higher socioeconomic status,” according to Stand Together. A huge study—the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study—compared adult health of more than 17,000 people to their childhood experiences. “The study found that childhood emotional development and experiences have a profound, formative impact on emotional and physical health and mortality as adults.” Stress has a profound effect on every bodily system—musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardio- vascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous, and reproductive. Over the last few decades, researchers on the effects of chronic stress have discovered compelling evidence for its lasting effects, especially for the poor. The APA succinctly summarizes these ideas: “Ongoing stress associated with poverty, or the stress of living with less than one needs, creates constant wear and tear on the body, dysregulat- ing and damaging the body’s physiological stress response system, and reducing cognitive and psychological resources for battling adversity and stress.” People living in poverty desperately need the support and resources that missions and like-minded ministries can offer. This allows them to break the cycle and move toward life-transformation programs and services. Their lives depend on it.  15 Our mental processing is finite, which is why we aren’t as sharp at the end of a long day. The limited brain power caused by poverty is likely to create a series of problems in handling everyday tasks, affecting areas such as awareness, decision­making, memory, patience, and focus. MAY/JUNE 2019 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG Kristi, Instigate’s managing editor, has been a magazine writer and editor for more than 20 years, as well as a contributing author for devotionals and curriculum. She and her husband, Jess, are the parents of three children. Email her at krector@citygatenetwork.org.