Laura Ingalls, the heroine of the Little House on the Prairie series, quoted an adage of her parents in desperate times: "There's no great loss without some small gain."
The economic havoc wreaked by stunning job losses and market upheaval is a great loss indeed. We have only begun to glimpse the impact of this downturn on the lives of children, not only in the U.S. but also and especially around the globe. Demand for public and private services is spiraling up while resources evaporate. Yet there is also small gain.
As budgets contract and needs rise, there is a chance that churches will conclude they have nothing left over to offer their communities, and simply bar the doors to prevent looters. But maybe, just maybe, the truth will hit us upside the head that the most valuable gift we have to offer is not what's in our bank accounts.
"But Peter said, 'I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.'" (Acts 3:6)
The economic downturn presents an opportunity for churches to shift—-by necessity, if not by principle—-from commodity-based ministry to relational ministry, from giving things to giving ourselves, and sharing Christ who gave Himself to dwell within us.
The Search Institute identifies 40 key developmental assets for children at various stages – "common sense, positive experiences and qualities that help influence choices young people make and help them become caring, responsible adults." These assets help give children the resilience to survive poverty and to make choices that lead away from poverty. Parents, schools, churches and community partners can help build up these critical internal and external strengths in eight categories: support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, constructive use of time, commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, and positive identity.
Check out the interactive lists of developmental assets for children at various stages of development, and ask: How many of these assets are dependent on money? Some, in fact, are very costly, such as this dynamic of empowerment in early childhood: "The community demonstrates that children are valuable resources by investing in … high-quality activities and resources to meet children’s physical, social, and emotional needs." Thus we must continue to press for critical public services such as health coverage for all children.
But other assets have a different kind of price tag, such as these suggestions for adolescents: "Young person receives support from three or more nonparent adults." "Young people are given useful roles in the community." "Young person spends one or more hours per week in activities in a religious institution." The cost of developing healthy youth is time, energy, community, vision and faith. Many of us are not used to thinking of ourselves as rich in this currency.
Churches may have shrinking budgets yet be overflowing with assets, especially the kind that are best invested in children and youth. "What I have, I give you!" This is a secret that many of our brothers and sisters in poorer nations have mastered, and that we now have the opportunity to discover. Our season of struggle offers us a small gain that we can offer to God to multiply in the community.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
A Prayer and a Pledge for Real Change
However you voted in this momentous election, I encourage you to sign a letter to President-elect Barack Obama initiated by Jim Wallis of Sojourners. The letter seeks to hold the new president accountable to "a broad moral agenda that includes a deep concern for poverty, peacemaking, a consistent ethic of life, and care for creation." Specifically, the pledge calls for a commitment to:
* Overcome poverty -- cut domestic poverty in half in ten years and implement Millenium Development Goals to reduce extreme global poverty
* Develop alternatives to war -- emphasize diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving international conflicts
* Promote a consistent life ethic -- drastically reduce abortions as well as addressing genocide, torture, and the death penalty
* Reverse the effects of climate change -- promote clean, renewable energy strategies and a "green economy"
And after you sign this pledge (or even if you decline to sign), say a prayer for our new President-elect as well as our outgoing President, that their actions -- and our own -- may foster a better world for children.
Know any good prayers for a new president?
* Overcome poverty -- cut domestic poverty in half in ten years and implement Millenium Development Goals to reduce extreme global poverty
* Develop alternatives to war -- emphasize diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving international conflicts
* Promote a consistent life ethic -- drastically reduce abortions as well as addressing genocide, torture, and the death penalty
* Reverse the effects of climate change -- promote clean, renewable energy strategies and a "green economy"
And after you sign this pledge (or even if you decline to sign), say a prayer for our new President-elect as well as our outgoing President, that their actions -- and our own -- may foster a better world for children.
Know any good prayers for a new president?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Economy's Toll on Children
In once-booming Northern Virginia suburbs, children who never had to worry about having a roof over their head don't know where they will sleep tonight.
In Cincinnati, newly-homeless families are splitting their children up among relatives because they can't find shelter together, much less feed everyone.
In Las Vegas, sons and daughters of the city's housekeepers and kitchen workers -- already living on the margin of the American economy – increasingly rely on "weekend food bags" from their school in order to feed themselves from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, when they can eat a subsidized school breakfast.
Welcome to the economic crisis for thousands of Americans too young to have a mortgage, a retirement account, or the right to vote.
Read the rest of the article, Economy's Silent and Heavy Toll on Children: Homeless Rates Among Children on the Rise.
In Cincinnati, newly-homeless families are splitting their children up among relatives because they can't find shelter together, much less feed everyone.
In Las Vegas, sons and daughters of the city's housekeepers and kitchen workers -- already living on the margin of the American economy – increasingly rely on "weekend food bags" from their school in order to feed themselves from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, when they can eat a subsidized school breakfast.
Welcome to the economic crisis for thousands of Americans too young to have a mortgage, a retirement account, or the right to vote.
Read the rest of the article, Economy's Silent and Heavy Toll on Children: Homeless Rates Among Children on the Rise.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Join the Micah Challenge
Micah Challenge USA is a Christian campaign that is part of a global Micah Challenge campaign. Their aims are to deepen our engagement with impoverished and marginalized communities; and to challenge leaders to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and so halve absolute global poverty by 2015. For more information, visit the Micah Challenge website.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Rising Child Poverty in a Sea of Economic Turmoil
In August, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data on poverty and family income for 2007 (download the Census Bureau pdf report; see a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis by Hope for Children in Poverty authors Arloc Sherman and Sharon Parrott).
Here's the good news: the number of uninsured children dropped (largely because of SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program), the overall poverty rate remained steady, and overall median income actually saw a modest rise.
Here's the bad news: most of the economic gains were concentrated in higher-income households. The child poverty rate rose to 18%. An additional 500,000 children fell into poverty in 2007. And the number of Americans in “deep poverty” also rose. About 15.6 million Americans lived below half of the poverty line in 2007. This means for a family of three, the household lived on about $8,300.
Here's more bad news: with the bottom falling out of the global market, things are likely to get a whole lot worse for children and their families, here and abroad.
The issue of lifting people in poverty gets little enough attention in the normal course of political affairs. It becomes invisible in times of crisis. (Did you hear a single question about poverty in any of the last three campaign debates?) If we allow half a million children to sink into poverty in a year when average incomes rise, what will happen to children in a time of significant economic downturn? If our nation neglects its own children, how much less a priority are the millions of desperate children around the world?
How can we ensure that we don't let the cries of poor children go unanswered in the mist of much clamor about markets, bankruptcies and bailouts? How can we encourage policymakers to weigh the impact of their initiatives not only on Main Street, but also on the meanest streets where children live?
One way is to participate in Sojourner's Vote Out Poverty Campaign.
"While most elected officials say they want to reduce poverty, few have provided leadership on the issue. Why? Most Americans are disengaged from the lives of the poor and the political process, so poverty reduction is pushed to the bottom of the priority list. Meanwhile, 30,000 children die every day of preventable causes around the world and millions go to bed hungry. These statistics are unacceptable to Christians if we profess to follow the teachings of Christ. To change them, we must engage in personal service, community transformation, and political advocacy."
The goal of the campaign is "to mobilize a faith-based constituency of churches and individuals capable of putting poverty at the top of the political agenda," pushing for a concrete plan and signed pledge from political leaders to (1) reduce poverty in the U.S. by 50% over the next decade, and (2) achieve the Millennium Development Goals (a set of international goals for reducing global poverty).
Perhaps this general economic insecurity gives us a new opportunity to highlight the needs of poor children. When poverty becomes a destination that more people are at risk of visiting, we have an added collective incentive to wipe it off the map.
What are your ideas for placing children on the horizon of national policies? What questions in relation to children in poverty should our current and potential political leaders be addressing as they search for the best way out of this mess?
Here's the good news: the number of uninsured children dropped (largely because of SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program), the overall poverty rate remained steady, and overall median income actually saw a modest rise.
Here's the bad news: most of the economic gains were concentrated in higher-income households. The child poverty rate rose to 18%. An additional 500,000 children fell into poverty in 2007. And the number of Americans in “deep poverty” also rose. About 15.6 million Americans lived below half of the poverty line in 2007. This means for a family of three, the household lived on about $8,300.
Here's more bad news: with the bottom falling out of the global market, things are likely to get a whole lot worse for children and their families, here and abroad.
The issue of lifting people in poverty gets little enough attention in the normal course of political affairs. It becomes invisible in times of crisis. (Did you hear a single question about poverty in any of the last three campaign debates?) If we allow half a million children to sink into poverty in a year when average incomes rise, what will happen to children in a time of significant economic downturn? If our nation neglects its own children, how much less a priority are the millions of desperate children around the world?
How can we ensure that we don't let the cries of poor children go unanswered in the mist of much clamor about markets, bankruptcies and bailouts? How can we encourage policymakers to weigh the impact of their initiatives not only on Main Street, but also on the meanest streets where children live?
One way is to participate in Sojourner's Vote Out Poverty Campaign.
"While most elected officials say they want to reduce poverty, few have provided leadership on the issue. Why? Most Americans are disengaged from the lives of the poor and the political process, so poverty reduction is pushed to the bottom of the priority list. Meanwhile, 30,000 children die every day of preventable causes around the world and millions go to bed hungry. These statistics are unacceptable to Christians if we profess to follow the teachings of Christ. To change them, we must engage in personal service, community transformation, and political advocacy."
The goal of the campaign is "to mobilize a faith-based constituency of churches and individuals capable of putting poverty at the top of the political agenda," pushing for a concrete plan and signed pledge from political leaders to (1) reduce poverty in the U.S. by 50% over the next decade, and (2) achieve the Millennium Development Goals (a set of international goals for reducing global poverty).
Perhaps this general economic insecurity gives us a new opportunity to highlight the needs of poor children. When poverty becomes a destination that more people are at risk of visiting, we have an added collective incentive to wipe it off the map.
What are your ideas for placing children on the horizon of national policies? What questions in relation to children in poverty should our current and potential political leaders be addressing as they search for the best way out of this mess?
Monday, September 22, 2008
JustLead: Serving by Nurturing Leaders
Meet Victor Blair, sixth grader and Just Leader of the Month.
But first, meet JustLead.
JustLead is a program of Emerald Youth Foundation, a collaborative ministry serving children and youth in the urban neighborhoods of Knoxville, TN. Their mission is to raise up a large number of youth to love Jesus Christ and become effective leaders who help renew their neighborhoods.
JustLead program strategies include faith development, academic reinforcement, relationship building, sports and cultural enrichment. Through JustLead, urban churches and faith-based organizations are networked together to connect youth and their families with a congregation and with growth experiences so they will grow up loving Christ and making their city a better place to live.
JustLead provides a wonderful example of a community-based ministry that focuses on the potential of youth rather than their risk factors. And Victor is a wonderful example of a potential future community leader.
From an Emerald Youth Foundation News Release, July 1, 2008:
Victor Blair, a rising sixth grade student at Vine Middle School, is being recognized as the July Just Leader of the Month by Mount Zion Baptist Church and Emerald Youth Foundation.
Blair entered the JustLead program in 2005 as a quiet young man who did not particularly like engaging with other young people or the adult leaders. Since that time, he has matured and become a youth admired by others.
Robin Johnson, the JustLead coordinator at Mount Zion, appreciates Blair’s growth and enthusiasm for the ministry. “Victor is a joy to have in JustLead. He is always willing to participate in the various ministry components, whether completing his homework, leading prayer or building relationships with his friends and the adults. Victor is more than willing to do what he can to get the most out of the ministry,” Johnson said.
As Blair prepares for middle school to start in August, he is able to look back on his time at Green Magnet School with fondness. He was an excellent student, and throughout his elementary years his teachers were very positive and encouraging regarding his success. Johnson always received affirming reports about Blair from the staff at Green Magnet.
While Blair is not sure what his future holds, he eagerly speaks about what’s going on in his life. “It’s a little too early for me to know what I want to do for a career. Right now I’m having a great time in JustLead and enjoy everything we do; I especially like the recreation times when we get to play basketball. Oh, and I also like the small groups…I learn a lot from the adults and what they’re teaching,” said Blair.
Blair quickly credits his mother, Kim, for helping him grow in many areas, including his academics. “She is always there and teaches me things I don’t know. She helps me to see the difference between right and wrong,” he said.
Mount Zion Baptist and Emerald Youth Foundation are honored to have Victor Blair in JustLead and excited about his future in the ministry and beyond.
Learn more about Emerald Youth Foundation and JustLead online at emeraldyouth.org or call (865) 637-3227.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
How Externally Focused Churches Minister to Children
In her Leadership Network paper How Externally Focused Churches Minister to Children: The Power of Serving Kids in Your Community, Krista Petty offers stories, practical tips, and wisdom from experienced community practitioners working with children. Here's an excerpt:
Church leaders and volunteers serving children in their communities find it to be one of the most rewarding as well as challenging ways to extend God’s grace beyond the walls of their church. ... Omar Reyes, Community Development Director at NorthWood Church, Keller, TX is passionate about mobilizing the church and its resources to make a transformational impact in the local community, especially in the lives of children. “If children aren’t dancing in the community, then something is wrong,” says Omar.
Download the paper and read about how churches are fathering the fatherless, promoting children's health, addressing the foster care crisis, mentoring children of prisoners, and more. Share it with someone in your church!
Church leaders and volunteers serving children in their communities find it to be one of the most rewarding as well as challenging ways to extend God’s grace beyond the walls of their church. ... Omar Reyes, Community Development Director at NorthWood Church, Keller, TX is passionate about mobilizing the church and its resources to make a transformational impact in the local community, especially in the lives of children. “If children aren’t dancing in the community, then something is wrong,” says Omar.
Download the paper and read about how churches are fathering the fatherless, promoting children's health, addressing the foster care crisis, mentoring children of prisoners, and more. Share it with someone in your church!
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