Overcoming Poverty

SALT client who faithfully works at a paint shop in NE Nigeria and is saving for the future.

His home and business was destroyed in the Boko Haram crisis but he is rebuilding and the SALT Saving Solution is helping him manage his finances and savings.

Childhood polio has disabled this clients legs but has not destroyed his determination to build a better future. His participation in the SALT Savings Solution is making a big difference in his shoe repair business and he has high hopes for tomorrow.

Everyone has a basic problem or need in life. For some people poverty is a financial reality, for others, their poverty is a spiritual deficiency in spite of a fat bank account. There are people who are impoverished in their relationships, some are deficient in basic character and moral standing. You can easily think of examples where someone you know is lacking almost all of the above and there are still many other ways that individuals are in poverty in their life.

Basic questions if you or I are going to take steps to overcome the poverty that is in our own lives are these "how then can it be done?" or "what do I have to do to change my condition?" And again, the answers to those questions are not complicated but they do require a dedicated and disciplined response. The answers to these questions also require a long-term vision. I must be able to accept a slow and steady course of change instead of a cheap, get rich quick, impulsive type of action.

Spiritual poverty is overcome by developing a deep and rich relationship with Jesus Christ and while that does not just happen automatically, a certain amount of diligence will bring steady improvement. Set aside just 1 hour per day to read your Bible, to worship, to meditate quietly and over time there will be a measurable improvement. In fact, the 1 hour may very soon not be enough time with your Lord. As the blessings of knowing Christ in a deeper way become more real, the temptations, discouragement, and sins that drag you down will lose their power.

Financial poverty is similar in many ways. There are so many causes, hindrances to change, reasons that it is not possible that most people give up before they truly try. Yet it is real people like you and I who take small steps to begin and dare to believe it is possible. These are people who God blesses by rewarding their efforts and changing their status. These same people simply discipline themselves in faith to save a little bit of money week after week, they find ways of educating themselves about financial management and they are working to improve the small thing they are doing with their eyes on a better future.

“Yet it is real people like you and I who take small steps to begin and dare to believe it is possible”

SALT Nigeria has nearly 6,000 clients who are making progress spiritually and financially. For many of them, they began the journey not hardly able to believe that change is possible. Today they are working harder and dreaming of bigger things, like building a house for their family or growing their business. I will never forget the client who one day told me "I have never before been able to even think it was possible that I could own a small house, now I have bought a land and I am saving to begin the building."

SALT clients are real people, they have real poverty in their lives and as we teach and instruct them regularly, they are finding answers to some of the problems that have plagued their life. Our teaching method addresses both the material and the spiritual needs that people have. In addition to financial change, marriages that were once broken have been restored, families have been brought back together, people who were once outcasts in the church are becoming trustworthy and vital parts of their local church again because of what has changed in their life.

Jesus Christ has not lost any of His power to change lives. The real question is "will I be one of those who are changed?" "Can the poverty in my life be turned into stability and growth?"

Yes, it can..................

A youth client from Light Group a SALT Youth program assists her mother at the family business and she is learning valuable skills and knowledge that will help her make wise choices in the years to come.