Christians From Haiti to Nigeria 'Live Below the Line' to Stamp Out Global Poverty

By Ivana Kvesic, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, May 10, 2012

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.

"The vision is to build a global movement to eradicate poverty in our lifetime," Kerry Crellin, Initiative Manager for the U.K.-based poverty alleviation group Christian Aid, told The Christian Post in a recent email.

Christian Aid is a partner to the campaign in the U.K., along with several other agencies such as Malaria No More and The Salvation Army, but it is the faith aspect of understanding poverty that motivates many Christians to get involved.

"Global Poverty Project, who run LBL, share with Christian Aid the Gospel vision of a world where no person, made in the image of God, will have [to] suffer the dehumanizing and outrageous scourge of extreme poverty," Crellin shared. "Churches and faith groups have responded with great enthusiasm to the opportunity presented by LBL to raise funds and awareness to help fight extreme poverty."

This year, the campaign has gained significant attention, partially due to the number of development agencies – both faith-based and secular – who are promoting LBL.

"LBL has bases in Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. at present with plans to expand the countries where LBL is run next year," Crellin said.

Last year, the campaign raised nearly 200,000 British Pounds in the U.K. alone ($323,080).