Gary Haugen, an ardent Christ-follower and the President of International Justice Mission, has seen global poverty up close for the last two decades. Here's how Haugen describes what it means to be poor:

I recall the way an old history professor of mine defined poverty: He said the poor are the ones who can never afford to have any bad luck. They can't get an infection because they don't have access to any medicine. They can't get sick or miss their bus or get injured because they will lose their menial labor job if they don't show up for work. They can't misplace their pocket change because it's actually the only money they have left for food. They can't have their goats get sick because it's the only source of milk they have. On and on it goes. Of course the bad news is, everybody has bad luck. It's just that most of us have margins of resources and access to support that allow us to weather the storm, because we're not trying to live off $2.00 a day.

Possible Preaching Angles: For most of us who aren't truly poor, this is an important reminder of the crushing cycle produced by poverty. Use this quote to show why the poor need our compassion and not just our judgment.