We love to be able to offer practical examples of what one person or church can do in the struggle to overcome poverty. Read on to find out what the St. Michael’s Poway High School Youth group organized;

CEP members, Cindy and Gerry Schmelter , who attend St. Michael’s Church in Poway, knew all the excuses they could have made to avoid leading an awareness raising event (we’re too busy, we don’t know where to start, we don’t have access to the resources, what good would one event in Poway do etc. etc) but they chose not to use those and instead to step out in faith and put on an event for their church’s teens.

Consequently, 80 young people heard and experienced many issues related to poverty at a recent Hunger Banquet held at St. Michael’s on February 13th. The youngsters not only watched videos and power points informing them about basic facts of poverty they joined in discussions and experienced the injustice of poverty by being split into groups representing developed, transitional or underdeveloped regions of the world. While some enjoyed a beautiful catered dinner at decorated tables others sat on the floor with a small cup of rice and water. Various factors were introduced to impact their “lives” and some participants moved up a group or down a group in response to the factors introduced. It was a powerful way to help teens experience, question and discuss the injustice of poverty.

Cindy and Gerry relied on instructions obtained from Oxfam ( go to www.hungerbanquet.org) and CEP was able to provide further resources. This is exactly what CEP was created for – to provide support, encouragement and empowerment to Christians stepping out in faith to raise awareness and educate others about extreme poverty.

But the best is yet to come. Having raised awareness and created an interest; over the next few Sundays these teens will now have an opportunity to engage in a positive and practical way in the fight to end poverty by participating in a letter writing campaign. The students will be encouraged to voice their concerns and desire for poverty focused aid in letters to be delivered to their local representatives.

We commend Cindy and Gerry and their team for their faithful work on behalf of those who are struggling to overcome the effects of poverty.

Who’s next? Who will organize a similar event at their church or youth group? We are ready to support you!

Add your comments here.

Sarah Check of Floresta gave an insightful and
challenging presentation Jan 20th at Solana Beach
Presbyterian. Her subject was “Environmental
Destruction and its Connection to Poverty” but it was about so much more than that.

Sarah stressed the need to address not just charity,
but to go beyond that to creative support through
development assistance and through advocacy. It
was the creative programs providing development
assistance that Sarah concentrated on .

Sarah’s interactive and engaging presentation broke
down the subject of poverty into a complicated web
of root causes. Sarah emphasized the need to
understand and then respond to the root causes,
and not in a vacuum but as a whole. Sarah’s example
of projects created by Floresta showed how we can
encourage and empower those who personally battle
to overcome the effects of poverty, supporting them
in attacking root causes, encouraging creative
responses using their own community’s rich talents
and achieving a break in the poverty cycle. Sarah
closed with a reading from Isaiah 41:17-20, giving
clear personal witness to God’s goodness in restoring
His creation.