Ten Christian anti-poverty organizations on Tuesday announced an alliance to end global poverty by 2035.
Dubbed “58:” the alliance of global Christians, churches and faith-based poverty-fighting organizations aim to help the 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day.
“In the last 10 years we have witnessed an incredible shift in the
American church as millions of Christians are now engaging with the
issues of poverty and injustice,” explains Peter Greer, President of
Hope International. “It is a groundswell of serious new intentions that
will radically impact extreme poverty.”
The 10 organizations behind 58: are: Christian Reformed World Relief Committee; Compassion International; ECHO; Food for the Hungry; HOPE
International; International Justice
Mission; Living Water
International; Micah Challenge; Plant With
Purpose; and World Relief. Together, these organizations represent more than $800 million in annual operations and provide a conduit to support thousands of local organizations and churches doing work in more than 50 developing countries.
The organizations, together with major churches, leaders, ministries and committed Christians, believe that a return to the biblical call to care for the poor, a unified vision within the Church, and compelling evidence of progress provide a historic moment for the Church to lead the way in ending extreme poverty.
Dr. Scott Todd, senior advisor at Compassion International and one of the architects of 58:, sees the momentum: “The question now is not, ‘Can we end extreme poverty?’ The question is, ‘How fast?'”
