Three Things About One Word: Poverty

Pov-er-ty:  noun

:the state of being poor

:a lack of something

a :  the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions

Poverty is relative

It all depends on your perspective.  What I consider to be poverty may be different than what you consider to be poverty.  The federal government has established their measure of poverty called the poverty threshold or poverty line.  Certainly, what the US considers as poverty stricken is vastly different than what poverty looks like in developing countries.  Consider this data from the US Census Bureau regarding those considered to be living in poverty: Source

80.9% have cell phones and a land line

58.2% have computers

96.1% own televisions

83% have some type of DVR

68.7% have a washing machine

In developing countries poverty looks much different.   Instead of lacking luxuries, they lack the basic life necessities.  Most don't even have the electricity it would require to have the luxury of a TV or computer. Many do not have access to the clean water required for a washing machine.  Compare these world wide statistics to the ones above:

1.4 billion people live on less that $1.50 a day

950 children die every hour from hunger or preventable diseases

884 million people don't have access to clean drinking water 



Poverty is destructive
And not just to the individual or family that lives in poverty.  It affects communities, cities and entire nations. Some of the things that poverty can affect: 

education, hunger, shelter, safe drinking water, medical care, adequate sanitation, life expectancy, homelessness, proper hygiene, sexual exploitation, forced labor, death. 

Poverty is one of the major factors in human trafficking in developing countries.  In some countries like Africa and Cambodia, it is common practice for impoverished families to sell their own children into slavery as a way to earn money.

The cycle of poverty is hard to break...but YOU can make a difference.
When children are born into a family of poverty, they often don't have the chance for a proper education.  The may lack the funding for the supplies or the required uniform.  Other times, rather than attending school,  they may be forced to go to work at a young age to help support the family with such basic needs as food.  Without an opportunity for education the cycle of poverty continues to the next generation.   Related Words:  Misery, Woe, Wretchedness, Emergency, Deprivation. If these words tug on your heart tug on your heart strings please know that you can make a difference.  You may not be able to change the world, but you can change it for one person.  Consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International.  You can choose the location, age and gender of your sponsor child.  For $38 a month, you can make a difference in the life of a child.  When you sponsor a child you give them an opportunity to an education, an opportunity to be healthy, and an opportunity to hear the gospel message and learn about Jesus.

Saving one child will not change the world, but surely for that child, the world will change forever.

Sponsor a Child Today!