HEALTH & HELP

Missions & Service

Poverty in Mission
Sarah Martindell

When I applied to be a United Methodist missionary, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. The application warned us: “Participants in these programs receive subsistence salaries and are asked to live at an economic level comparable to those of the people with whom they are working.” It made sense that I couldn’t live in a palace if my mission were to serve homeless people. But just how “subsistence” were we talking? Would I be sleeping on a dirty floor covered with bugs? Would I have hot water for a shower?

Fortunately, my active imagination didn’t portray the reality of this missionary experience. In fact, compared to the people I’m serving, I have a lot of monetary wealth, thanks to the benefits of my job. I have excellent health insurance, while the people I serve can’t even afford basic healthcare. My rent and utilities are covered, while the people I serve sleep outside on cardboard.

At the same time, a missionary’s salary is low enough to teach me what it’s like to live from paycheck to paycheck—making just enough to get by. Living in “intentional poverty” definitely helps me to empathize with the people I serve.

A couple of months ago, I paid off a big loan before I got my next paycheck. Suddenly, my bank account dwindled to $15. I panicked: What if I run out of gas or blow a tire? How will I get to work? How will I keep my job? What will I do? In that moment, it became very real to me that many people face these worries every day.

Asking the Tough Questions
As part of my job, I work at a food pantry. The majority of people who come for food are working, yet they still can’t make ends meet. Why? That’s the question I have to ask. It’s easy to give a family a bag of groceries, but the purpose of my mission goes deeper than that: I have to ask the tough questions. Why is this family poor? Why do people need help with food, even when they have a job? What system is creating this cycle of poverty? Why isn’t the minimum wage in the United States enough for people to live on?

Those kinds of questions relate to social justice, which is the driving force behind the United Methodist mission program. Many Christians do works of charity, but there’s a difference between works of charity and works of justice. Working for justice requires us to ask the tough questions that expose the unjust systems. Are you ready to ask the tough questions? <

Next Day Stretch
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
—Micah 6:8 (NRSV)

How is God stirring up in you empathy for the poor? Do you need to change your definitions of wealth, poverty, and charity? How is God moving you beyond simple acts of charity toward the bigger questions of justice? Wrestle with these questions in the weeks to come.

from devozine (November/December 2009). Copyright © 2009 by The Upper Room®. All rights reserved.

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