Can the Poverty Mentality Be Changed?

Those who have lived with the effects of poverty for generations typically have the hardest time changing the poverty mentality that often accompanies generational poverty. The United Nations defines poverty as living at or below $1.90 per day, the equivalent of a cup of coffee in the United States.1 Some families have lived this way from generation to generation.

The mentality of poverty is defined differently depending on where you live. You can be in an affluent country, like the United States, and still have a mindset that only allows you to see the lack of something and makes you constantly alert to not spending money.2 This mindset, though similar, is different than someone living in sub-Saharan Africa whose family subsists on less than $2 a day and has been doing so for generations.

For the most vulnerable in the world, having a mind trapped by poverty means that repeated circumstances, hardships and despair result in stunted motivation, lethargy and hopelessness. If someone has lived this way for years, with no vision of a future beyond such circumstances, and has never been taught to value themselves or to dream, their mentality is mired in their poverty.

This cycle can be broken. Two of the most powerful ways to help someone develop a new mindset about their circumstances is to show them their value as a human and give them a hope for the future.

GFA World uses proven tools and trained missionaries to bring both of these to families who long to be free from their desperate situations. To show someone their individual value, GFA missionaries share Christ’s personal, tangible love. Native to their region, they instinctively understand local culture and how to best present the message of Christ’ love and hope. They also reflect this love and an individual’s worth to others in how they treat the people around them.

Missionaries also provide hope for the future by empowering impoverished families to earn a more sustainable income. For example, they provide income-generating gifts such as livestock and sewing machines. They also help provide vocational training to enable individuals to learn marketable skills.

Click here, to read more about this article.

Click here, to read more blogs in Gospel for Asia.Com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Attitude Towards Suffering

Image
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Everyone, at some point or another, faces suffering, the soldier especially. However, it is not so much what we suffer, but how we suffer that matters. The way our heart responds to suffering is crucial, because by it we will either advance or become stagnant. To suffer like a good soldier is to willingly endure all for the sake of the call. To suffer like a bad soldier is to grumble when difficult situations and hardship arise. Instead of throwing our lives into what God has called us to, we can try to hold on to our lives, wanting to get away with as little suffering as possible, paying as little price as possible. We have forgotten that we are under the orders of our Master and that we willingly gave up our lives. Christ’s Example of Suffering Christ lived with the expectation of suffering. Throughout the Gospels, He repeatedly referred to ...
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e...
Read more

Where Can I Learn How to Break the Cycle of Poverty?

Image
There are many methods for how to break the cycle of poverty which one can learn about. From education assistance to income-generating gifts like sewing machines or farm animals, there is hope for families who have been poor for generations. GFA World works in communities in all these ways through sponsorships and gift distributions, and one by one, we see lives changed as families escape poverty. Raina’s life had been dominated by poverty. She was part of a highly underprivileged people group that faced discrimination and deprivation from others in the region. Despite that, Raina had been able to attend school up until tenth grade, but she discontinued her education when it became too much for her parents to afford. Rather than receiving her certificates of completion, she had to join her parents in the field to earn money to put food on the table. After she married Ander, Raina continued to work in the fields to supplement his income with her own. In search of better job opportunitie...
Read more