Poverty

Nate and I have been given the opportunity to go on a short term mission trip this summer to El Mirador, which is in the Dominican Republic. So recently we've started reading the book "When Helping Hurts". It's a required reading to prepare us for the trip mentally and spiritually. At the beginning of each chapter are questions to think about before reading that chapter. One of the questions has really stuck out to me and therefore caused me to write this blog post. The question was:
What is poverty? What seems like a question with an obvious short answer, actually was a question that made me think in depth about the seriousness of that topic. Here are my thoughts.....

When I think of the word poverty I think of it as meaning lacking in something. The obvious things I myself, and I'm sure all of us, think of when we hear that word is poverty in a physical sense. The actual definition of "poverty" if you look it up absolutely describes it from that perspective - describing a situation where people's need for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met. We live in a world where money really does define what you can or cannot have in a physical sense. So when I think of "the poor" or words like "poverty" it's obvious and accurate in many aspects to think of it in that way. However, I am well aware that to "be poor" means way more than lacking physical things or money. We are all lacking in some sort of way wether it be physically, emotionally, mentality, or spiritually. As someone who has been on a handful of short term mission trips and also has a passion for homeless people within my own community, I also recognize that sometimes poverty, which on the surface is an issue of lacking physically, is actually rooted from something much deeper.

I don't know why there are so many homeless people, or why places like Haiti or El Mirador are struggling so much. But I do know that despite being one of the richest counties in the entire world, even we live in a culture that tells us that we always need or should want more - a better job, a bigger house, a nicer car, more clothes, the newest phone and so on. Therefore, we are tricked and convinced into thinking that we too are always lacking. This effects how we view poverty. People who live not knowing what their next meal might be or live in lacking areas or conditions, are classified as "less fortunate than us". We set the standard, and that's where our perception of poverty comes from. However, when we realize that poverty as a whole is actually way deeper than we even know, only then can we effectively support and come along side those in need. The homeless person on the side of the road isn't just poor because he lacks money or a home. He also potentially lacks the support of family or friends, lacks education, or possibly is dealing with some sort of addiction. Of course that's a small scale compared to entire countries or villages that are severely impoverished. I have no answers for that. But what I do know, is that when we start to address the hearts of people and make an effort to understand why they or their entire community is living in poverty, we start to see people how Jesus saw people. We see poverty not just based on standard of living, but also as something layered with back stories, history, and different perspectives we may never even understand.

I am not an expert in any of this. In many ways it's overwhelming to me when I think of all these things. But when I look at my own life and realize my constant need for more greatly effects how I view others, I begin to understand that reality of poverty being about more than just what we see on the surface. When we start to address those issues, then we can make changes in not just the lives but the hearts of people all over.

So what is poverty? Well I guess I would agree that it's all the obvious answers of people living with less food, shelter, and resources. But it's also only part of their story. I don't know what it's like to live in poverty, but I know that people who do are definitely lacking in more than just a physical sense and I think that's important to recognize. I may not know what that means specifically, but I realize that's true. I guess in some ways I also don't feel like the question "what is poverty" is even the only question that is important here. WHY is there poverty? Maybe pondering on that can help us get to the root of what poverty even really is.