Dead Ends
Here's the link to my sermon on Sunday.
...
I met a young woman named LaKisha Harris last week. LaKisha has one child of her own and she is also raising her sister's four children since her sister passed away a year ago. Here's a 27 year old, single woman, with no family, no husband, no education, trying to hold her family of 6 together. That's a tall order.
She is working about 20 hours a week at Taco Bell. Her monthly income from that job is about $350 a month. Dead End.
She gets about $60 a month from the state of MS for each of her four neices and nephews that she is raising. Another $240 a month. Dead End.
She receives about $300 a month in food stamps. I can't feed my family of 5 on that and she has 3 teenagers in the house. Dead End.
I spoke with HUD on her bahalf but the waiting list for Section 8 housing is long and is closed. They won't even add names to the waiting list until more funding is promised from Washington D.C. Dead End.
That's all her monthly income.
Has she made some poor choices in life? Probably. So have I. Although I must say everyone I spoke to about her (employer, landlord, Good Samaritan case worker, HUD representative, etc.) has said she is a good person and I haven't been able to uncover a single untruth about her.
And frankly her desire to give her and her sister's kids a good family home surely mitigates any bad choices she may have made in life.
So what do we do with this family as a society? Moreover what do we do with her as Christians?
I think the church is going to be able to help her with her rent this month, and I'm fully expecting to be able to provide some Christmas presents for the kids next month, but that doesn't really improve her long term outlook. She'll still be caught in the cycle of poverty.
I consider myself to be a fairly smart guy, but I don't know the answer to this problem. One suggestion to this problem haunts me: "Sell all you have and give it to the poor." I walk away from that theory sad because I have great wealth.
But in reality even if I had the faith to do that (which I don't) then I would be in her shoes, looking for answers on how I would supply the next meal to my kids (read: waiting patiently for God to provide).
I can't help but notice countries like Australia, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, etc. who pay much higher taxes and don't have extreme poverty. I can't seem to let go of my capitalistic tendencies, but maybe moving more towards socialism in matters of basic needs (i.e., food, shelter, health care) is more Christ-like than perpetuating a system where you make your own fortune, no matter how efficient it may be.
All I know is that LaKisha has no where to turn. Churches, government agencies, charitable organizations, employers, and individuals have all told her, "Sorry, you're at a dead end."
...
I met a young woman named LaKisha Harris last week. LaKisha has one child of her own and she is also raising her sister's four children since her sister passed away a year ago. Here's a 27 year old, single woman, with no family, no husband, no education, trying to hold her family of 6 together. That's a tall order.
She is working about 20 hours a week at Taco Bell. Her monthly income from that job is about $350 a month. Dead End.
She gets about $60 a month from the state of MS for each of her four neices and nephews that she is raising. Another $240 a month. Dead End.
She receives about $300 a month in food stamps. I can't feed my family of 5 on that and she has 3 teenagers in the house. Dead End.
I spoke with HUD on her bahalf but the waiting list for Section 8 housing is long and is closed. They won't even add names to the waiting list until more funding is promised from Washington D.C. Dead End.
That's all her monthly income.
Has she made some poor choices in life? Probably. So have I. Although I must say everyone I spoke to about her (employer, landlord, Good Samaritan case worker, HUD representative, etc.) has said she is a good person and I haven't been able to uncover a single untruth about her.
And frankly her desire to give her and her sister's kids a good family home surely mitigates any bad choices she may have made in life.
So what do we do with this family as a society? Moreover what do we do with her as Christians?
I think the church is going to be able to help her with her rent this month, and I'm fully expecting to be able to provide some Christmas presents for the kids next month, but that doesn't really improve her long term outlook. She'll still be caught in the cycle of poverty.
I consider myself to be a fairly smart guy, but I don't know the answer to this problem. One suggestion to this problem haunts me: "Sell all you have and give it to the poor." I walk away from that theory sad because I have great wealth.
But in reality even if I had the faith to do that (which I don't) then I would be in her shoes, looking for answers on how I would supply the next meal to my kids (read: waiting patiently for God to provide).
I can't help but notice countries like Australia, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, etc. who pay much higher taxes and don't have extreme poverty. I can't seem to let go of my capitalistic tendencies, but maybe moving more towards socialism in matters of basic needs (i.e., food, shelter, health care) is more Christ-like than perpetuating a system where you make your own fortune, no matter how efficient it may be.
All I know is that LaKisha has no where to turn. Churches, government agencies, charitable organizations, employers, and individuals have all told her, "Sorry, you're at a dead end."
posted by Eric Livingston at
11/08/2006
6 Comments:
Eric, I share your growing conviction as I work with and near more and more poor people. As much as I we wish the church could tackle poverty, it can't. Besides, Jesus didn't assign the church to eliminate poverty but to serve the poor. I am convinced that the greatest tool we have at our disposal to address most of these issues you raise is government. We no other means with such scope and power and capacity to provide even modest, decent housing, food and health care to the poor. Jesus spent his time with the poor and told his followers to abide with the poor. Most people I know who work among the poor end up thinking along these lines. Pretty soon the bootstrap theories to which the affluent cling and make excuses, begins to look bleak and unrealistic. The American Dream simply is not available for many or most in the cycle of poverty you describe.
Since my efforts began to engage people in the margins of society, I have struggled with much the same issues. Government does have a responsibility to its people. But, I want to focus on the "give everything away" principle. This gnaws at me, as it does you. But, if I gave everything away to the poor, within a year, I would be in the same boat, no longer able to help anybody. For me, the key is, use your talents to make as much honest money as you can, then use as much of that money as possible to help people while not jeopardizing your earning potential (think simple houses, simple cars, simple living). I think people are becoming increasingly wary of giving to the church, if they don't see the church sacrificially giving to the needy. Lots of people tend to start giving directly to the need. The problem with this is losing the "buying power" gained by joining together funds from multiple givers. Something needs to change. Churches need to start living minimalist existences, with a goal of funneling almost 100 percent of funds through to the poor and otherwise needy. And quit spending so much resource on enjoying each others company. Mutual edification is necessary, and if that were free, great...but many times the church spends way too much of its collective money and resources to pay for all those mutual edification events and facilities. Christians AND Churches need to start practicing minimalist living, so the full power of God's love can be achieved through contributions to the church. I'll slide my soapbox back under the bed now.
PK, those are insightful words and truth.
I think it is interesting that the struggle hasn't changed over thousands of years. Government has its place, but when the government lets people fall through the crack who catched them? The church has its place, but churches have different goals, visions, and ministries. As a result they may not be very effective in this area.
I beleive it is the individual who makes the difference. God calls us to be involved in helping those who need help. I don't know what the solution is, but I know indifference is what God hates. Many of his harsest comments were against the Isaraelite's not caring or cheating those at the bottom of the food chain.
I guess each one of us needs to examine ourselves to make sure we don't become indifferent, and that we respond with faith to the call of God.
Righto. You're all right. Government certainly has a responsibility to its citizens. Christians ought to try to shape their gov't into a gov't that values all people.
That, however does not excuse the church from caring for and helping the poor. Certainly bodies of believers ought to be showing Christ's love and grace by meeting physical needs as well as telling people how to be reconciled with the Father.
Churches and governments can only be beneficial if the individuals that make up those groups are passionately concerned with the welfare of others. That's what falls directly on our shoulders: we need to ensure that we are passionately concerned.
Lord soften my heart and give me wisdom in how to deal with all of your children.
Unfortunately, I know all too many women like LaKisha. Living in Harlem for several years when I moved here to New York was intense. The people were wonderful, but were given nothing close to the opportunity, education, support that I had growing up. Men and women who were my age in and out of jail/rehab/homelessness and with many children from different people and never having left the 5 block radius they ruled from. You would expect a hard soul in there, but what I found were great friends and some of the best conversations about God I've ever had.
I also love the church here, because we/they are in the midst of it all. The homeless ministry is one of the biggest. The church showers, clothes, feeds (physically and spiritually) and loves. Above all loves...
I'm praying for LaKisha.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home