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Transformation and Flourishing with ππ―π―π°π·π’π΅π¦: ππ°π€π’π
Chalmers is taking an exciting step in our partnership with the Free Methodist Church (FMC) in Latin America as we equip them to implement and scale Innovate: Local. This training prepares local churches and para-church ministries in the Majority World to use their own talents and resources to develop holistic poverty-alleviation ministries that meet the unique needs of their communities. Empowering participants to create and launch their own solutions helps ensure local commitment to long-term change.
My Favorite Moment of ππ’πͺπ΅π© & ππͺπ―π’π―π€π¦π΄
I have the unique privilege of experiencing the Chalmers Center’s Faith & Finances program from two distinct vantage points: as chair of Chalmersβ board and as a facilitator of the class where I live in Oklahoma City. This dual perspective has given me insights into not just what this program accomplishes, but how it transforms lives in ways that go far deeper than budgeting basics.
Using Your Social Capital To Benefit Others
One of the key messages of our book When Helping Hurts and the rest of our trainings and resources at the Chalmers Center is that how we give matters most. This means that we often need to give more, but not just money. Long-term, transformative ministry is highly relational, and that means giving of our time, energy, and networksβin short, our social capital.
Map Your Community
When local churches try to engage in ministry that allows their members to be more present in the community around themβoutreach, evangelism, or mercy and benevolence workβthey often recognize that connecting with others is much more complex than they expect. Leaders and volunteers can end up feeling disconnected from the more natural pathways to connection and relationship-building that seem to work in other areas of their lives.
Mapping Your Churchβs Assets
Local churches that have been engaged with a biblical framework for addressing poverty or have used various tools and trainings from the Chalmers Center know that one of the biggest keys in a healthy ministry is taking an asset-based, rather than a needs-based approach. An asset-based approach helps us see that all people, both those who are materially poor and those with material wealth, can contribute to poverty alleviation efforts.
Measuring Impact in Godβs StoryβPart 2
As we wrap up our series on Generosity in Godβs kingdom story, weβve shared about the importance of giving in ways that lead to flourishing for both givers and receivers, and the challenges of measuring the impact of our work according to Godβs story, and not just outputs of our ministry efforts.
Measuring Impact in Godβs StoryβPart 1
As weβve been writing this month around the theme of Generosity in Godβs kingdom story, weβve shared about the importance of giving in ways that lead to flourishing for both givers and receivers. God calls us to live into Godβs story of change: pursuing His goals but also His way of achieving those goals. This raises the question of effectiveness, though. How do we know that weβre giving well?
The Gift of Generosity: Lessons Iβve Learned From Our Partners
Thereβs a joy in walking alongside generous people. Over the years, Iβve come to see our gift partners not merely as supporters of Chalmers’ mission, but as fellow pilgrims on the journey of faith. Their generosity, wisdom, and trust in Godβs provision have not only funded this work, but theyβve also shaped the soul of our organization. And they have taught me much.
Generosity for Mutual Flourishing
In a fallen world, weβve all been shaped by false stories without realizing it. So we often support and create ministries that match our own goals and ideas. But if we are living in the wrong story, we can end up harming ourselves, the ministries we support, and the people they try to help.
Generosity in Godβs Story
The Chalmers Centerβs Faith & Finances curriculum helps churches and nonprofits around North America walk alongside thousands of individuals living material poverty grow in their financial stewardship each year. In each class, participants remember two key themes: 1) Jesus is making all things new, including our money and relationships; and 2) God has chosen to use our money to accomplish His work in the world.
For the Kingdom: The Impact of Influence
Across the globe, churches and ministries are stepping into hard placesβwalking with families facing poverty, isolation, and loss of dignity. The Chalmers Center exists to equip Godβs people to respond in a way thatβs rooted in biblical truth and practical love. By Godβs grace, from local churches and ministries to global NGOs, Chalmers has helped shape a movement of Christian economic development that restores relationships and fosters lasting change. This is the story of that influence.
Opening Doors to Hope: Tonkaβs Story and the Power of Work Life
In a world where βgetting a jobβ is both vital to survival and difficult to achieve, job readiness programs often feel transactional. This is exactly where Chalmersβ Work Life program stands apart. It weaves faith, character, and community into every lessonβoffering more than just skills but also hope.Β
Benevolence As a Posture, Not Just a Ministry
When Chalmers published When Helping Hurts in 2009, our team had already been thinking about, teaching, and practicing a theology of poverty and poverty alleviation for a long time.
Finding Hope in the City: The Challenges and Opportunities of Urban Ministry in the Majority World
Discover how ministries in African cities are finding hope and building community through Christ-centered savings groups, even in the midst of challenges.
Local Churches, Local Resources, Lasting Change
Microfinance can be a powerful tool for helping people escape extreme poverty. When we shift our thinking, it can be even more powerful. How can we make the most of the opportunities microfinance provides?
Savings and Business: Empowering Communities Through Skills and Growth
Training savings group members in business skills contributes to economic growth and job creation in communities
Building Stronger Communities and Creating Opportunities
Across East and Southern Africa, churches foster safe communities of people whose stories were once silenced by HIV/AIDS. Many Untold clients, upon revealing their HIV status, were cast out of their ancestral homes, abandoned by family, and stripped of their land. With nowhere to go, they found themselves utterly isolated, cut off from relatives, community, and any sense of belonging.
Resting in Resurrection
Jesusβ resurrection isnβt merely a reminder of our hope that death is not the end. His resurrection empowers us for ministry because the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is at work in us (Rom. 8:11). All our work is from Him, for Him, to Him, and through Him. In life and in death and in the constant interplay between them, we live and work in Christ.