'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:37-40)

"Are we rich, Mom?" my daughter asked me the other day. "Hardly!" was my first thought. But on second thought, what is the right answer to that question? Compared to who? Our family of six is hardly wealthy by North American standards--yet compared to much of the world, we are affluent beyond measure.

"Yes, we are," I finally replied. "We have a warm house, plenty to eat, clean water and adequate health care. We have enough left over to give some away and still buy a few luxuries. Compared to most of the people in the history of the world, we are very, very rich."

Our family has been thinking about poverty this week, ever since we read an AP article about some Haitians who have had to resort to feeding their families clay cookies <http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcJ474CjaJGOUznskl4ZgTHdpxUAD8UFQVR00>. Food prices have risen sharply around the world due to increased oil prices and demand for biofuels, leaving some families unable to buy their staple foods. In Haiti, truckloads of edible yellow clay are being brought in, mixed with shortening and salt and baked in the sun before being sold in the marketplace. These cookies are cheap, about 5¢ each, and at least alleviate the hunger pangs for those who can't afford anything else. The clay cookie story was truly eye-opening for my children; one of them commented that she knew that some people in Haiti were poor, but not THAT poor.

Discussions like this help teach our children compassion, kindness, and respect for "the least of these." The more personal the story or experience, the better--faces and names make it more real to them. There are many good resources for talking about poverty with children. Here are a few that our family has used.

Websites

• If the whole population of the earth was represented by 100 people, it would look something like this: <http://www.miniature-earth.com/me_english.htm>
• Find out exactly how rich you are compared to the rest of the world here at <http://www.globalrichlist.com/>. A child who receives $1000/year through an allowance or part-time job will find themselves in the top 44.1% of the world's richest people!
• Peter Menzel traveled around the world, photographing families in front of their homes, with all their possessions arrayed around them. He compiled them into a book, Material World: A Global Family Portrait. You can likely find it at a library or view some of the photos here: <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/material.html>
• Another Menzel book, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, is very similar but in this case families around the world are pictured with a week's worth of food. Again, you can look for the book or view some of the photos online at: <http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373664,00.html>
• "Five Percent Hog the M&Ms", by Susan Mark Landis, is a lesson plan for teaching youth about hunger and consumption. <http://peace.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?a=405>
• "Fifty Cent Folk," in our September, 2007 issues, outlines how one congregation is collecting change to help alleviate world hunger. <http://peace.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?a=422>

• Children Just Like Me by Susan Elizabeth Copsey and Barnabas Kindersley is a picture book for ages 9-12 that introduces children from around the world--their school, friends, family, food, games, and hopes for the future.
• Beatrice's Goat by Page McBrier is the story of a girl in Uganda who achieves her dream of going to school thanks to a goat her family received through Heifer Project International.
• If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People by David Smith is similar to the Miniature Earth site, but in picture book form.