Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

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Christian Perspectives: Society and Life

6 min readFeb 27, 2017

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

It can be very easy to just hand someone living in poverty a dollar or two and maybe even buy them some food or clothes (all good things). However it takes a whole lot of patience and time to break through poverty. If you know anything about fishing (you’ll probably know more than me) then you realize that you can’t just expect the fish to jump into your hand. NO, you will need to choose your bait, monitor the weather, determine where you want to go, and sit patiently until a fish bites. Likewise, poverty is not something that you want to approach blindly. If you truly want to help someone you will build relationships, get to know their situation, and help steer them out of the poverty cycle.

The Poverty Cycle: malnutrition affects health; health and malnutrition affect education; education affects occupation, which affects income, which affects the level of poverty… the culture of poverty is then passed on to their children (1).You can see that we need to be intentional in our efforts to help those in need. Just giving money here and there is not enough, we need to be willing to walk alongside someone for the long run (easier said then done… I know). We can be tempted to look at someone on the street and turn the other way. It can be very easy to turn a blind eye to an epidemic directly in front of our face. The purpose of this post is to create an awareness of the struggles people face daily and see how Christians should respond.

To start things off lets look at the world and zoom in on extreme poverty. Extreme Poverty Defined: “The most widely held and understood definition of extreme poverty, established by the World Bank, defines poverty in strictly economic terms — earning less than $1.90 a day.” The implications of living in extreme poverty include a lack of adequate food, water, and shelter and a lack of education. Christians should be appalled by this. No one should have to suffer this… but there is a light ahead. Nicholas Kristof, a writer for the New York Times, points out:

The number of people living in extreme poverty ($1.90 per person per day) has tumbled by half in two decades, and the number of small children dying has dropped by a similar proportion — that’s six million lives a year saved by vaccines, breast-feeding promotion, pneumonia medicine and diarrhea treatments!

He also goes on to state, “The U.N. aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, and experts believe it is possible to get quite close.” It can be easy to look at the poverty stricken world and feel hopeless. But we need to realize that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel (embrace hope). There is hope is getting people out of extreme poverty. We cannot sit idly by and say to ourselves we have no chance of putting a dent in ridding the world of poverty. Rather we need to rise up and embrace hope, we need to help where we can.

Now lets take a look at how poverty is sweeping through America. Poverty in America compared to other parts of the world does not seem as serious. Take a look at what Nicholas Kristof has to say about poverty in America:

What many Americans don’t understand about poverty is that it’s perhaps less about a lack of money than about not seeing any path out. More than 80 percent of American households living below the poverty line have air-conditioning, so in material terms they’re incomparably better off than poor families in India or Congo. In other ways their lives can be worse.

Although some Americans living in poverty have three televisions, as referenced earlier in Kristof’s article, many don’t have the finances to provide a meal to their children each day. Americans are ‘better off’ yet still seem to have a host of additional problems. Living in poverty in America (a land full of riches) can cause a whole lot of stress. Anna Swanson, a writer for the Washington Post, writes this about Americans living in poverty: “Lower-income Americans who have struggled economically are more likely to experience financial and psychological stress, be exposed to violence and environmental hazards, receive lower quality health care, eat lower-quality food and live in substandard housing, researchers say.” Maybe you know what living in poverty feels like or maybe you never witnessed poverty — either way we need to be sensitive to the needs of people. Some may not be ready to accept help. Nonetheless we should be ready and willing to help people in need.

Now lets determine the role the Christian should play in breaking the cycle of poverty. Take a look at James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” We need to be willing to help people in need. The church needs to be a catalyst in breaking the poverty cycle. Another verse from James states this, “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” We need to do more than just give sound advice on how people in poverty should be living. We need to give our time and have patience when walking alongside someone living in poverty. Dr. Anne Bradley, from her post for Christianity Today, stated several practical ways we can help break the cycle of poverty:

Poverty alleviation is the church’s responsibility. It is the job of the church, the body of Christ, to care passionately and genuinely for the poor. The church must step up to their responsibility and be the first line of offense in addressing poverty.
When we do what God has created us to do, we help others. The impact of our work extends to God’s kingdom in ways we will never understand. Embrace volunteer opportunities. Serve your church. Work hard at your job every day. Love your family, friends, and neighbors well.
The fight to end poverty starts in your community. It starts with building long-term relationships, getting your hands dirty, and addressing real needs.

Here are several ways you can help break the cycle of poverty:

Compassion International — “releasing children from poverty in Jesus name” You can join the mission and sponsor a child. For only 38 dollars a month, you will be able to make an eternal difference in the life of a child and their family. You will not be able break the cycle of poverty in the world, but you can break the cycle in the life of one (or multiple) children.
Feeding America — Feeding America is a nationwide network of food banks and the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Together, we help provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs. With your support, we can help provide meals to the hungry and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.
Volunteer — You can make an impact. By offering hope. We partner with you to ensure those experiencing homelessness can access tools for a better life.
Simply Take Action — The bible calls us to take action and step in and help those in need. Just because we can’t help everyone does not mean that we shouldn’t help anyone. “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” ~1 John 3:17

The solution to breaking the cycle of poverty will require a whole lot of time and patience. Like fishing, if you want to reach your end goal, you will need to prepare adequately. And to conclude this post read the quote below…

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

~Scott Silva

References

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Written by Scott Silva