Salvation Army leader on poverty at Conservative Party Conference fringe

|PIC1|These days are days of debate and decision, recommendations and rhetoric.

These are days to scatter a sound bite or secure a photo opportunity. When the music fades and the bandwagon returns then it can be assessed in how much is achieved. Beyond the words begins the work. We live in the real world. Poverty is a reality.

Debate poverty in every age and you would conclude the biblical comment that 'the poor you will always have with you'. In every society, in every culture. The problems are readily highlighted, the solutions can be illusive.

As Christians we must accept that we are our brothers' keepers'. It is not enough to resign ourselves to the inevitability of poverty, deserving or otherwise. Allow me to underline my very firm conviction that in addressing this issue 'it is amazing how much we can achieve when we are not concerned about who gets the credit.'

Reports and statistics are sterile until we put flesh and blood names to the families in crisis, to the breadwinners out of work, to children excluded from school. And the first thing needed is not necessarily money. There needs to be Hope.

As a Christian I define Hope, not as optimism, but as theology. As God's creation, every man, woman, child, of every creed, culture, colour and economic level is of equal worth and value.

Together, churches, communities, policy makers and purse holders must work together to provide hope for the hopeless, help for the helpless and hugs for the hostile (hooded or otherwise), and not be concerned about who gets the credit.

Another type of credit or more accurately financial debt, contributes to social breakdown, family breakdown. The debt trap sucks in the whole of society. It is not just for the underclass or marginalised. For some, it is for survival.

For others it may be for material image, mistakenly thinking it enhances identity. In the shadows of society or behind suburban curtains debt may finance habit and addiction.

But poverty is about much more than empty pockets, it is also empty spirit. Jesus spoke about the 'poor in spirit' - not the impoverished of spirit, but those who know their spiritual need of God. In our communities we must engage where we best can address such needs.

It is not enough to expect schools to fill every need, nor the state to have every answer. Neither should we, when failure and crisis emerge, point the finger at the churches, while we lack joined-up thinking and turn a deaf ear and blind eye to life addressing values.

Morality, compassion, accountability and responsibility need to be part of our vocabulary. This is real life.

Together, we can have a common value to work for the good of our communities, not being concerned with who gets the credit. It is done by placing a hand, taking responsibility, speaking into the nation.

We need to turn our back on past failure, where we have let ourselves and others down - I understand that this is the essence of Christian grace - and we must engage the challenges and we all know about them.

There are opportunities locally that we engage in, most never hitting the headlines but motivated by the Faith that says people matter. Things are being done. Solutions are being found and while they may not be entirely adequate they are making an impact. Let me give some examples:

• Opening the doors of the church, giving children a breakfast before going to school, getting them to school, and back in the evening to a homework club then a youth club.
• Providing a programme for children excluded from schools.
• Providing debt advice.
• Offering parenting classes and life skills seminars.
• Facilitating access for parents who do not have custody of their children in a safe and stimulating environment.
• Addressing the poverty of relationships, social skills, the poverty of opportunity and moral direction.
• All this and better is required. The need and demand always outstrips what is provided.

At every level we need to work toward stronger partnerships, to open doors and provide seats at the table.

None of us can do everything, but we can acknowledge the areas which are best achieved by state, or church, or charity and empower these different agencies and release resources to get the job done.

Poverty, however, is a relative term. We all understand that internationally we belong to a global village, and we all recognise the effects of migration and the associated responsibilities on us all.

There is an endless need for investment in communities overseas to build capacity and infrastructure that is fair and just. This is a balanced focus of Christian ministry to the whole person, to the whole community and to the whole world.

From my own denomination - The Salvation Army - our Internationalism is a strength. Our first hand knowledge of the plight of other nations convicts us to respond to the results of poverty - hunger, Aids, pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria, measles - and to work towards preventing them. Sadly, too, there is the emerging degradation and wickedness of human trafficking.

All of this has resulted in increased investment in income generation schemes, micro-credit, education and rehabilitation projects to alleviate poverty.

In terms of human trafficking, where we can, we are sprearheading prevention, protection and advocacy, as well as calling for prosecution of those who would seek to exploit others.

This, of course, is only a fleeting reference to the depth and span of poverty. The Christian Gospel never sweeps the reality under the carpet.

With the gathering of minds and hearts together we can acknowledge and analyse

• What we each do best.
• What we must do in partnership with others
• What we can trust others to do.
• Together we make poverty history.



[Re-printed in Christian Today with the kind permission of The Salvation Army]