Crouching behind statistics of economy and trends in politics lie malicious traps that trample the poor. These traps may be direct assaults on their well-being or, more often, indirect consequences from power plays far removed. The poor are left with upheavals beyond their control, with fear and uncertainty always at their door.
What follows are some realities that lie behind statistics and trends. They are extracted from a sampling of nations, all beginning with M. From these we see what trampling of the poor looks like.
Madagascar: Indigenous ethnic religion oppresses the people and their aspiration to rise out of poverty. The population relies on subsistence farming, but slash and burn has decimated about 80% of the rainforest cover for plants and animals. That means that the majority live on about $2 a day.
Malawi: High population growth, high poverty, and huge national debt challenge life there. Lack of adequate medical care has left AIDS as the leading cause of death.
Malaysia - Sabah and Sarawak: “Insider capitalism” (meaning the powerful get richer and the others get poorer) has left 26% below the poverty line. Racial discrimination, corruption, and crime will leave them there for a long time.
Maldives: Except for the privileged and powerful, people in the Maldives face rising crime, gang wars, abuse of children, and endemic drug use by teenagers. All this combined with the spiritual strongholds of pre-Islamic occult suppresses visions of change.
Mali: This country ranks at 178th out of 182 on the Human Development Index. One in five children does not survive beyond the age of 5. One-third of those surviving are malnourished.
Mauritania: Being divorced to marry another is considered a compliment in this land. So much for family stability. Oil discovery has increased corruption and further impoverishes most of the population. Thousands live in slavery in the interior, abetted by racial discrimination of the White Moors against the Black Moors.
Mexico: Drug cartels, gang violence, and corruption in law enforcement leave 60% of the population in poverty. These are mainly the rural poor and exploited slum-dwellers. 10% of Mexicans are Amerindians. They have no official status and thus face severe poverty. The insatiable drug habit of people in the US brings huge income to the government, blunting any real effort to eradicate the drug trade.
Mozambique: The legacy of Marxist economy, recurring cyclones, a destructive colonialism, and civil war has left this nation one of the world’s poorest. The consequence are found in poor health care, AIDS, malaria, TB, and other lethal diseases amidst the poor. Traumatized by violence, natural disasters, and disease, spiritual brokenness lies deep in these people.
Myanmar: Systemic violence has not left this nation for decades. The present junta has targeted minorities, who already carry burdens of impoverishment and torment. The military has redefined “ruthless.”
These sad profiles set the poor before us. We may note several recurring headings:
Vulnerability. The poor lack arms, education, wealth, power, health, food, advocates. This sets up a scenario of easy abuse and unchallenged exploitation by the powerful, the armies, the educated, the strong. The poor have little reason to hope for change.
Violence. The sinister of the world face little resistance to their designs of evil. Gary Haugan is the founder of the International Justice Mission. He argues in his book, The Locust Effect, that until violence is addressed, the poor lack the means to rise out of poverty.
Law enforcement. This has a tight connection to violence. Haugan gives story after story of how law enforcement sides with the criminal, the predator. How can there be hope for justice in the courtroom when those who represent the law are also violators?
Light in the soul. The poor must combat the message that accompanies these discriminations—that they are the lowest of society, they don’t matter, they have no worth, and they bring scourge on their society. The determination that can counter that requires spiritual strength that is rare in those communities.
There is light ahead for the poor. Next week I will write on the virtues of the poor. (No kidding.) And the Psalmist reminds us: “Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will pursue it” (Psalm 94:15).
What can we do for the poor of the world? I recommend using Operation World. This monumental work is a day-by-day guide for prayer for all the nations of the world. Its primary focus is the expansion of Christ’s kingdom. One part of the examination always relates to the poor.
This web site takes you to the nation of the day and prayer focus. For today we pray for Benin.
With apologies to: Macedonia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Monaco, Mauritius, Moldova, Martinique, Mayotte, Montenegro, Montserrat, and Mongolia.
Operation World has been the source for the information in this article.
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