SCOTT C. TODD, PH.D., SHARES STATISTICS AND HOPE FOR ENDING GLOBAL POVERTY

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — According to a new study from The Barna Group, 93% of church-attending Christians say they are concerned about global poverty, with a third citing they are "extremely concerned". Scott C. Todd, Ph.D., says the study reveals increasing global engagement by Christians, particularly the younger generation. It's this younger generation that Todd hopes will bring about a previously unthinkable goal: the end extreme global poverty in their lifetime.

The Barna Study, commissioned by Compassion International and conducted in September 2011, surveyed 1,429 individuals among the general U.S. adult population with an oversampling of young Christians. Major findings of the study include:
• 93% of Christians surveyed are concerned about global poverty. A third are "extremely concerned."
• 4 out of 5 Christians believe they have a special responsibility to help solve global poverty.
• 20% of practicing Protestants and 16% of practicing Catholics have traveled outside the US for the purpose of serving the global poor — that's about 25 million American Christians.
• Younger Christians, those under 40, are more than twice as likely to have taken such a trip.
• Younger Christians give 50% more than older Christians toward the cause of global poverty.
• 45% of younger Christians believe their churches should be more involved in helping the poor, compared to 23% of older Christians, and 37% said they would donate more to their church if their church increased its involvement.

"What would happen if these millions of Christians began to live out the fundamental teachings of their faith in a new way? What if they began to take seriously the Biblical teachings about the poor and oppressed? What if they formed a new relationship with the global poor?" Dr. Todd asks. "I believe these changes are underway on a massive scale. We are witnessing an awakening."

Despite the high level of travel, concern and generosity most Christians are unaware of the staggering progress being made against extreme poverty, as are most Americans. According to the Barna study:
• 93% think the extreme poverty rate is the same or worse than it was in 1990. In fact the extreme poverty rate has been cut in half, from 52% to 26%, in the last 30 years.
• 87% think preventable child death rates are worse or the same as 1990. In fact the "under age five" mortality rate has been cut in half during that time, from 40,000 to 21,000 per day.

"No one seems to know about the incredible progress which has been made over the past few decades," comments Dr. Todd. "But what if they did?" When study participants were told of the progress against poverty and asked if ‘knowing that ending extreme poverty was doable' would change their engagement, 46% of Christians said they would "do significantly more."

Scott Todd's new book, Fast Living: How the Church Will End Extreme Poverty, highlights how much has been accomplished and envisions the end of extreme poverty. Dr. Todd writes, "As Christians who are already deeply concerned about global poverty begin to understand they can bring an end to extreme poverty — that it is doable — we will see an even more dramatic increase in engagement."

Scott C. Todd, Ph.D. is senior ministry advisor in the President's Office of Compassion International and one of the architects of 58:, an unprecedented, action-based alliance of Christians, churches and world-class poverty-fighting organizations working together to end extreme poverty. http://www.live58.org