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Overview of "When Helping Hurts"
Self/Group-study Course
When Helping Hurts, a book written by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development, helps you understand how to holistically minister to the poor. The book is the primary text used in a four-lesson self/group-study course that the Chalmers Center makes available at no charge.
This ministry training course is called "Foundations and Principles of Holistic Ministry." It provides readings, reflection questions, application questions, and learning exercises that complement the book. Separate offerings of the course are available: One for those ministering in an international context and another for those ministering in the US/Canada. The course is appropriate for an individual or a group such as a Sunday school class or a ministry team.
Course Purpose
This course is the first in a series of courses available through the Chalmers Center for Economic Development. As an introductory course, it serves the role of an orientation rather than a training course. A training course equips a person to “walk down the road” that one has been pointed toward. An orientation exposes one to the landscape or context of a subject in order to point toward a certain general direction. While this is an orientation, you will review a number of resources that may be useful as you venture down the road of implementation.
This course is designed to introduce ways that you, your church, and/or ministry should look at poverty and holistic community development. As well, this course will examine a number of important concepts and issues surrounding engagement in holistic community development by you, your church, and/or ministry.
Course Objectives — International Version
By the end of this course, participants will have:
- Applied a relational framework for understanding and addressing poverty.
- Evaluated the importance of the role of the local church.
- Given examples of the application of three guiding principles for ministry to the poor:
- Distinguished between relief, rehabilitation, and development.
- Contrasted needs-based vs. asset-based development.
- Appreciated the value of participation.
- Described some economic development strategies the local church can implement.
- Generated implications of the ideas and issues introduced in this course for our own lives, church and ministries.
Course Objectives — US/Canada Version
By the end of this course, participants will have:
- Examined a relational framework for understanding and addressing poverty.
- Identified three guiding principles for ministry to the poor:
- Distinguished between relief, rehabilitation, and development
- Contrasted needs-based vs. asset-based development
- Compared blue-print vs. participatory development
- Discussed the implications of this course for short-term mission teams.
- Described some economic development approaches the local church can implement.
- Become aware of some learning tools for further exploration.
- Reflected upon the role of the local church in holistic ministry.
Course Learning Process
Course participants learn primarily through a structure of reading and answering questions:
- Readings — Each lesson has required readings from a course text and web accessible material (downloadable Microsoft Word or Adobe .pdf documents, or web pages on the Internet). If you have interest and time, recommended readings are listed for your consideration.
- Questions/Assignments — The written assignments consist of questions that challenge you to reflect on the readings and apply them to your ministry/community context. These questions are vital to maximizing your learning in the course. Each lesson has questions that are completed individually and most lessons include group discussion questions to be used for a small group study.
Learn more about the self-study course.
Webinar Series
In addition to the self-study material, you can join the "When Helping Hurts" webinar series — A series of live, one-hour webinars (web-based training seminars) that review and expand upon the topics presented in the "When Helping Hurts" book. Each webinar session covers one or more chapters of the book and are facilitated by the authors. You connect to the webinar from your home or office via the Internet and/or by phone. The presenter’s slides are displayed on your computer in an Internet window. You hear the audio either through your computer over the Internet or by telephone. There will be an opportunity to submit questions to the presenter(s) in advance of the webinar. Webinar schedule and registration »
To be notified about the dates of the webinars, you can subscribe to the Chalmers Center email list. Be sure to check the box for "Quarterly Course Schedules."
If you are unable to join a live webinar, you can view a recorded version later at a time that is more convenient to your schedule. Download the recorded webinars.
Accessing the Course Material
Access the self/group-study course for:
• Ministry Internationally (Africa, Asia, and Latin America)
• Ministry in the US/Canada
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