Key Question: What would it mean for you to shift your focus from solving the global problem of poverty to being the solution for a single person?
Welcome back for another season of Just Neighbors! I’m your host, Jami Kaeb, and this season I’m joined by Jamin Goggin as my co-host. Jamin is a professor at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He is also the co-author of several books and holds a MA in Spiritual Formation & Soul Care, an MA in the New Testament, and a PhD in Systematic Theology. He lives with his wife and four children in San Diego, CA.
We are so happy to welcome you into our little neighborhood where we are learning to practice biblical justice and compassion together. To start off this season, we are joined by Jonathan Rocke for a discussion on the topic of poverty.
Jonathan has served as the Executive Director at Pathway Ministries since 2016 where their mission is to create pathways out of poverty through Jesus. Pathway Ministries, previously known as Peoria Rescue Ministries, has been serving those in need since 1955, extending support to the people of the Peoria area and beyond through Residential Ministries and Community Services.
In this episode, we learn how to take a whole-person approach to poverty alleviation, what it really means when we say that the whole world is broken, how each and every one of us experiences poverty, and much more.
NEIGHBOR-TO-NEIGHBOR IMPLICATIONS:
- Poverty is more than just a lack of material things or lack of money, shelter, or food. We are all impacted by some form of poverty.
- When we think of poverty as a problem it can feel overwhelming and unsolvable. But when we think of poverty as a person, as our neighbor, we can impact and change the trajectory of their lives and make a real difference in the Kingdom and our community.
- As Christians, we have a call to respond to the poor out of the mercy we have received from God, not out of obligation or guilt.
- Access Foster Care & the Church Here
- Pathway Peoria’s Website
- Follow Pathway Peoria on Facebook and Instagram
- [BOOK] A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World
- [BOOK] When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself
- [BOOK] Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn’t the American Dream
- [BOOK] The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World
- The Chalmers Center
- [VIDEO] Becoming Whole: Broken Systems and People
Meet Our Guest
Jonathan Rocke is the Executive Director at Pathway Ministries in Peoria, Illinois. Pathway Ministries, previously known as Peoria Rescue Ministries, has been serving those in need since 1955. They extend support to the people of the Peoria area and beyond through Residential Ministries and Community Services. Jonathan has been married to Jolene for 46 years. He is dad to three and their spouses as well as Grandpa to 10.
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