Disrupting Generational Poverty
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. -Isaiah 1:17
At our launch gathering in the hills of Virginia just outside Washington DC, the Faith and Literacy Collective had a chance to hear from Ron Fairchild, a consultant with The Campaign for Grade Level Reading. The Campaign is a leading advocacy, research and organizing group in all realms of early education… they are truly one of the smartest, most effective and most activated groups in America. Our friend Ron told us this:
“The Campaign’s starting point is really about disrupting generational poverty.
And the earliest and best predictor for whether and to what extent kids are going to succeed in school and life; one of the best predictors we have is third-grade reading proficiency.”
The feeling in the room was so palpable that you would of thought that we were going to rename our collective, “Disrupting Generational Poverty.”
Together we are learning about how struggling school children are the BEST opportunity for God’s people to be with the “least of these,” just as Jesus commanded us to do. Because we must see early childhood literacy as a JUSTICE issue.
When we say “disrupting generational poverty,” we mean several vitally important ideas.
One is that injustice, oppression and poverty, without intervention, quickly become generational. The pain, lack of opportunity and limitation are passed from parents to children. We believe this is why the LORD instructed Moses to include mechanisms like the Year of Jubilee into the Torah Law to forgive all debts and redistribute opportunity (Leviticus 25). In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus echos the Jubilee spirit when he began his ministry with the words:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Luke 4:18-19
Two, justice always requires disruption. It necessitates benevolent and courageous action. This is why Jesus was daily willing to shake up society by touching, valuing and elevating the forgotten, marginalized, isolated and rejected. In Mark’s Gospel, chapter one, Jesus begins his ministry by compassionately visiting, touching, affirming and bringing healing to a leper (and many others).
Three, disrupting poverty is not about deifying wealth, it is about equity, opportunity and esteem. This is why Jesus equated the Gospel of the Kingdom with feeding, clothing and “inviting in” (Matthew 25:35-36.) It is why Isaiah quotes the LORD with these words:
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth…
Those who build the houses will also dwell in them;
those who plant the vineyards will eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.”
Isaiah 65:17, 22-23
The question is, do God’s People want to practice the “new heavens/new earth” now? In the twenty-first century, Isaiah’s vision of opportunity and esteem requires closing the education gap.
Our Collective Fellow, Sultan Cole reminds us that in John 17 Jesus prays that we should be one. In other words UNITE for the common good around literacy.
Here's a little acronym that Sultan inspired us with around the world U.N.I.T.E.
U - Understanding your community's need.
N - Networking Faith-based and Literacy Advocates
I - Integrating our gifts and talents
T - Trusting the Lord through active prayer
E - Engaging the unchurched with compassionate and demonstrative gospel expressions.
It is a wonder that there is so much “alone-ness” in this work (and in life more broadly.) However, this collective stands in defiance to isolation. We live for one another, to support one another, to resource one another and ultimately, to multiply our efforts in order to bring justice to our children.
Remember what Ron of The Campaign said:
EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY: one of the Best Predictors for Disrupting Generational Poverty.
#disruptingpoverty #preventativejustice #FaithAndLiteracyCollective