It would be wonderful if the issues, attitudes, and actions that threaten the well-being of children were clear-cut and linear, like beads on a string: "If we just tie a knot here then all children will be safe."

Instead, the threats to children and their families are many and complex. Often the dangers are insidious and systemic. Think of a kaleidoscope and the tiny crystals that catch the light and form a complicated pattern.

The crystals may be discrimination, exploitation, neglect, loneliness, or lack of love and affirmation. The resulting pattern may include anti-social behavior, child violence, and teen pregnancy. Twist the kaleidoscope and the pattern changes, but we still don't like what we see. It is all too big and overwhelming. We would rather not look at all. Our impulse is to hand the kaleidoscope to someone else.

Patterns within patterns

It helps when we realize that the intricate pattern in the kaleidoscope is actually a series of mirror images of smaller patterns, clusters of crystals. Of all of the factors that affect the well-being of children, poverty is the cruelest cluster.

Families who live in poverty have few choices about where they live, who their neighbors are, and where their children attend school. Children who live in poverty tend to suffer from a wide range of health problems, including hearing and vision problems. Many poor families are unable to afford notepaper, books, or activities that promote learning. Special fees for art supplies, science labs, or team sports may be out of reach; and poor children have far less access than others to computers. Poverty can bring a quiet sense of shame for children and their families.

Racism, sexism, citizenship status, and classism are all factors that affect the economic health and well-being of American families. The impact of poverty makes it almost impossible for children to grow up feeling safe, secure, and protected. When parents or caregivers are consumed with survival issues, there is little time or energy left for tending to the emotional and spiritual needs of their children.

Looking through the lens of privilege

All too often, people who view families and children in poverty through a lens of privilege do not discern the intricate and deadly pattern of poverty. The vision is distorted. Those who are poor can be seen as "problem people" instead of as "people who have problems." We must wipe our lenses to see children who live in poverty as distinct, vulnerable individuals who struggle in different ways.

Looking through the lens of misconception

Our society lives with a variety of misconceptions about why poverty exists. These misconceptions include perceptions of poverty as a reality for children born out of wedlock, children whose parents did not receive adequate education, inner-city children who have shiftless and lazy parents who love living on welfare, and inner-city people of color.

Looking through the lens of pain

• Imagine your children screaming in the middle of the night from hunger pains and there is nothing you can do to console them.
• Imagine your children coming to know the mice and rats in your apartment as family pets because they are seen on a regular basis.
• Imagine your children sleeping in a crowded shelter.
• Imagine your children in a four-room house with inadequate plumbing and no electricity or heat.

This is the face of childhood poverty. Can you imagine? Poverty is in fact the reality for millions of families in the United States. Poverty can be a death sentence for our children. It takes their being, their soul, their youthfulness, and their spirit, hopes, and dreams. Poverty forces children to face abuse, drugs, and violence.

Looking through the lens of faith

Poverty is not an act of God, but the Bible makes it clear that God loves the poor and that God loves children. "You lack one thing," Jesus tells the rich man in Mark 10:21, "go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." Jesus loves the rich man, too, Mark tells us; but the man "was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions" (10:22).

Jesus knows and loves us, too. He invites us to claim our treasure in heaven and follow him. First, however, we must give away our abundance to the poor. This is difficult to understand and can be more difficult to do. But in the same chapter of Mark, Jesus said: ". . . for God all things are possible" (10:27).

Changing your focus

Helping children means much more than painting Sunday school walls in child-friendly colors. It means a radical reshaping of attitudes. It means understanding that, as adults in our congregation, we are responsible for children-- all children. If our congregation is truly committed to helping the children, our focus needs to be broadened beyond our own families and the families in our congregations--to encompass all children.

We must sort through the kaleidoscope crystals that create recurring patterns of poverty in our communities. We must confront our own prejudices and judgments. We must care not only for the vulnerable child but also for that child's parents, family, and caregivers. For example, before we judge too harshly parents whose children are home alone we must look at the obstacles in finding affordable, reliable child care.

It is not enough merely to change the kaleidoscope of patterns of poverty. We must work our way through the long, mirrored tunnel and change the crystals themselves. For example, families in poverty often face at least four difficult obstacles as they move from welfare to work: housing, child care, transportation, and health care.

Your church as a kaleidoscope of hope

As we enter the new millennium, congregations are once again called to be the prophetic voice of justice, speaking with and standing in solidarity with poor families. Bandage approaches are not enough. No child should be lost to the violence of childhood poverty. Work together with leaders and members of your congregations to . . .

• Be intentional in your efforts to reach out to all of your neighbors.
• Strategically evaluate the needs of your community, accessing resources, as well as identifying problem areas.
• Become Safe Havens--centers of hope, health, and healing for children.
• Challenge political leadership when public policy decisions put children at risk.
• Be present at the table when decisions are made that affect your neighbors.

Your congregation as a kaleidoscope for change

In becoming a Safe Haven for Children, your congregation is called to re-root in your communities and to engage in relational community organizing on behalf of all children. We are not beginning a ministry alone and we are not starting from scratch. There is a great cloud of witnesses who have learned that to truly rescue a child at risk takes every bit of one's energy, being, and love. These people can usually be found out in the com-munity with the children.

Who are the people in your community who are working directly with children in poverty and their families? What can they teach you? How can your congregation work with them? What are the assets that your congregation can provide? How can your people and your church building provide hope and change for children in poverty in your community?

As a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, you are invited to join in the striving toward an America where all children live in healthy, safe, and sustainable communities. If a child were to enter your building at 3:30 this afternoon and asks for food to eat, what would happen?

"Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

From the service for Holy Baptism, Lutheran Book of Worship, p. 124.