Poverty

All over the world, 340 million people are without a single verse of Scripture today. More people live without a complete Bible in their language than without enough food and clean water combined.

Bible poverty is a big deal, one company affirms. “The Bible brings life, and for every day that passes, enough people ... die without hearing the Gospel in their own language,” The Seed Company, a Wycliffe Bible Translators Affiliate, said in a statement.

Their solution? Translate God’s Word into every language on earth, one sacrificial cup of coffee or tea at a time. more >>

Sojourners magazine appears to be walking a fine line with an ad about homosexual homelessness in its September/October issue. The organization hopes to encourage Christians to champion the plight of battered homosexual youths while maintaining a conservative stance on sexuality, but other evangelicals find the ad tasteless and immoral. The campaign features a child holding a teddy bear.

Sojourners spokesman Tim King said he hopes its new ad, sponsored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Ali Forney Center, will encourage Christians to reconsider not only how they view homelessness, but also homosexual children.

"I can say I have heard story after story of young people who were kicked out of their homes or faced abuse at the hands of parents or foster parents because of their sexuality," said King, who has worked with homeless youths for three years. "The church should be the first place to step up and say, 'Don't kick a kid out onto the streets because they are talking about or questioning or trying to understand their own sexuality.'" more >>

A Christian man studying MBA at University of Westminster and living with a wife and two kids has started a project that involves living on less than $1 a day to raise money for an orphanage in India and spread awareness about the lives of the poor around the world.

In the first 13 days of his monthlong $1-a-day “fast,” Nathan Adair, a Baptist, has saved $229 just by cutting down the cost of daily meals, according to his blog. And he is urging others to join him for a weeklong fast beginning Monday.

Adair, who attended the First Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, during his early years, wants to fund a solar power micro-enterprise project that will provide electricity to a community in need and sustainable revenue to an orphanage and mission in India. more >>

United Nations peacekeepers in Ivory Coast have traded food for sex with underage girls, according to a United States Embassy cable released by Wikileaks.

The cable was written last year and was in regards to a study done by aid group Save The Children U.K. in 2009, which found that out of ten underage girls asked, eight of them said they had performed sexual favors with Beninese peacekeepers in exchange for food and lodging.

United Nations spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux confirmed that 16 Beninese peacekeepers were sent back to Benin and barred from service after an investigation confirmed the exploitation. more >>

New data shows that U.S. divorce rates are higher in Southern states such as Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas. This information is important to church leaders since these states are located in what is traditionally known as the "Bible Belt." However, these same leaders squabble over whether or not Christians are truly part of America's growing divorce problem.

Data from the U.S. Census shows the divorce rate among both men and women in the South hovers over the national average. In the South, the divorce rate is 10.2 divorces per 1,000 men aged 15 or older and 11.1 divorces per 1,000 women.

The national divorce rate rests at 9.2 divorces per 1,000 men and 9.7 divorces per 1,000 women. The Northeast region boasts the lowest divorce rate at 7.2 divorces per 1,000 men and 7.5 per women. But the region also has the lowest number of marriage as well. more >>

A recently released study that found 1 in 5 children in America live in poverty has Christian advocacy groups urging Congress to not cut financial safety net programs while attempting to reduce the national debt.

The study conducted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation revealed that the official child poverty rate in the United States increased 18 percent between 2000 and 2009, essentially reversing an upward trend from two decades ago.

Organizations such as Sojourners, which is considered the largest network of social justice Christians, want Americans to let Congress know they should not cut programs that benefit the poor such as child care subsidies, food stamps and housing assistance. more >>