For the Least of These by Wendy McMahon

David Lloyd George, former prime minister of Great Britain, said there are four specters of poverty: old age, accident, sickness and unemployment. The poor live on the edge, without margin for the unexpected. Then, when the unexpected needs of old age, accident, sickness or unemployment occur, the poor slip over that edge; a downward spiral begins which will ultimately swallow up the hope of the poor. Who, then, will be the advocate for the poor, for the father or mother of small children who find themselves lost in legal matters which threaten to take that last vestige of hope to which their desperate family clings?

Our legal system is bombarded with people and issues, yet the homeless and working poor often go without legal representation. Although non-profit organizations such as Oklahoma Lawyers for Children and Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma provide much needed legal assistance to the poor, the help needed far outweighs the available legal assistance. In response to a Biblical mandate that we serve the needs of the poor, the attorneys at McAlister, McAlister, McKinnis & Tuggle are providing leadership to establish a Christian legal aid clinic in central Oklahoma. The goal is to begin the clinic in January to provide legal services to the poor and needy for little or no cost. This effort which started with a few attorneys has already been joined with many other attorneys across the area who have felt the same calling upon their lives – to answer God’s call to seek justice and mercy by providing legal services to the poorest of the poor.

The actual work of the clinic will be a partnership between Christian attorneys and Christian organizations already ministering to the homeless and working poor in central Oklahoma such as Cross & Crown Ministries and the Oklahoma City Rescue Mission. With legal representation, young families may find an advocate to help them stay together as a family and begin to build the lives of their children upon a firmer foundation than they’ve ever known.

The late vice-president of the United States, Hubert H. Humphrey once said, “the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” May we who live each day in the light of the most prosperous and powerful nation on the face of the earth pass the moral test of our day; may we reach out from our abundance to meet the need of those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.