Poverty

Pop star Lady Gaga has yet again hit the world headlines after her planned gig was cancelled. But the real story in Indonesia has more far reaching implications. And it is good news for those who care about what God cares about.

I'm one of 9,000 Christians in that nation right now for the World Prayer Assembly, talking about all sorts of issues including how we can help victims of the evils of extreme poverty. Of course there is a fair amount of prayer going on. It is talk, plans and prayer that will kick start something monumental regarding issues of justice and mercy across the world.

Lady Gaga has 1.4 million followers on Twitter, yet these 9,000 Christian leaders in Indonesia collectively have far wider influence than any pop star. These Christians will take something of inspiration back to all parts of the globe. Inspiration about the power of prayer in cities, business places and prisons that works for the common good. more >>

A new $50 million dollar initiative designed to help people and communities across the U.S. experience a day free of poverty is being launched this weekend by faith-based organization Convoy of Hope.

The initiative, called "The Convoy of Hope," is a two-year outreach tour across 50 states that seeks to unite churches, nonprofits, local governments, communities and others to assist individuals and families struggling to cope with economic hardship.

Convoy of Hope is a Christian nonprofit organization that has served over 50 million people in more than 100 countries around the world, but "The Convoy of Hope" tour was inspired by the growing levels of poverty at home – here in the United States. more >>

Christian organizations and Good Samaritans around the world are joining together this week as part of an awareness and fundraising campaign that hopes to impact the lives of over a billion people globally.

The campaign, known as Live Below the Line (LBL), is an initiative begun by the Global Poverty Project and has since morphed into an international effort in which people from all over the world – from Nigeria to Haiti – live in solidarity with the world's 1.4 billion people who live below the World Bank's definition of the extreme poverty line.

Participants of LBL live off of $1.50 a day – the equivalent of extreme poverty – from May 7-11 to experience firsthand the challenges people who live in destitute poverty face on a daily basis. more >>

Actor Stephen Baldwin has teamed up with talk show host and "Secret Millionaire" alumna Dani Johnson in an effort to feed orphans around the world in a campaign called "2012 in 2012," Baldwin announced Monday.

Baldwin and conservative commentator Kevin McCullough are using their talk show media conglomerate, XtreMEDIA, to launch the project "to rescue 2012 orphans in the year of 2012." They are teaming up with Christian ministries King's Ransom Foundation and Food for Orphans for the project.

"When I toured the places these children sleep and live in, I couldn't help but be moved to do something about it. My whole family saw with our own eyes children who were dying or would die soon, simply because they had no food," stated Baldwin in the announcement from XtreMEDIA. more >>

WASHINGTON -- An evangelical leader whose organization sponsored a prayer event on environmentalism believes that global poverty is strongly connected to man-made climate change.

Evangelical Environmental Network President Mitch Hescox, who worked in the energy business before becoming a pastor, told The Christian Post that combating man-made climate change is where his desire to evangelize and to care for the poor meet.

"God called me to it because I have a desperate passion for caring for evangelizing people and for caring for the poor," said Hescox. "How we care about creation care determines how we care about human life. Because the impacts of poverty, of disease, water shortages, is all related to how we steward the creation." more >>

In the past, the church has not been a major player in the fight against malaria, but World Vision, along with Christian leaders and churches across the U.S., is working to unite the faith community in its war against the disease responsible for the deaths of millions of children.

Malaria is a completely preventable disease that can be caused by a single mosquito bite, yet its impact on Africa has been enormous.

Malaria is estimated to take the life of a child on the African continent every 60 seconds and remains the leading cause of death for children under the age of five, but a simple bed net – costing $6 dollars – can prevent children from succumbing to the deadly disease. When properly supplied, the insecticide -treated bed nets have proven to significantly reduce the spread of malaria. more >>