Christians Rally Against Poverty

From CBN News:

Christians from across the nation are descending on Capitol Hill this week in an effort to annihilate poverty.

It is a tall task, but participants say it is possible through prayer and obedience.

Charlotte Keys traveled to Capitol Hill from Columbia, Mississippi and she is working to battle poverty in Columbia and the nation.

"People are hungry, they are homeless, they are under-educated," she said.

She was one of dozens of Christians who gathered to pray outside the capitol Tuesday as part of the "Mobilization to End Poverty" movement organized by Sojourners.

As many as ten million Americans expected to fall into poverty as a result of the recession.

Christians are praying Congress approves this resolution which sets the goal of cutting poverty in half over the next decade.

The goal of the mobilization is to not just address poverty through food banks and shelters, but to pull Americans out of it by assuring better access to healthcare, promoting fair tax policies and strengthening the institutions of marriage and family.

Organizers say it can't be done without a strong partnership between the federal government and faith organizations.

"When we pray about global poverty we are joining God in his global enterprise for justice," Joel Edwards Micah Challenge international director said.

Keys says if Christians loved their neighbors as the Bible commands, poverty would be quickly eliminated.

"If you love someone you don't hurt them," she said. "If you love someone you would help them and if you love someone you will bless them for Jesus blesses a cheerful giver."

And on this week these Christians are praying members of Congress hear the needs of the poor as loudly as those of wealthy special interests.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/590792.aspx