The morning newspaper carried two headlines that deeply disappoint those of us who like to think "everything's bigger and better in Texas":
• "Texans without coverage top U.S."
• "Texas SAT scores slip further behind U.S."
What? Can it be? We're not supposed to be leaders in bad stuff. But our Lone Star State ranks dead last in the percentage of uninsured residents. And, to add insult to injury, our SAT scores stink.
As a group, we're more vulnerable than the rest of the nation. Oh, and our children aren't all that ready for college.
If you click on the links to those stories, you'll see where the analysts spend quite a bit of time talking about race and ethnicity. Obviously, those factors impact issues such as poverty, education and insurance. We're a border state with a disproportionately high number and percentage of first-generation and undocumented residents. The language barrier alone impedes SAT scores. And the covert nature of living beneath the immigration radar blocks access to insurance.
Those aren't the only factors, though. For example, the same paper talks about how Texas is doing better than average when it comes to employment. Problem is, so much of our economy is built upon low-wage jobs that full-time workers can't afford insurance. And parents who hold down two and three low-wage jobs don't have time to read to their kids and check their homework.
We could explore scads of reasons for these problems and double that number of options. But I want to mention two solutions, and they both involve Texas Baptist churches.
What if we decided nobody within easy driving distance of our churches would go without basic healthcare and disease prevention? And what if we decided every elementary-school child in Texas would learn to read so well that he or she would enter middle school with the tools to prepare for college?
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Both these goals are scalable and doable—if we make them a priority. Working together, we could operate free health clinics in every community, and we could tutor children across Texas.
These initiatives would produce three tremendous benefits:
• Texas residents would be healthier, and our children would be better educated.
• These improvements would strengthen our economy. Healthy workers are more productive. And an educated workforce is the strongest engine for every sector of business and industry.
• Most importantly, we would earn the right to speak to every Texan not just about physical health and education, but about spiritual strength that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
These goals are inherent in Texas Hope 2010, the Baptist General Convention of Texas program to present the gospel to every Texan by Easter 2010 and to make sure nobody in the state is hungry.
We can do this. We must do this.
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