A couple follow-ups to this past Sunday's message: First, I mentioned "stupid poverty" in our world at the beginning of the message. This concept first grabbed my attention (and started messing with my heart) when I heard Bono talking about it a few years ago. If you want to find out more, his website is a good place to start: www.one.org. Second, I gave a couple of statistics about poverty locally--that nearly 10,000 children in Champaign County's public schools qualified for free or reduced lunches last school year, and that more than 10% of Champaign County residents lived in extreme poverty between 2005 and 2007. I got this information from an article called "On the Edge: Economic Disparity and Despair in Champaign County" by Shelley Smithson and Pam G. Dempsey in the News-Gazette on July 12, 2009. You can also get statistics like these here: http://www.champaign.org/business_know_how/cu_facts_and_figures/statistics_reports.html.
May God move our hearts as we consider the urgency of the need and the opportunity.
I have been struck by how poverty, like so many other evils, is alive and well today. This is just wrong. I am not big into documentaries at all, but the following caught more than just my eye:
To a lesser degree, I have also been intrigued by the trailer for "Capitalism: A Love Affair"; although from Michael Moore's own words, it sounds like it is more focused on corporate greed. Which is still a problem, mind you.
As I have been getting involved with Unit 4 issues, my heart is torn about the social-economic disparities within our own backyard, let alone the rest of the nation and the planet. We have heard things like "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer", but what does that really mean? For most middle/upper-class folks in our area, that probably just means that some stinking rich CEO is reaping the benefits of bailouts and a few more people are suffering from foreclosure. But it is much more than that. Dr. Michael Alves and Dr. Charles Willie have done many research projects across the US over the past 20 years that show a high correlation between quality of education and equity of education - in other words, when schools have a diverse mix of socio-economic students, the students at the lower end of that spectrum tend to do much better, but for schools that do not have such a healthy mix, those same students do much worse. They go on to show that this usually happens because the home-life for students in poorer neighborhoods is not conducive to learning, and if the school becomes nothing more than a daycare, learning goes out the window. I believe this is what the Consent Decree was trying to address, and the Plaintiff class is continuing to address. It is only natural for parents to want what is best for our own children; it feels unnatural to sacrifice our notion of what is "best" so that others who are less privileged can also benefit. Yet is this not the same message of what Christ calls to in all aspects of our lives? What does it really mean to trust in Jesus?
So now I am asking myself, "What can I give up that will benefit others who are less fortunate in my community?" We can throw money around left and right, but I am of the opinion that I want to be very aware of where that money is going and what effect it is having. What do those kids on the "Free and Reduced lunch" plan really need? After talking with Margie Skirvin (prior member and President of the Unit 4 Board of Education), I have been persuaded that perhaps something along the lines of mentoring would be an excellent way to connect and give of my free time.
On the flip side, I am very concerned that we live in a voracious capitalistic society. We think it is "normal" and "good" to load up our young children with roomfuls of useless toys for birthdays, Christmases, showers. Please be aware that, yes, I am the kettle calling the pot black. We (collectively) seem to have no guilt at all about how we practice "gift-giving" in mass quantities - giving gifts to those that already have a lot. I speak of my own fallacies. There are some out there who are better than I and have controlled, maybe even mastered, this falsely "natural" urge to feel good and satisfied by buying presents for each other as we currently do in America. Why is it so hard to give up a majority of what we have to help others who do not have a majority of things they need? I ask myself.
There are a number of avenues available to us. Jaime Olson has a good list of issues in our community that need attention. More specifically on the topic of poverty, I know several area churches are gearing up for homelessness outreaches, and they are usually sorely in need of volunteers and resources. Not the kind of outreach that says "Here, take this tract and I'll let you sleep on my floor" kinda thing, but more "How can I help you stay warm in the winter and provide food for you to eat?" with absolutely no strings attached whatsoever.
How many times have I been asked for 50 cents, a dollar, from someone in scruffy clothes and unshaven? I usually do not carry cash, so I fool myself into being smug and saying "nope, sorry, I have no change on me". I have on occasion stopped to talk with someone asking for money, and it always makes me feel awkward. Why? Part of the reason is that I have been scammed a few times (hard to tell, I am sure some of the money actually went towards food, but I know all of it did not). I thought about carrying around McDonald's gift certificates, but I boycott McDonald's so that is out. Does Strawberry Fields have gift certificates? *grin* I have, on occasion, stopped what I was doing and simply treated the guy to a meal (sometimes eating with him). I feel that I could do much more, but what? If my heart is truly breaking about poverty issues, why am I so attached to my own comfort? Shannon mentioned this briefly in his sermon, and I totally agree.
As I start to get involved in our community, I would love to hear how others are involved as well. Does anyone blog about their activities, or know of blogs of others not in our church? For instance, I have heard a UTS student by the name of Ash is currently living with the homeless part time. I find that sort of thing inspirational and also gives me some sort of guidance.
Is there a good place to list out relevant blogs, news articles and/or testimonials?
I am seriously tempted to take a few days off work to pursue this stuff.... hmmm.....
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Poverty info... A couple
Poverty info...
A couple follow-ups to this past Sunday's message: First, I mentioned "stupid poverty" in our world at the beginning of the message. This concept first grabbed my attention (and started messing with my heart) when I heard Bono talking about it a few years ago. If you want to find out more, his website is a good place to start: www.one.org. Second, I gave a couple of statistics about poverty locally--that nearly 10,000 children in Champaign County's public schools qualified for free or reduced lunches last school year, and that more than 10% of Champaign County residents lived in extreme poverty between 2005 and 2007. I got this information from an article called "On the Edge: Economic Disparity and Despair in Champaign County" by Shelley Smithson and Pam G. Dempsey in the News-Gazette on July 12, 2009. You can also get statistics like these here: http://www.champaign.org/business_know_how/cu_facts_and_figures/statistics_reports.html.
May God move our hearts as we consider the urgency of the need and the opportunity.
Hitting my heart as well I
Hitting my heart as well
I have been struck by how poverty, like so many other evils, is alive and well today. This is just wrong. I am not big into documentaries at all, but the following caught more than just my eye:
http://www.theendofpoverty.com/
To a lesser degree, I have also been intrigued by the trailer for "Capitalism: A Love Affair"; although from Michael Moore's own words, it sounds like it is more focused on corporate greed. Which is still a problem, mind you.
As I have been getting involved with Unit 4 issues, my heart is torn about the social-economic disparities within our own backyard, let alone the rest of the nation and the planet. We have heard things like "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer", but what does that really mean? For most middle/upper-class folks in our area, that probably just means that some stinking rich CEO is reaping the benefits of bailouts and a few more people are suffering from foreclosure. But it is much more than that. Dr. Michael Alves and Dr. Charles Willie have done many research projects across the US over the past 20 years that show a high correlation between quality of education and equity of education - in other words, when schools have a diverse mix of socio-economic students, the students at the lower end of that spectrum tend to do much better, but for schools that do not have such a healthy mix, those same students do much worse. They go on to show that this usually happens because the home-life for students in poorer neighborhoods is not conducive to learning, and if the school becomes nothing more than a daycare, learning goes out the window. I believe this is what the Consent Decree was trying to address, and the Plaintiff class is continuing to address. It is only natural for parents to want what is best for our own children; it feels unnatural to sacrifice our notion of what is "best" so that others who are less privileged can also benefit. Yet is this not the same message of what Christ calls to in all aspects of our lives? What does it really mean to trust in Jesus?
So now I am asking myself, "What can I give up that will benefit others who are less fortunate in my community?" We can throw money around left and right, but I am of the opinion that I want to be very aware of where that money is going and what effect it is having. What do those kids on the "Free and Reduced lunch" plan really need? After talking with Margie Skirvin (prior member and President of the Unit 4 Board of Education), I have been persuaded that perhaps something along the lines of mentoring would be an excellent way to connect and give of my free time.
On the flip side, I am very concerned that we live in a voracious capitalistic society. We think it is "normal" and "good" to load up our young children with roomfuls of useless toys for birthdays, Christmases, showers. Please be aware that, yes, I am the kettle calling the pot black. We (collectively) seem to have no guilt at all about how we practice "gift-giving" in mass quantities - giving gifts to those that already have a lot. I speak of my own fallacies. There are some out there who are better than I and have controlled, maybe even mastered, this falsely "natural" urge to feel good and satisfied by buying presents for each other as we currently do in America. Why is it so hard to give up a majority of what we have to help others who do not have a majority of things they need? I ask myself.
There are a number of avenues available to us. Jaime Olson has a good list of issues in our community that need attention. More specifically on the topic of poverty, I know several area churches are gearing up for homelessness outreaches, and they are usually sorely in need of volunteers and resources. Not the kind of outreach that says "Here, take this tract and I'll let you sleep on my floor" kinda thing, but more "How can I help you stay warm in the winter and provide food for you to eat?" with absolutely no strings attached whatsoever.
Now I need to go listen to Shannon's message....
Strong
Strong message.................
How many times have I been asked for 50 cents, a dollar, from someone in scruffy clothes and unshaven? I usually do not carry cash, so I fool myself into being smug and saying "nope, sorry, I have no change on me". I have on occasion stopped to talk with someone asking for money, and it always makes me feel awkward. Why? Part of the reason is that I have been scammed a few times (hard to tell, I am sure some of the money actually went towards food, but I know all of it did not). I thought about carrying around McDonald's gift certificates, but I boycott McDonald's so that is out. Does Strawberry Fields have gift certificates? *grin* I have, on occasion, stopped what I was doing and simply treated the guy to a meal (sometimes eating with him). I feel that I could do much more, but what? If my heart is truly breaking about poverty issues, why am I so attached to my own comfort? Shannon mentioned this briefly in his sermon, and I totally agree.
As I start to get involved in our community, I would love to hear how others are involved as well. Does anyone blog about their activities, or know of blogs of others not in our church? For instance, I have heard a UTS student by the name of Ash is currently living with the homeless part time. I find that sort of thing inspirational and also gives me some sort of guidance.
Is there a good place to list out relevant blogs, news articles and/or testimonials?
I am seriously tempted to take a few days off work to pursue this stuff.... hmmm.....
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