Top Comedian Gets Serious About Poverty

March 19, 2007

By James Addis, Advocacy & Communications

Comedian Jeff Allen knows what it’s like to hit some of the highest highs and lowest lows.

His career has seen him work alongside top performers like Jerry Seinfeld and the Smothers Brothers, and appear on shows like VH1’s Standup Spotlight and Comedy Central’s Premium Blend.

On the down side, he once faced a losing battle with drugs and booze that led to financial ruin and the near-collapse of his marriage.

Two things saved him from complete despair: Alcoholics Anonymous, and finding faith in Jesus Christ.

“The single greatest gift I get from my relationship with Jesus is peace. For the first time in my life, I am at peace in my own skin.” he says.

Discovering Heart in Nicaragua

Along the way he discovered a heart for the poor. Recently he and his wife Tami took the opportunity to take a World Vision trip to Nicaragua to visit their three sponsored children.

Jeff says the level of abject poverty he saw there shocked him and put some of his own past financial woes into perspective.

“Never once did my kids miss a meal or did we not have a roof over our heads. So as bad as I felt things were, I had a long way to go to get down to what I saw in Nicaragua,” he says.

Of particular concern was leaking, sub-standard homes with earthen floors, which Jeff describes as much inferior to his garden shed. Another heartbreaking moment was to see women having to walk half a mile up a steep hillside to fetch drinking water from a polluted stream.

On the other hand, he was much encouraged to see how funds provided by child sponsors were helping communities shake off poverty and begin to thrive. Projects included initiatives to help children complete their schooling, access clean water, and micro-enterprise schemes that allowed their parents to earn a decent living.

Angels of Mercy

One of the most satisfying moments was to see what a difference clean water made to communities.

“They were just so happy at having clean water. They saw us as angels of mercy,” Jeff says.

But just as important was a renewed sense of hope he detected in the people he met.

He particularly remembers chatting to the mother of 5-year-old Nayeli Hudil — one of his sponsored children.

Nayeli’s mother related how she had believed her own parents when they told her she would never escape a life of poverty. She desperately hoped her own daughter would not be similarly convinced. So when Nayeli recently expressed a desire to become a nurse, her mother was overwhelmed.

“The mother got all teary-eyed and said ‘I believe she can do it,’” Jeff recalls.

Meanwhile, Jeff says he will never forget the faces of the children he met.

“We got to see Jesus in the faces of those children,” Jeff says. “When Jesus says what you do for the least of these, you do for me — I believe it.”

His only regret was that none of the children got any of his jokes — something of a disappointment for a comedian. Jeff plans to bolster his communication skills by taking a course in Spanish.