Steve Corbett

Brian Fikkert

Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. Don't let this happen to you, your ministry or ministries you help fund! A must read for anyone who works with the poor or in missions, When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevant applications. The result is an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel. "Initial thoughts" at the beginning of chapters and "reflection questions and excercises" at the end of chapters assist greatly in learning and applying the material. A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation. Efforts are characterized by an "asset based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach. Short term mission efforts are addressed and economic development strategies appropriate for North American and international contexts are presented, including microenterprise development. Now with a new preface, a new foreword, and a new chapter to assist in the next steps of applying the book's principles to your situation, When Helping Hurts is a new classic!

How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor-- and Yourself

When Helping Hurts

How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself

The best way to serve the poor when they ask your church for help Jesus was generous, but he was also wise. When the blind beggar asked him for mercy, Jesus gave sight, not money; He knew what the beggar truly needed. The church desires to be like her Savior and give the poor lasting relief. But the issues of poverty are so complex that we often don't know what to do. Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert understand this well, and have written a tool to address this exact dilemma. "Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence "is a guidebook for walking with someone who approaches your church for financial assistance. Short and to the point, this tool provides foundational principles for poverty alleviation and then takes up practical matters, like: How to make the gospel, prayer, and the Holy Spirit central in benevolence work How to respond to immediate needs while still achieving long-term solutions How to structure and sustain a benevolence ministry in your church With an appendix full of resources to guide implementation, "Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence "is an all-in-one guide for church leaders and laypeople who want to follow in Jesus' steps -and truly help the poor among them.

A Practical Guide to Walking with Low-Income People

Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence

Kelly M. Kapic

Western Civilization is wealthier, but it isn’t happier. We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, but according to research, we aren’t becoming happier. Families and communities are increasingly fragmented, loneliness is skyrocketing, and physical and mental health are on the decline. Our unprecedented wealth doesn’t seem to be doing us much good. Yet, when we try to help poor people at home or abroad, our implicit assumption is that the goal is to help them to become like us. "If they would just do things our way, they’d be fine!" But even when they seem to pursue our path, they too find that the American Dream doesn’t work for them. What if we have the wrong idea altogether? What if the molds we are using to help poor people don’t actually fit any of us? What if the goal isn’t to turn other countries into the United States or to turn America’s impoverished communities into its affluent suburbs? In Becoming Whole (building on the best-selling When Helping Hurts), Brian Fikkert and Kelly M. Kapic look at the true sources of brokenness and poverty and uncover the surprising pathways to human flourishing, for poor and non-poor alike. Exposing the misconceptions of both Western Civilization and the Western church about the nature of God, human beings, and the world, they redefine success and offer new ways of achieving that success. Through biblical insights, scientific research, and practical experience, they show you how the good news of the kingdom of God reshapes our lives and our poverty alleviation ministries, moving everybody involved towards wholeness.

Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn't the American Dream

Becoming Whole

Enjoy these SAMPLE pages from When Helping Hurts- Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. Don't let this happen to you, your ministry or ministries you help fund! A must read for anyone who works with the poor or in missions, When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevant applications. The result is an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel. "Initial thoughts" at the beginning of chapters and "reflection questions and excercises" at the end of chapters assist greatly in learning and applying the material. A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation. Efforts are characterized by an "asset based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach. Short term mission efforts are addressed and economic development strategies appropriate for North American and international contexts are presented, including microenterprise development. Now with a new preface, a new foreword, and a new chapter to assist in the next steps of applying the book's principles to your situation, When Helping Hurts is a new classic!

When Helping Hurts SAMPLER

When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation and has over 300,000 copies in print. Now there is a stand-alone resource to introduce this paradigm in an accessible way. Rather than simply looking at economics, it looks at the poverty of relationships between man and God, man and man, man and creation, and man and self. Utilizing free, online video lessons set both in Africa and the United States, the Small Group Experience is the ideal resource for small groups, Sunday school classes, parachurch and non-profit ministries, ministry training, and even individuals. In six lessons, the concepts of When Helping Hurts are brought to the reader in a format that is perfect for training, discussion, and application. It is an ideal introduction to life-changing ideas and offers the perfect context for engagement. The videos provide expert instruction, and the Small Group Experience provides questions and prompts for conversation, deeper learning, and taking action.

The Small Group Experience

With over 300,000 copies in print, When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation. This stand-alone resource applies the principles of that book specifically to short term missions. Helping Without Hurting: Short Term MissionsLeader’s Guide is aimed at the preparation and debriefing of short-term missionaries. Accompanying Helping Without Hurting: Short Term Missions Participants’ Guide, it is an ideal resource for church leaders, missions pastors, and youth pastors who make short-term missions planning decisions and desire to prevent inadvertent harm as they enter materially poor communities. With direction for designing STMs well in light of the principles of When Helping Hurt, practical examples from short-term trips to illustrate those principles, and suggested resources for further learning and implimentatin, this guide is an all-in-one manual for leaders. Plus, it shows the content of the participant’s guide with annotation and teaching notes to guide leaders as they facilitate sessions with participants.

Leader's Guide

Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions

Good intentions are not enough. When Helping Hurts offers a different framework for thinking about poverty and its alleviation. Rather than simply defining it as a lack of material things, the book addresses the roots of the issue: broken relationships with God, self, others, and the rest of creation. Online videos included. Join together as a class or small group to explore how to help the poor without hurting them. The Small Group Experience, an ideal training resource for small groups, Sunday school classes, and parachurch and nonprofit ministries, utilizes free online video lessons to unpack the basic principles of poverty alleviation in an accessible way. Filmed in the U.S. and abroad, each of the six lessons includes discussion questions, application exercises, and materials for further learning. Join the many ministries and churches that are already implementing these ideas, transforming their culture of poverty alleviation, and moving toward helping the poor without hurting them.

An Online Video-Based Study on Alleviating Poverty

When Helping Hurts: The Small Group Experience

Russell Mask

The church of Jesus Christ finds itself at a very unique moment in history. The average Christian living in the “economically advanced countries” enjoys a level of prosperity that has been unimaginable for most of human history. At the same time, over 2.5 billion people in the Majority World (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) live on less than $2 per day, with many of these people being Christians. Ironically, it is amongst the “least of these” in the Global South that the global church is experiencing the most rapid growth. All of this raises profound challenges to the global church. How can churches and missionaries in the Majority World effectively address the devastating poverty both inside their congregations and just outside their doors? How can churches in the economically advanced countries effectively partner with Global South churches in this process? The very integrity of the global church’s testimony is at stake, for where God’s people reside, there should be no poverty (Deuteronomy 15:4; Acts 4:34). For the past several decades, microfinance (MF) and microenterprise development (MED) have been the leading approaches to poverty alleviation. MF/MED is a set of interventions that allow households to better manage their finances and start small businesses. From remote churches in rural Africa to the short-term missions programs of mega-churches in the United States, churches and missionaries have taken the plunge into MF/MED, trying to emulate the apparent success of large-scale relief and development organizations. Unfortunately, most churches and missionaries find this to be far more difficult than they had imagined. Repayment rates on loans are low and churches typically end up with struggling programs that require ongoing financial subsidies. Everybody gets hurt in the process: donors, relief and development agencies, churches and missionaries, and--most importantly—the poor people themselves. This book explains the basic principles for successfully utilizing microfinance in ministry. Drawing on best practice research and their own pioneering work with the Chalmers Center, Brian Fikkert and Russell Mask chart a path for churches and missionaries to pursue, a path that minimizes the risks of harm, relies on local resources, and enables missionaries and churches to minister in powerful ways to the spiritual and economic needs of some of the poorest people on the planet. The insights of microfinance can play a tremendous role in helping to stabilize poor households, removing them from the brink of disaster and enabling them to make the changes that are conducive to long-term progress. Moreover, when combined with evangelism and discipleship, a church-centered microfinance program can be a powerful tool for holistic ministry—one that is empowering for the poor and devoid of the dependencies plaguing most relationships between churches in economically advanced countries and churches in poor nations.

How to Alleviate Poverty through Church-Centered Microfinance

From Dependence to Dignity

This is not a how-to manual… (it’s a field guide) We all want to know, "How can I help without hurting in this specific situation?" But there’s no one answer, and there’s definitely no short cuts, but there are key principles—or ministry design principles. Think of these like the rules an improvising actor learns—the principles are crucial—but the actor must decide how to put them into practice based on the complexities of the situation. This book contains and explicates 20 ministry design principles developed over decades of observing, studying, and experimenting. They’re in no way perfect, but they represent the very best ideas we have to date for how to do effective poverty alleviation in the kingdom of God.

Principles for Poverty Alleviation Ministries

A Field Guide to Becoming Whole

Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze

Anthony Sytsma

Bestseller When Helping Hurts has changed the way thousands of church and ministry leaders approach poverty. Designed to equip you to begin effectively helping low-income people, When Helping Hurts articulates a biblical framework for poverty alleviation. Learn how to walk with the materially poor in humble relationships instead of just providing them temporary handouts. Now adapted specifically for African contexts, Helping without Hurting in Africa is a 400-page manual to guide the pastor and lay working alike to meaningful ministry. Helping Without Hurting in Africa is designed to inspire churches, pastors, community leaders, missionaries, development workers, NGOs, government institutions, and donors to foster transformation in their communities. This training teaches a holistic approach, explaining how to preach the gospel through word and deed. It aims at changing people's mind-set and helping them apply biblical principles to care wisely and compassionately for poor people without unintentionally hurting them. Most Christians have a heart for poor people, but this training seeks to help Christians also have a mind for poor people.

Facilitator Manual

Helping Without Hurting in Africa

When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation with over 300,000 copies in print. This stand-alone resource applies the principles of that book specifically to short-term missions. Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions: Participant’s Guide aims to train and debrief team members, preparing them to do short-term missions as effectively as possible. To do this, it provides practical examples and guidelines for team members, and it creates interaction and reflection opportunities through questions and journaling. With eight units, six of which are built around free online video content, this book equips teams to avoid harming materially poor communities and to translate their experience into lasting and mutual engagement with missions and poverty alleviation. In conjunction with the separately available Leader’s Guide, it is an ideal resource for churches, Christian colleges, mission agencies, and missionaries.

Participant's Guide

Este libro, expone los esfuerzos del pasado y del presente que las iglesias han hecho para sin querer, debilitar a la gente que estan tratando de ayudar, y su objetivo central es entregar estrategias que desafíen a los cristianos a ayudar a los pobres a superarse. While this book exposes past and current development efforts that churches have engaged in which unintentionally undermine the people they're trying to help, its central point is to provide proven strategies that challenge Christians to help the poor empower themselves.

Cómo aliviar la pobreza, sin lastimar a los pobres ni a uno mismo

Cuando ayudar hace daño

When a low-income person asks your church for help, what do you do next? God is extraordinarily generous, and our churches should be, too. Because poverty is complex, however, helping low-income people often requires going beyond meeting their material needs to holistically addressing the roots of their poverty. But on a practical level, how do you move forward in walking with someone who approaches your church for financial help? From the authors of When Helping Hurts comes Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence, a guidebook for church staff, deacons, or volunteers who work with low-income people. Short and to the point, this tool provides foundational principles for poverty alleviation and then addresses practical matters, like: How to structure and focus your benevolence work How to respond to immediate needs while pursuing long-term solutions How to mobilize your church to walk with low-income people With practical stories, forms, and tools for churches to use, Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence is an all-in-one guide for church leaders and laypeople who want to help the poor in ways that lead to lasting change.

Michael Rhodes

Robby Holt

The church in the West is rediscovering the fact that God cares deeply for the poor. More and more, churches and individual Christians are looking for ways to practice economic discipleship, but it's hard to make progress when we are blind to our own entanglement in our culture's idolatrous economic beliefs and practices. Practicing the King's Economy cuts through much confusion and invites Christians to take their place within the biblical story of the "King Jesus Economy." Through eye-opening true stories of economic discipleship in action, and with a solid exploration of six key biblical themes, the authors offer practical ways for God's people to earn, invest, spend, compensate, save, share, and give in ways that embody God's love and provision for the world. Foreword by Christopher J. H. Wright.

Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give

Practicing the King's Economy

Katie Casselberry

When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation with over 300,000 copies in print. Now, this stand-alone resource applies the principles of "helping without hurting" specifically to short term missions. Helping Without Hurting: Short Term Missions Participant's Guide is aimed at the preparation and debriefing of short-term missionaries. It will take the fully-formed ideas of When Helping Hurts and apply them to short-term missions with theory, application, examples, and reader interaction through questions and journaling. It will be an ideal resource for churches, Christian colleges, missions agencies, and missionaries to use in preparing people to serve in a short term capacity without hurting the poor they are trying to serve. With eight units, six of which are built around free, online video content, Helping Without Hurting: Short Term Missions Participants Guide is the ideal short-term missions team resource for training, discussion, application in the field, and reflection on the experience after returning.

Brian Fikkert

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