Some Thoughts on Poverty

Last weekend, my mother in law's church, Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church, hosted a group of teenagers to participate in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. Elena and I were both asked to speak about living in a poor country and how that affected us. Here's what I shared:

Poverty was always far away from me. It was in Africa. It was on TV. It was in downtown New York or Los Angeles. But it was never in front of me. That is until 2004 when I went to China as a church planter. I knew China was a poor country. I had heard that it was under developed. Most of the people in my area are poor farmers who live in houses with dirt or cement floors. Their walls are planks of wood with old newspapers as wall paper.

I expected that much.

The poverty that affected me the most were the beggars on the sidewalks in the city that I lived in. That was hard core poverty that was sometimes too much to handle. Many of these people have bosses who get a percentage of their earnings. Most of them have physical problems (blindness, missing limbs, huge growths) of which they may or may not have personally inflicted on themselves to get people's sympathy. And some are children putting on small circuses on the sidewalk.

The beggars were a subject that my roommate and I would come back to a lot. We had questions and we still don't have everything figured out about how to minister to them. But one thing we did was to let the Word of God guide us in how to think about them and how to treat them.

I learned that I should see them as FELLOW human beings because did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One form us both within our mothers? Job 31:15

I learned that I shouldn't be tightfisted but rather open handed when I walked by them. Deut 15:7-8

I learned that I cannot sing praise and worship songs to God while treating others unjustly. Amos 5:23-24

I learned that one of the reasons I should earn a living is to give to those in need. Eph 4:28

I learned that the great church planter and theologian, Paul, was very eager to remember the poor. Gal 2:10

I learned that a real relationship with God requires that I
undo the chains of injustice,
untie the cords of the yoke of oppression,
set the oppressed free,
share my food with the hungry,
provide the poor wanderer with shelter,
clothe the naked,
spend myself in behalf of the hungry and
satisfy the needs of the oppressed.
Isa 58:6-10

I learned that he who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker. Prov 17:5

I learned that whoever is kind to the needy honors God. Prov 14:31

I learned that if a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. Prov 21:13

I learned that God will take up the case of the poor if I exploit them. Prov 22:22-23

I learned that God commands me to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. I should speak up and judge fairly and defend the rights of the poor and needy. Prov 31:8-9

I learned that what it means to know God is to do what is right and just; to defend the cause of the poor and needy. Jer 22:15-16

Now recall the story of the feeding of the five thousand. The disciples brought complaints about the hungry multitude to Jesus and he responded compassionately by blessing the bits of food from a boy's lunch - five loaves of bread and two fishes. He blessed the food then gave it to the disciples who, in turn, passed it out to the hungry crowd. Everyone ate and was satisfied. Imagine if the disciples didn't give the food to the people but instead kept it all for themselves saying "Thank you Jesus! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" And even under all the fish and loaves the disciples could be heard complaining, "Jesus, what are you going to do about the hungry multitude?"

As I think about people who are suffering in North Korea and India and in many nations in Africa, I can say "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus for allowing me to have food and clothes and parents. Thank you for ordaining that I live in a place that's not war-torn. Thank you that my government is not totally corrupt or unjust. Thank you for all the power, protection, freedom, justice, food, water, clothes and shelter."

Usually my prayers end there. But I should continue to pray thus: "What have you given me that I might help those who don't have power, protection, justice, freedom, food, water, clothes or shelter?"

The last three paragraphs were taken from a book I read in China:
Gary A. Haugen, Good News About Injustice (InterVarsity Press, 1999) pp 100-101

Painting With Words: An Experiment

I recently read a book called I Am a Pencil by Sam Swope. Sam Swope, it turns out, is a children's book author and not actually a pencil. As he explains, he stumbled on teaching creative writing to third graders in Queens after struggling through an extended writing slump. His book is a research project turned novel that chronicles the three years he spent with the same elementary school class teaching story and poetry. It's well-written, honest, heart-on-your-sleeve stuff. I really liked it.

But this post isn't about I Am a Pencil; it's about why I read I Am a Pencil. I read I Am a Pencil because I was looking for Wishes, Lies, and Dreams by Kenneth Koch, who taught first through sixth graders in Manhattan how to write poetry some 30 years before Sam Swope, but the library didn't have it. Sam Swope was as close to Kenneth Koch as I could get until my order came into Barnes and Noble.

But this post isn't about Kenneth Koch, either. I was trying to find Kenneth Koch because I decided to teach a children's poetry class. I'm not exactly sure why I decided to teach a children's poetry class, but I can tell you how it happened. Sandy (of Magnolia Hill fame) asked me what I thought of my teaching experience overseas. I told her that while I was teaching, I found it absolutely draining and that I felt that it was not something I could do for the rest of my life. But, I continued to explain, now that I'm back in the US and not doing it, I miss it a lot. She told me that if I wanted to teach that she'd be willing to loan me the studio and help me find students.

A few days later while I was riding in the car or wiping tables at work or spacing out on the couch or something, I thought, "I'll teach poetry to children."

So since I decided to teach poetry to children, I also decided I should learn how to teach poetry to children. Hence Kenneth Koch and Sam Swope. I also read parts of Stories, Songs, and Poetry to Teach Reading and Writing by Robert and Marlene McCracken and The Art of Teaching Art to Children in School and at Home by Nancy Beal with Gloria Bley Miller. And I have, I think, learned a little. And in my usual fool-hardy way I'm going to attempt something big with only very little.

I talked to Sandy about it again yesterday and sent her a course description I'd written up. This is how it goes:

Like acrylics and watercolors and oils, words can be used to paint powerful and expressive works of art. More than just a means to communicate our needs or ideas, words can be beautiful and breathtaking, dynamic and impressive. This eight-week course designed for middle school students (ages 9-12) will focus on developing a love for language and an understanding of its versatility. By exploring the work of modern poets and experimenting with our own language, we will discover how to paint new pictures with words.

It's ambitious and I am simultaneously excited and terrified. (Sandy seems excited and a bit more confident of the class's success.) If any kids sign up for this class and I actually get to teach it, I'll let you know how it goes.