Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

3. The biblical argument: if God is concerned for the poor, he must be concerned about the American inner city!

a. Poverty in America continues to increase; the most recent information available from the US Census Bureau for 2001, which shows an increase to 32.9 million in poverty in America, which may also reflect an increase in the poverty figures for the inner city. For the first time in almost a decade, poverty in the United States rose last year, while median income fell. According to the Census Bureau, both negative economic indicators coincided with a recession. The poverty rate rose to 11.7 percent in 2001, up from 11.3 percent in 2000. It was the first year-to-year increase in poverty since 1991 - 92. At the same time, median household income declined 2.2 percent overall from its 2000 level to $42,288.

b. The numbers of poor continue to rise; the Census reports 1.3 million more people were poor in 2001 than in 2000 - 32.9 million compared to 31.6 million.

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C. If mission is about the city, then it will also have to be about the poor, because the vast majority of individuals in the city are poor.

1. God judged his people because of the immorality of their cities and the oppression of their poor, Amos 2.6-8.

2. The teeming millions abroad and the growing numbers at home show that our cities are magnets for the poorest of the poor in our world today.

3. Mission must be about the cities because those whom God cherishes reside in them.