Ten years ago in an attitude of hope and determination world leaders gathered in New York and issued a strongly worded statement to wage war against poverty:

We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want.

From this declaration 8 stretching targets (Millennium Development Goals) were set to ensure that the dream of eradicating or at least significantly reducing world poverty could become a reality in our lifetime.

A long time has passed since the dawn of the new millennium and the optimistic light it brought with it has dimmed.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last month as he called for leaders to renew their efforts in the war on poverty:

"It is clear that improvements in the lives of the poor have been unacceptably slow, and some hard-won gains are being eroded by the climate, food and economic crises…"

Mr Ban continued “Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the Millennium Development Goals…” “If we fail, the dangers in the world – instability, violence, epidemic diseases, environmental degradation, runaway population growth – will all be multiplied.”

In September this year the United Nations will gather again to determine how they can accelerate the rate at which the goals are being met (The UN has a snazzy website which shows the progress at which the goals are being met). I’m guessing that no-one reading this is likely to be invited to those meetings? (If I’m wrong do get in touch we’d love to be praying for you!) So what can we do? We have a responsibility to pray and act too. When we pray we remember the poor and of course we petition the throne room of heaven as well as the parliament buildings on earth. Sometimes though a movement comes along with a God given authority and mandate to gather the church to pray around a specific time or purpose. 24-7 Prayer recognizes, loves and supports Micah Challenge in their call to bring the church to pray and act and to hold government leaders accountable to their bold promises.

Micah Challenge is a global coalition of Christians holding governments to account for their promise to halve extreme poverty by 2015. On the 10th of October this year (10.10.10) Micah Challenge are calling  Christians all over the world to join them in a dedicated day of prayer and promise for the poor. The hope is for 100 million Christians to pray and for 10 million to become actively involved in reminding their leaders of the promises they made to the worlds poorest 10 years ago.

Put the date in your calendar now, check the Micah Challenge website for more details of how to get involved and check their Youtube channel for some great little videos like the one below. Above all remember the challenge of the prophet Micah.

He has shown you, O man, what is good. 
And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)