TODAY IN MISSION YEARBOOK
What systemic poverty looks like may surprise you
July 10, 2021
The 30-second video addresses and challenges the stereotypical assumptions that people in poverty are other people, not the people they work with and interact with on a daily basis — or that through just a few acts out of their control, could actually be them. Systemic poverty refers to the economic exploitation of people who are poor through laws, policies, practices and systems that perpetuate their impoverished status.
Poverty is complex and overlaps with many other social ills and oppressive structures in our society.
“Matthew 25 informs us that the center of ministry is with those who sit on the margins of society — people who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, poor or oppressed in other ways and in need of welcome,” said the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. “We encounter Jesus in the face of the oppressed. As we serve them, we serve Jesus, demonstrating God’s love and justice in society.”
Matthew 25:31–46 calls all of us to actively engage in the world around us, so our faith comes alive and we wake up to new possibilities. Convicted by this Scripture passage, both the 222nd and 223rd General Assemblies (2016 and 2018) exhorted the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to act boldly and compassionately to serve people who are hungry, oppressed, imprisoned or poor.
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Melody K. Smith, Associate for Organizational Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Today's Focus: Systemic poverty
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Lisa Nelson, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Valéry Nodem, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Let us pray:
Gracious and loving God, at times we forget what is really important: We neglect those in need, destroy our surroundings, and turn away from your all to “tend and keep” your garden. Open our hearts, so that we, remembering that everyone and everything is a gift from you, may spread your loving care to every part of Creation. Amen.