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World Vision VP: The Longest US War is the War on Poverty

  • Russ Jones Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Nov 10, 2014

Leaders from five continents gathered in New York on Oct. 23 to discuss the nature of Christian ministry in urban settings. 

Entitled Movement Day, the event presented material for teams from the world's largest cities in how they can serve their cities more effectively by advancing high-level, city-changing collaborative partnerships.

According to Christian Post, Romanita Hairston, World Vision vice president of U.S. Programs was one of the keynote speakers at the annual Christian conference which was held at the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York City.

In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson led the U.S. in policies that sought to address poverty and homelessness. 

Hairston recalled Johnson’s remarks to Congress in her speech. 

"... We have never lost sight of our goal — an America in which every citizen shares all the opportunities of his society … We have come a long way toward this goal. We still have a long way to go.

"The distance which remains is the measure of the great unfinished work of our society. To finish that work I have called for a national war on poverty. Our objective: total victory. … Because it is right, because it is wise, and because, for the first time in our history, it is possible to conquer poverty …"

Hairston noted that some 50-years after Johnson’s historic remarks, there are nearly 50 million Americans living in poverty. 

Publication date: November 10, 2014