Poverty Brings Christians, Politicians to Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON – Faring through the rain, hundreds of Christians marched, lobbied Congress, and gathered in the Senate building to hear the efforts and promises of Christian politicians on Tuesday.
Joining hands across denominational lines and political affiliations, Christians from across the country convened at the nation’s capital for the second day of the June 26-28 anti-poverty event.
With banner in hand and chanting, “In God’s name, make poverty history,” some 500 people marched to the U.S. Capitol to draw congress’s attention to the need to solve the poverty issue in America and launch the Covenant for a New America, a faith-based policy strategy for overcoming poverty.
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The Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World who has also been on the board of host organization Call to Renewal since its inception, spoke at the rally and to The Christian Post about the role of Bread for the World, Christians in the fight against poverty.
“What Bread for the World tries to do is organize Christians who care about these things in a general way to get specific about some issues with Congress,” said Beckmann. “[Poverty] is not a marginal issue. Yesterday, the two most successful people (Bill Gates and Warren Buffett) in the world were together because both of them are committed to making poverty history worldwide.
“Some of the urgency of this comes from people realizing that it is feasible in our time to make dramatic progress against poverty. Once you see this, it is like burning coals on your lips. Once you see that it is possible, that it is feasible to reduce poverty – then that message is like the Word of the Lord, like a burning coal on your lips and you got to say it to the nation that we don’t have to put up with the poverty that we got now.”
There are 38.2 million people, including 14 million children, who live in household that experience hunger or the risk of hunger in the United States, according to the Economic Research Report.
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn), who has worked to pass legislations helping to solve the poverty issue, was the first to speak to some 700 people Tuesday evening in the Senate building.
“It is one of the call of the Bible to take care of our brothers in need and as someone that will tell you that faith is an important part of his life, I took it as a serious call when I went to Washington D.C.” Santorum went on to speak about the legislation and bills that he hopes to help pass that will alleviate the poverty problem in the United States.
Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and Chairman of the House Democrats’ Faith Working Group, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), said that he hopes to use his life’s work to preach the Gospel including his work solving poverty in America.
“I tried very hard in all the work that I’ve done to make sure the people see in my work a good and decent sermon.”
After participating in the civil rights movement in college, Sen. Clyburn had decided to tell his father that he would not be attending seminary school and his father responded, “Well Son, I suspect the world would much rather see a sermon than to hear one.”
Bread for the World Beckmann concluded, “I have a sense that this is God moving in our time - there is less poverty in the world than ten, twenty, thirty years ago.
“The nations of the world have all agreed that it is feasible to cut poverty and hunger in half in the next ten year and President Bush has agreed with that. So of course Christians and other people of goodwill are getting organized,” he continued.
“If you are praying to the God of the Bible and you see ‘Oh, in our time we may be able to overcome poverty,’ of course you get excited. It is happening here today.”
