South Carolina Poverty

“South Carolina’s poverty rate is ninth highest in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey.” It is a circumstance in which most South Carolinians’ live, and many of them not by choice. Thus, what does poverty look like? Poverty is working hard and yet still struggling to make ends meet. Poverty is working a full time, year-round minimum-wage job, but many South Carolinians are unable to feed, house, clothe, and educate their children. Poverty is too many South Carolina children going to school or bed hungry. Poverty is not knowing where their next meal is coming. Poverty is real! As Christians, we are the body of Christ, and have been called to love more than ourselves as we work together to achieve

Society believes those living in poverty are often perceived as lazy, not hardworking or uneducated. Which is often not the case, but rather these families are doing everything in their power to meet daily needs. For instance, my home point of view during my childhood and adolescent years were surrounded by women whom are all educated, and exemplified great independence, strength and work ethic. The woman that was most influential in my upbringing is my mother. My father was absent in my childhood. Therefore, my mother played both parenting roles. Which made things tough. It was not the best situation, but it has molded, and benefited me in many ways: For starters, it taught me how to survive with a limited supply of food, money, and/or resources, etc. My family was not rich, but as my mother would often say, we were “one paycheck away from being poor.” My sisters and I never went to bed hungry, but I can remember on numerous nights we had to be creative with making dinner to feed our four family household. My mother often worked two and three jobs just to try and make ends meet. Women like my mother were expected to raise families entirely on their own financial resources, however inadequate. I was raised watching my mother break her back to provide for our family. Although, my home point of view was not one that ended in poverty, however, it became one of the greatest threats my family feared on a day to day

It clearly outlines our obligation to care for the poor in general. Biblically, God says, in Deuteronomy 15:11, “11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” The beauty of this Scripture teaches us through experience that caring for the poor is a moral assessment of whether our faith is biblical and unpretentious. Caring for the poor is an ethical responsibility for which we will all be held accountable - if we do not seek to help the poor as we have been commanded by God. Those we help is not a far-off issue. God sees our efforts for helping the poor as a means of sustaining our relationship with him. And for upholding a vision of morality, with special care to the poor and concern for the most vulnerable and needy. Nevertheless, we should not stop here, we ought to delve deep into Scripture for guidance and direction. The authority of Scripture helps measure our ethics and decision making. Stanley Hauerwas, points out in his article, “The Moral Authority of Scripture:” “Scripture should be used as an ideology for justifying the demands of the oppressed. The authority of Scripture derives its intelligibility from the existence of a community that knows its life depends on faithful remembering of God 's care of his creation through the calling of