In the five-plus decades of my life, little has captured my attention on poverty as the research, personal accounts, and documented cases in the book, The Locust Effect. The book painstakingly details the impact of violence on vulnerable people. Violence is like a swarm of locusts that devours the hope and incremental progress that families make. A…
poverty
Safe. And you?
Keys. I have a key for my desk, my office, my home, my car, my suitcase, my post office box, and even for the lockbox in my home. There are locks on my windows and the gate on my backyard fence. I lock my car doors. Always. No, I’m not a fearful person. It’s just the way…
Impact of Violence on Poverty (video)
Have you seen already articles about The Locust Effect? This week is the launch week for this critically important book on global poverty. It’s been a HUGELY successful launch! Amazon sold out of their copies! It now takes 2-4 weeks to get a copy. What’s it all about?? Being a visual person myself, this video sums…
Game Changer in Poverty Dialogue: The Locust Effect
The hidden plague of everyday violence is undermining efforts to eradicate extreme poverty worldwide. It’s true. But I never knew it until I read The Locust Effect. Released today, The Locust Effect offers a gripping description of the common violence that devastates the world’s best efforts to end global poverty. Authors Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros…
Want to take the $5 Food Challenge?
Last month, several staff members and leaders in our church lived on a food budget of $5 per person per day. A food challenge. WHY?? We committed to live on a food stamp budget for five days in order to better understand one aspect of poverty in America: the struggle to obtain adequate food. While…
Alternative Gifts for Christmas
The average American will spend $700 on gifts, gadgets, and goodies for Christmas. Whether you budget for it or splurge purchase, how will your purchases reflect the core of who you are? How can you share your faith through meaningful spending? Alternative Christmas Gifts Buy gifts from sustainable organizations like Global Goods (changing women’s lives through…
Should you give cash to a homeless person?
You move along a sidewalk in a busy city. You can see your breath with each exhale into the winter air. A homeless man comes into view leaning back on the building ahead. Do you… a) Avert your eyes and keep walking? It’s as if not seeing him, makes him not real. b) Drop a…
Imprisoned by my own Stuff
The postcard noted that the donation pick-up truck would be on our street in two weeks. The non-profit group collects people’s cast-off stuff to sell in their thrift store. The items raise money to assist impoverished families with utility bills, rent, groceries and medical expenses. We have so much stuff. But I “need” it all….
Roy’s Story: An Orphan’s Life on the Streets of Africa, Part 2
Continued from Part 1 We found Moses on the street all beat up. We never found out who pounded him. He never was right after that. His busted up legs healed all crooked, so did his nose and cheek. Looked like half his face just hung all lazy like. Finding food has gotten harder. I…
Roy’s Story: An Orphan’s Life on the Streets in Africa
While most of us live comfortably, orphans of AIDS, wars and poverty suffer. Their stories are often lost amidst other urgent global crises. Here, blended from several sources, is Roy’s story … a fictional account of a child living in urban Africa… It hasn’t always been this bad. Things started out ok. Actually, it was all good…
