Moses (Jon Warren/WV)

My travels in the developing world have proved to me that poverty is not really a lack of things, but a lack of options. By and large, those who are poor are not less intelligent or lazier than others. They’re not where they are by choice. Often they are trapped in circumstances beyond their control.

But some remarkable people do manage to break free. I want to tell you about Moses, a 47-year-old farmer who lives in Uganda’s Luwero district, a place wracked by civil war in the 1980s. As a young father, Moses struggled to make a life in a devastated land. “There was no health care center,” he says. “There were no neighboring houses. People were very few. The road was there. A car couldn’t drive on it.” He started small, growing bananas, and gradually added other crops. World Vision helped his community, but life was still an uphill climb.

In 2006, Moses crafted a vision, writing it down with a blue pen on an 8 x 11 piece of paper. It says, “This vision came into my mind after realizing that poverty is not an easy task to deal with unless you are organized.” He went on to take stock of his assets and plan how to manage and expand them. Then, a loan from World Vision earlier this year turbo-charged his enterprises.

Moses' vision statement (Click to see larger)

Today, Moses runs a 16-acre farm, raises 170 chickens and two cows, and makes a tidy profit selling coffee and milk. His newest endeavor: building rental houses. Under different circumstances, this man would be running a corporation. Heck, he could do my job!

This Labor Day, please join me in praying for people like Moses who defy stereotypes and overcome tremendous obstacles. Also, lift up in prayer the jobless and those still trapped in poverty, here and around the world.