Weekly devotion: God is no stranger to poverty

Tahaddi, Lebanon

The Best Step class at Tahaddi Education Centre experience the magic of hands-on gardening.

This week we’re praying for our partner, Tahaddi, in Lebanon. Tahaddi means ‘challenge’ in Arabic and it offers holistic support to families facing extreme economic hardship through health, education and psychosocial services. The families it serves live in the informal settlement of Hay El Gharbeh in Beirut.

Hay El Gharbeh

The education sector in Lebanon is in crisis, with UNICEF estimating that 700,000 children are out of school. Children from marginalised backgrounds are particularly badly impacted and those who require additional support are even more at risk.

Embrace supports Tahaddi’s ‘Best Step’ class, which provides a supportive learning environment for children with additional learning needs. Geared towards the individual needs of each child, the holistic lessons focus on promoting independence and social and communication skills.

Bible verses

Matthew 8:20:

‘Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”’

2 Corinthians 8:9:

‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.’

Philippians 2: 5-8:

‘In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!’

Thought

As we are confronted with poverty in this world, it is important for us to remember that the God we worship is no stranger to poverty. These Bible verses remind us of the extent to which Christ humbled himself – leaving the glory of heaven behind to take on human flesh and grow up in an ordinary, poor family. He lived as a refugee in Egypt in his early childhood and then in an obscure town with a bad reputation in Palestine (‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ John 1: 46). Meanwhile, time and again we see examples in Jesus’ ministry of his love and concern for marginalised and vulnerable people.

Ask yourself: How can you reflect Christ’s sacrificial love to others in need?

Prayer

Loving God,

We pray for the many families living in Hay El Gharbeh who are facing extreme economic hardship. You know them each by name and you understand their struggles – please be near to them in this time of challenge.

We thank you for Tahaddi. Help the staff as they respond to the many challenges that poverty creates. May they continue to reflect Christ’s compassion as they strive to create a more just society.

Thank you that you are a God with a heart for people living in poverty – help us to reflect this in our own lives.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Find out more about Tahaddi in Episode 9, Season 2, of our podcast:

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