“What would happen in our communities if everybody gave 10% or more of their income to society-healing endeavors and spent at least one night a week in direct, relational, empowering ministry for and with the poor?”
This blog is for a local study-action group that seeks to address poverty here in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and northern Mexico, in the spirit of Christ, and all others who wish to 1) pray with us, 2) study principles and precedents of effective service among the poor, and 3) help plan and implement concrete action.
Our region is marked by economic prosperity, as well as severe poverty, all within a few miles. In a number of communities on either side of the border, malnutrition, unemployment, addictions, crime, health issues, family dysfunction, educational deficits, and despair abound. We believe that addressing such needs is central to what it means to follow Jesus.
Following the example of the New Testament, we will seek to serve the poor in a way that fosters a sense of “new community,” in which people of diverse and formerly alienated backgrounds form personal relationships of deep, ongoing, and mutual caring. Many worthy services are provided by schools, NGOs, government organizations, and other programs, but they often lack an essential personal touch. Spiritually-inspired communities across the U.S. and around the world are creating enduring caring relationships that connect and empower people, apply resources to needs effectively, leverage the impact of other programs, and make a lasting difference in people’s lives. For more information, see “Our Plan.”
There is no getting around it–the signs of the times are saying it with increasing urgency: We can continue to ignore the deprivation of our neighbors only at our economic, cultural, and spiritual peril. As a song says,
“We will love, or we will perish.”
