While AR Board Member Dave Clark was here, he led us through an afternoon of orientation on walking with the poor. Dave works with an inner city ministry in Chicago, and had some great insights to offer, as well as many challenging scriptural references. For me, the main things I took away were a great need for humility in serving and God’s heart for caring for the poor. Also, that ministry to the poor is based on relationships, and that not all poverty is a result of personal choice. There are many injustices in society as well as straight-up natural calamities that lead to poverty. All good stuff to keep in mind as this year we’ll be working both on a personal level with individuals as well as working to combat some of the systemic injustices that perpetuate poverty.

I wish I could recount the entire session here, as there were so many valuable points on empowerment vs. paternalism, approaching servanthood with a cross-cultural understanding, celebrating the image of God in a different culture (rather than focusing on the brokenness), etc. But instead, I’ll let you ponder the verses below that talk about what God thinks of the poor, and what he expects of Christians. Roll over the links to view the text (you have to roll off and wait for the text to disappear before you can view another verse).

A big shout-out to Dave for condensing such a large volume of material into a very enlightening and helpful session.

Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:11-17, Isaiah 58:1-12, Proverbs 14:31

Amos 2:6-7, Amos 5:21-24, Proverbs 31:9, Psalm 146:5-9

James 1:27, Galatians 2:10, Luke 4:18-19, Acts 20:35

Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 10, Acts 2:42-47, Jeremiah 9:23-24

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Filed under: General by Nathan on September 2nd, 2008, poor, poverty