July 2018 – According to World Bank standards, 1.1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since 1990. Barna Group has gathered statistics that demonstrate how faith and poverty activism go hand in hand. Practicing Christians are, on the whole, consistently generous with not only their money, but also their hours. Barna found that approximately one in four Christians has volunteered specifically to combat global poverty, as opposed to one in ten non-practicing Christians. Practicing Christians also more often report bringing food to a family in need (75% v. 55% in the course of a year), directly donating goods to the poor (72% v. 61%), volunteering to help those in poverty (47% v. 27%), and more.
Practicing Christians outpace all U.S. adults in a variety of actions to help the poor, both in the U.S. and abroad. The reported decline in worldwide poverty is reason to hope and incentive to continue chipping away at poverty and its effects.
