What is Poverty?

To read the original post on the Hungry for Life website click here.


In the States we have a view of what poverty looks like. We have an idea of poor that includes dilapidated housing, unpaved streets, tattered clothes and dirty skin. And in Guatemala you find all of that.

You find kids walking barefoot down rocky streets, women washing dishes in black water. You see houses that are black from soot and are falling down from poor construction. Their floors aren’t natural wood floors – they are natural dirt floors. They don’t have playgrounds, they have piles of trash.

We look at these conditions and we want to change them. We want to help. We see the impoverished conditions and want them to live like we live, to enjoy what we enjoy. To know the luxury that we know – or if not that, we at least want them to live better than they are.

But is that what they really need? Is that where hope actually lies?

When I looked into the eyes of the children today, I saw joy. Not joy for all the things they had, but for who they had.  I looked into the eyes of the woman who owned the home today, I saw appreciation. But the appreciation wasn’t for the house we were building, it was for the love we were showing.

And so I think, what is poverty? Is it not having stuff? Or is it more than that? Is true poverty deeper than that? Isn’t true poverty thinking no one cares about you? Thinking you have no hope? No chance of redemption?

When we look at changing this country, or changing even one town – or even a home – it seems hopeless. It seems impossible. And it might very well be.

But aren’t we here for a greater purpose? Aren’t we here to do more than build houses? We are here to love these people. To love them to Jesus. Because although we might not be able to ever do physically more than build them a house, a stove or a school – we can share the love of Jesus. The same love that He showed us.

And Jesus is Everything. We may not be able to do anything for them, but we offer them the hope of Everything. And it is that hope that will change more than countries – it will change every heart that believes in it.

That is True Wealth.

Tracy