lending, 2014, Bayer, Ferreira, Ross

39 Conversations about… The systemic issues with this statement… Young people can virtually assure that they and their families will avoid poverty if they follow three elementary rules for success – complete at least a high school education, work full time, and wait until age 21 and get married before having a baby. Based on an analysis of Census data, people who followed all three of these rules had only a 2 percent chance of being in poverty and a 72 percent chance of joining the middle class (defined as above $55,000 in 2010. Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution, testifying before Congress on June 5, 2012

40 Conversations about… How does this perspective shift how you lead a team of people who are interacting with poverty?

41 1 John 3:17 (MSG) This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.