It’s possible that even though one may not know much about Dr. Tony Campolo, they will have heard some version of the following quote from him:
 "I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said 'shit’ than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."

This month, the Ethics Centre asks you to consider the many manifestations of poverty in our world, and we can think of no better way of getting your attention than to use these words from Dr. Campolo. They are no doubt sensational. Are they any less true? Any objection to posting a vulgarity on this site might only reinforce Campolo’s suspicion and suggest that as Christians we certainly do care more about upright decorum and clean speech than we do about the millions of our fellow human beings who live in abject poverty down the street, across the country and around the world.  In preparing these resources we have had in mind a multi-dimensional understanding of poverty. We see at least four different faces of poverty, each arousing certain distinct images in our minds and yet all of them intimately interconnected.

• We see urban poverty. We see those men and women experiencing homelessness who file through lunch lines and past the doors of shelters and hostels. We see those who, in the midst of their poverty, have learned to abuse harmful substances and have even become addicted to those. We see the recipients of any number of government-funded or church-run social services. If pressed, we might also see immigrants who live ten or twelve strong in tiny apartments which are stacked on top of one another in housing projects and subsidized buildings. We might see the working poor, single parents, unskilled labourers, the underemployed, those working just to make ends meet.

• We see rural poverty. We see those who may not have adequate income, enough food, or sufficient resources; and whose poverty is aggravated by the isolation and loneliness of rural landscapes or restricted access to necessary health and social services. The rural poor may be farmers or fifth-generation homesteaders. They may live at the mercy of the elements, unable to protect themselves and their livelihoods from drought, extreme temperatures or insect infestations. They might be aboriginal peoples, displaced by the government, herded onto reserves, under-educated and lacking agency, vision or hope.

• We see global poverty. We can picture the faces of children in war-torn or ravaged countries. We’ve seen them on the news. They are starving, their stomachs distended. They are thirsty and unwashed because they have no access to clean, potable water. Even if they can find food to eat and water to drink, they are malnourished or sick with any number of diseases, some reaching epidemic proportions. We see orphans, and widows, and rebels who are so angry about their poverty that they do terrible things to each other.

• We also see spiritual poverty. We see Christians who are blind to much of the poverty described above. We see the people of God ignoring God’s advocacy for the poor throughout the Bible. We see Christians who are wealthy in many ways, but poor in spirit because we have missed the opportunity to fully follow Jesus of Nazareth by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless and loving our neighbours as well as our enemies.

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