“We…believe that individuals and churches that have been blessed with financial resources…should dramatically increase their financial giving to churches and ministries that pursue gospel-focused, asset-based, participatory development. The churches and ministries that are engaged in development work have a very difficult time raising the funds needed to pay for this highly relational, time intensive approach.” — When Helping Hurts¹

Last month, we highlighted U.S. federal funding cuts and their impact on our ministry partners and global relief and development efforts. We urged you to respond by giving generously, encouraging affected organizations, and praying fervently—with a promise of next steps in the coming weeks.

Since then, the situation has become more uncertain. It remains unclear which programs will be granted waivers, and the legal pathways to reinstate most funding contracts seem to be closing.² However, one thing remains certain: the call to Christians to give generously to replace lost federal funding is more urgent than ever. 

Rich Stearns, President Emeritus of World Vision, estimates that every adult Christian in the U.S. would need to quadruple their annual giving to make up the cuts in federal funding. While we can’t easily close that gap, our next step is clear: to give generously. 

Recentering on Our Mission

Scripture repeatedly calls God’s people to care for those on the margins—the fatherless, widows, sojourners, and the poor.³ These are men, women, and children who are most likely to be mistreated and be perceived as a burden. This vulnerability is precisely why we are are called to care for them as God’s people.

Caring for “the least of these” (cf. Matt. 25:40-45) is not meant to merely provide for their physical needs, but to fold people back into the life of the community. The whole biblical system of economic life is geared to make a way for those who are left out of the economic life of the community, so that they “can continue to live beside” us in fellowship (cf. Lev. 25:35). 

As much as our poverty alleviation and development work is never ultimately about the physical needs only, the life of God’s people is never meant to be only about spiritual matters. The church’s care for those on the margins is central precisely because it mirrors God’s care for us—the incarnational presence is the gift.

What About the Funding?

If the Christian response is ultimately leaning on the power of our Triune God to restore relationships with God, self, others, and creation, why does financial support matter?

The answer is simple, but profound: Where we put our money reflects where our heart is (Matt. 6:21; Luke 12:34). It’s both a measure of our priorities and commitments, and shapes those commitments (1 Tim. 6:17-19). 

For many centuries, the church was at the forefront of caring for those in poverty, sickness, and suffering of all kinds, and led social reform movements—advocating for healthcare, labor rights, abolition, and poverty relief. In the early 20th century, concerns that the “social gospel” might overshadow evangelism led many Christians to retreat from social engagement. In the church’s absence, the U.S. Government stepped in with programs like the New Deal (1930s) and the Great Society (1960s). The state didn’t set out to take over the church’s mission; rather, it filled a void left by the church’s retreat.⁴

Now, as federal funding recedes, the church has a renewed opportunity—and responsibility—to reclaim its role. The government never fully addressed the relational and spiritual dimensions of poverty. It is time for Christians to lead in holistic, sustainable poverty alleviation. This needs to come not just from individuals and families giving to organizations doing good work, but finding the best ways to continue to unleash the significant resources of foundations and donor-advised funds held by Christians.

Learning to Give Well Together

With such urgent needs, it’s important that every penny spent in ministry efforts be spent well—on sustainable, effective, and transformative work, but the challenges are complex. Here are two suggestions for deepening our understanding and equipping us to respond well:

• Our partners at the Accord Network are working with various organizations to navigate changes in the funding sphere, partnering with organizations focused on addressing long-term change in the foreign aid sector, and hosting regular calls to talk through issues. If you are part of an affected organization, you can connect with them to join these calls.

• Helping without Hurting in Generosity—our newly released video-based online training—explores biblical generosity, helping Christians to align our financial giving with God’s story of change, giving generously to ministries and causes that fit the fullness of God’s mission in the world. This free training features 21 experts and ministry practitioners in the fields of theology, economics, development, generosity, and monitoring and evaluation. Visit www.chalmers.org/generosity to get started. 

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1. Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor…or Yourself, second ed. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2012), 233. This call to help without hurting should never be heard as a call to do less, to be less generous. Rather it’s a call to do more, but to do it with better ministry practices so that our giving is as closely aligned to God’s story of change for human beings as possible. In this, our generosity meets the world’s great needs in ways that are sustainable and effective. ↩︎
2. Ellen Knickmeyer “Secretary of State Rubio Says Purge of USAID Programs Complete, with 83% of Agency’s Programs Gone,” Associated Press, Accessed online at https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-rubio-usaid-foreign-aid-bf442d62af67918a6fc5eee83907460. ↩︎
3. See Ex. 22:22-23; Deut 24:17, 27:19; Isa. 10:2; Ezek. 22:7; Zech. 7:10, James 1:27, etc. ↩︎
4. See When Helping Hurts, 44. ↩︎