Pat Fulbright, left, and Anne Smith lead a poverty simulation workshop during the 2004 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Birmingham, Ala.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – You are a single mom with two children, ages 10 and 12. Your 10-year-old son is autistic. You need to work, but it is hard finding affordable child care after school for your son, and your daughter is still too young to take care of him on her own. How do you cope?

In "The State of Poverty, U.S.A.," a workshop conducted June 26 at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, attendees were put into real life scenarios to see what choices they would make when faced with these circumstances. Conducted by Pat Fulbright from Waynesville, N.C., and Anne Smith, executive director of Ministries United of South Central Louisville in Kentucky, the simulation helped attendees understand the perspective of the poor.

You have an older vehicle which seems to always need some repairs. You need a telephone, but can’t afford one right now. You don’t have a bank account, so you pay all of your bills with money orders, which cost 90 cents each or $1.25 if they are above $500. You must include late fees with some of your bills because you are always juggling which ones get paid first. You get no child support.

Ben Newell, one of CBF Global Missions field personnel, describes his work with Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative, in Helena, Ark., during a workshop at the 2004 General Assembly in Birmingham, Ala.

"The State of Poverty" was one of five workshops during the Assembly regarding poverty. In his keynote address June 25, Daniel Vestal, the Fellowship’s national coordinator, said poverty is a priority for the Fellowship. "We want to care about the poor, and we want to care for the church," he said. "Can we be the presence of Christ in our families, in our extended families, in our communities, in CBF and in the wider world?"

Tom Prevost, coordinator of Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative, conducted a workshop June 25 and told attendees that the program is gaining momentum.

"We now have a presence in 15 of the 20 poorest counties in the United States, which is up from nine counties last year," he said. "Our state organizations give us a presence in six additional counties, which is an added spillover effect. In the last year, we have had more than 1,200 volunteers participate in the program."

Nowhere is this more apparent than the Partners in Hope project in Helena, Ark., in the Mississippi Delta. Ben Newell, CBF Global Missions field personnel assigned to the Delta, led a workshop telling how their actions were transforming communities.

"Transformational development is physical, visible and invisible," he said. "It goes beyond the visible community-building efforts and includes spiritual development among the people where we are working."

The Fellowship’s Coordinating Council also received an update on the potential partnership with Call to Renewal, an anti-poverty advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

"Poverty is the one issue with a biblical imperative that churches can agree on," Yonce Shelton, national coordinator and policy director of Call to Renewal, told the Council. "We’re trying to have a prophetic voice on public policy and poverty issues."

Vestal said the Fellowship has been involved in poverty issues on the "micro" level through Partners in Hope. Call to Renewal gives the Fellowship an opportunity to be involved on the "macro" level.

"One of the challenges we have is how to make our voice heard in the public policy arena," Vestal said. "Our involvement with Call to Renewal is much like our partnership with Baptist Joint Committee on religious liberty issues. This is about trust. It is crucial for this Council to buy into this relationship. This represents a step for us."

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.