Baptist Congress Speakers Affirm Evangelical Support for Anti-Poverty Campaign

The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Centenary Congress in Birmingham, England in July, which will gather over 10,000 worldwide Baptists, is expected to highlight the global anti-poverty campaign across the world. Rick Warren, one of six renowned speakers for the Congress, has joined a diverse coalition of global evangelical and political leaders and called on President Bush to support, "ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History."

Rick Warren affirmed his support for the anti-poverty effort in a letter he issued on 3rd June. Through joining the ONE campaign, he has committed himself to rally Americans to fight the emergence of HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty, seek fair trade, debt relief, fight corruption and seek additional resources of basic needs for orphans.

Warren described that all of these actions "would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries at a cost equal to one percent of the United States budget."

Rick Warren, founding pastor of the Saddleback Church, Lake Forest California, and the author of the book Purpose Driven Life said, "I’ve never been involved in partisan politics ... and don’t intend to do so now, but global poverty is an issue that rises far above mere politics. It is a moral issue ... a compassion issue, and because Jesus commanded us to help the poor, it is an obedience issue."

"I deeply believe that if we as evangelicals remain silent and do not speak up in defence of the poor, we lose our credibility and our right to witness about God’s love and Word," Warren said.

At the Baptist World Congress, Warren is expected to speak more about his engagement with world poverty.

Warren urged people to sign up to a petition to push President Bush’s efforts on the anti-poverty campaign when the G8 leaders of the world’s eight wealthiest nations meet in their Summit on 6th July in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Other world evangelicals such as John Stott and Billy Graham have also joined the global call to make poverty history.

The Baptist World Alliance general council has backed the Micah Challenge, a similar initiative being undertaken by evangelical churches around the world which is working on the attainment of the Millennium Development goals to halve the world poverty problem by the year 2015.