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Living into the Story

God is working out His reconciling story in this broken world. The Bible doesn’t provide us with a detailed script for this story—but it does give us the overall direction of God’s unfolding plan. What does this mean for our efforts to help people who are poor?

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More in Common podcast

More in Common

In American culture, there’s often a divide between rural and urban dwellers. Yet when two leaders from these communities view their lives through a holistic Gospel lens, they find surprising common ground. Listen as they discuss fatherhood, marriage, discipleship, death, and hope in Christ.

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Faith & Finances Class

How to Find and Train Allies

As participants go through your 12-week financial education class, they’ll need lots of relational support and encouragement along the way. That’s where allies come in! Finding and training the right people to serve as allies can be a challenge. But over the years, we’ve learned a few things that can help you recruit the right people for the job.

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Faith & Finances Class

How to Find Participants for Your Faith & Finances Class

Finding folks to join your Faith & Finances class can be a challenge, especially if your church or ministry doesn’t have existing connections with people who can benefit from Faith & Finances. But there are a few things you can do to get the word out.

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Someone writing a check

God’s Battle for Your Bank Account

The tomatoes caught me off guard. Sitting in a small Anglican church in Kenya, I was prepared for the invitation to put some money in the offering plate. I was not prepared for tomatoes. But that’s what the members of that farming village brought. Tomatoes, avocadoes, maybe even a chicken or two, all brought up…

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Djaka Djigbodji and her family

A Mother’s Journey Out of Extreme Poverty

Djaka Djigbodji is one of the millions of mothers who are raising families in extreme poverty. But through the local church, people like her are finding hope.

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Woman working in a restaurant

God’s Kingdom Has a Startling Economic System

Every earthly kingdom has its own way of doing things, its own customs and policies regarding food, sex, family, and religion. And every kingdom has an economic policy. But when Jesus welcomes us into his alternate kingdom, something strange happens. We discover a whole new world. And we soon discover that Jesus’s kingdom looks different…

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Someone flipping through the pages of a book

Getting Our Story Straight

When we try to help people in poverty, we incorporate faulty ideas into our efforts without even realizing it. What are these false stories—and why do they matter?

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Congregation worshipping in a church

We Become What We Worship: Why False Stories Hurt Us—And Those in Poverty

Every human is worshiping something—and what we worship shapes our entire lives, including our work with people in poverty. When people encounter our poverty alleviation efforts, what will they find us worshiping?

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Wendell Kimbrough

A Gymnasium for Our Hearts: Singing to Shape Our Love for the Poor

The gathered worship and liturgy of the church is key to our formation as the people of God, but too often, an element is missing. Musician Wendell Kimbrough shares how our worship services can reinforce our understanding of God’s heart for people suffering poverty and injustice.

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Laura Haley and Vicki Conn

Interview: Vicki Conn of Love INC

Chalmers staff member Laura Haley sat down with Vicki Conn, Director of Love INC of Greater Holmes County, to discuss how local churches are transforming lives and communities in the name of Christ.

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Woman looking out over a city

We Need a Better Story

We often build poverty alleviation initiatives that are designed to help poor people pursue the American Dream. But what if all of us—poor and non-poor alike—need a different story?

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Man reading Becoming Whole

Interview: Brian Fikkert on Becoming Whole

Brian Fikkert recently sat down with staff member Laura Haley to discuss the new book he co-authored with Kelly Kapic, Becoming Whole—and how the stories we tell ourselves shape our work with the poor.

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Woman serving a homeless person soup

Why the Kingdom of God Matters if We Want to Help the Poor

The way that we work with people who are poor reflects the stories we tell ourselves about what it means to live the “good life.” If we get the story wrong, our efforts to help the poor can do more harm than good.

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Volunteers distributing disaster relief supplies

Finding Hope After the Hurricane

Pastor Ronnie Garcia wanted to see the gospel flourish in Puerto Rico. But he never imagined that he’d be on the front lines of disaster relief after one of the most catastrophic hurricanes ever to hit U.S. soil.

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Flipcharts from a Faith & Finances class

The Art of Flipcharts

Faith & Finances uses the tangible, customizable flipchart in every lesson. Flipcharts are great because they require no electricity, software updates, or photocopiers. But just because they are intentionally low-tech doesn’t mean that the importance of good flipcharting should be underestimated!

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Participants in a Cost of Poverty Experience

The Cost of Poverty Experience

The Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) is a tool that can help move your church or faith-based ministry into a deeper understanding of poverty that facilitates meaningful dialogue and engagement.

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Kwazi smiling

A Shared Vision of God’s Kingdom

We’re joining with strategic partners around the world to develop biblical, innovative approaches to poverty—and to equip more churches than ever before. This year, we’re celebrating our emerging partnership with Tearfund, a UK-based church-equipping organization. Tearfund has mobilized a worldwide network of more than 154,000 local churches in some of the most challenging places on earth….

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