David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, spoke at a BFW dinner in Chicago on October 4 in a program titled "Power, Politics, and Global Poverty." Members gathered to network, share Ethiopian cuisine and speak with Beckmann one-on-one.
In his presentation, Beckmann shared reasons why he is optimistic about the fight against poverty, including:
. The number of people living on less than a dollar a day has decreased
from 1.5 billion to less than 1 billion in the last 20 yrs despite an
increase in world population
. Half as many children die every day since the 1960's
. 20 million more African children are in school since the year 2000
He credited BFW as a major force in gaining US support to reduce child mortality rates and achieving debt relief to help get kids in school. Yet he credits most progress to Africans working hard to make their own lives
better.
Beckmann ended the program noting that in the whole history of the world, it is in the recent generations that 100's of millions of people are moving out of poverty. He sees this as evidence of God moving in our time. The saving God of the bible is present in our history and we are privileged to play a role.
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