National and International Events

October 15 is Micah Challenge Sunday! Christians around the world will be celebrating Micah Sunday. The Micah Challenge, named for Micah 6:8 is a global Christian movement supported by many different denominations that seeks to halve global poverty by 2015. You can support this by signing the Micah Call/Pledge, and by encouraging your church to focus on poverty-related issues on this Sunday. Micah Challenge has complete resources to help you with this. Go to http://www.crcna.org/pages/osja_micahsunday.cfm.

October 15 STAND UP Against Poverty is an event planned to raise awareness for and draw attention to poverty by attempting a Guinness Book of Records record for standing up! You can join a group or organize your own. Just a minute of standing during your church service could be all you need to do. Find out more or register to STAND UP with the poor by going to www.millenniumcampaign.org/standup

October 17 is White Band Day. You can show you commitment to the global fight against poverty by wearing a white band, the international symbol for overcoming poverty. Wearing the white band spreads awareness and shows your solidarity with the world’s poor. You can even decorate your house, church or school with a white banner for extra visibility. You can find our more or order your white band from http://www.one.org

October 29 is Bread for the World Sunday. Bread for the World is a nationwide Christian movement that seeks justice for the world’s hungry people by lobbying our nation’s decision makers. You can find out how to hold Bread for the World Sunday at your church at http://bread.org/get-involved/at-church/bread-for-world-sunday You can also learn about their annual advocacy resource, the Offering of Letters at:

http://bread.org/get-involved/at-church/offering-of-letters-1.html

Local Events:

October 15 is World Hunger Sunday at Crossroads CRC, San Marcos. The service and message for the day will focus on hunger and responding to hunger. A special children’s message will be followed by handing out of Peter Fish and a study-at-home curriculum for children and families to respond to world hunger. Call Crossroads for more details 760-744-4673

October 28th. Christians Ending Poverty will be meeting from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. to hear featured speaker David Costillo, World Relief Coordinator, explain his organization’s approach to integral mission. World Relief is a non-profit group working to eradicate poverty, disease, hunger, persecution and the effects of war and disasters. Hear how this organization responds to extreme poverty around the world by integrating Health, Education, AIDS relief, Refugee care and Trade.
Contact info@christiansendingpoverty.org for more information.

November 4th Lutheran Pacifica Synod will hold their annual hunger event at King of Kings Lutheran Church, 2993 Mac Donald Street, Oceanside, CA. This no-fee workshop will begin with bible study by Dr. George Johnson. Keynote speaker Dr. Lisa Bonds will share a message of hope based on the impact of giving on many continents. The ONE campaign will also make a presentation and the session will wrap up with letter writing to our elected officials on poverty related issues. Between sessions participants will share ideas about fundraising and how to raise compassion and interest in those Christ refers to as “the least of mine.”

November 5th Christians Ending Poverty will be giving a 15 minute message during the 9:30 a.m. service at Crossroads CRC, 2406 North Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, CA 92069. The congregation will also be invited to join the Letter Writing Campaign after the service. Complete instructions and supplies will be provided for letters to be written to our elected representatives on the subject of extreme poverty. This only takes a few minutes and is one of the most effective ways to make a difference! Contact info@christiansendingpoverty.org for more information.

Christians Ending Poverty has formed a board of directors to continue steering CEP towards its mission goals. Nine members have been appointed representing diverse denominational backgrounds. The members met for the first time on Sept. 16 and will meet again on Saturday, Oct. 14th. You can view details of the CEP board by clicking on Who We Are.

A Great message.

Thank you to our speaker Pastor George Johnson who gave an insightful bible study on Luke 19:1-9 as an introduction to his Sept 16 talk. The story is familiar to most, so you’ll know that Zacchaeus sought out and personally encountered Jesus. Pastor Johnson urged participants to consider what Jesus might have said to Zacchaeus during their meeting that elicited Zacchaeus’ wildly generous response. We might not all respond as Zacchaeus did by donating half of everything we own to the poor and repaying four fold everything we have ever cheated out of people, but George did give us some suggestions of how we can grow as disciples of Christ, and respond to the world’s poor.

What you can do I

In response to extreme poverty, George urged a Zacchaeus 3-5-1 reaction:-

3 - Choose 3 countries of the world now suffering from extreme poverty, one in Africa, one in Asia and one in Latin America. Study them, raise awareness in your congregation or among your friends and share information about the root causes of poverty, poverty statistics and poverty-related assistance programs in the area. Pray specifically and purposefully for the needs in those areas.

5 - Encourage at least 5% of your congregation or group to join Bread for the World, a Christian citizen’s movement focusing on advocacy for the hungry and increased awareness of root causes of hunger. You can find Bread for the World at www.bread.org.

1 - Give an additional 1% of your income to poverty related aid through any organization of your choice. This is intended to be in addition to your regular tithing.

Move along the continuum.

Pastor Johnson clearly expressed the goal of Christians Ending Poverty by describing what we need to do with a visual image. The image of teaching a man to fish instead of just handing a man a fish is well-known. Pastor Johnson urged us to go further; we must move over in the pond to give the man opportunity to fish. This is what Christians Ending Poverty is about: encouraging and empowering Christians to “move over in the pond”.

Christians Ending Poverty will be focussing on how to “move over in the pond” at the next meeting when we hear from the experiences of David Costillo of World Relief. That meeting will be held Oct. 28th.

Join us this Saturday, Sept 16 from 9.00a.m. to 11.00 a.m. at San Marcos Lutheran Church. Author, and World Hunger Program Coordinator, George Johnson, will be presenting the “Secret Message of Jesus” A presentation teaching ways the bible shows us to love our neighbor. George Johnson, a Lutheran Pastor with vast experience in leading groups actively fighting hunger, will begin with a bible study, and then show us how we can present the case for fighting poverty to others. It will be sure to be thought-provoking, and will equip you to move beyond a mere intellectual desire to love your neighbor to a realm in which you participate in the fight to end extreme poverty.

Our meeting will feature live music with local singer/songwriter Donny Lovette.

Join us at San Marcos Lutheran, 3419 Grand Ave. San Marcos, this Saturday, Sept 16 at 9.00a.m. To reserve your place call (760) 744-4673 or email info@christiansendingpoverty.org

This site is a coalition of Christians working together to end world poverty.  It is bigger than any one person or church.  Your feedback an ideas are valued.

What is the counter you see in the top right hand corner of our home page? This counter is a shocking reminder of the urgency of our mission. It shows the number of poverty-related deaths that have occurred around the world since the beginning of this year. 1 person dies every 3 seconds as a result of poverty. These deaths are largely preventable. Sometimes just the provision of a mosquito net or some basic vaccinations could have prevented a death. This is why we must speak up and fight the war on poverty. The counter keeps track of these deaths. Look to see what the counter says now, and then hit the refresh button. You will see how many people died in the time it took you to read this.