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Posts in “5 Causes of Poverty”
The Five Causes of Poverty—Part 5: Demonic Forces
Adapted from Becoming Whole, 181-182; A Field Guide to Becoming Whole, 135-39. Throughout this series on the five causes of poverty, the underlying connection between them all is the Fall. Because sin entered the world, our stories and practices are twisted by its effects, and both individuals and groups are broken and can do evil….
The Five Causes of Poverty—Part 4: Broken Systems
Adapted from A Field Guide to Becoming Whole, 119-124. In this series, our most recent post focused on addressing individual brokenness—the factors within a person, including personal choices and beliefs, that can contribute to material poverty. But as we’ve been saying throughout the series, there are both internal and external causes of relational and material…
The Five Causes of Poverty—Part 3: Individual Brokenness
Adapted from A Field Guide to Becoming Whole, 125-134. We’ve been exploring the five causes of poverty in this series of posts, and it’s important to remember that any one of us can be impacted by all five causes—false stories, destructive practices, individual brokenness, systemic brokenness, and demonic forces. These factors are so intertwined it’s…
The Five Causes of Poverty—Part 2: Practices
Last week we talked about how God’s story of change focuses on restoring us to our role as priests and rulers. Living faithfully as the royal priesthood and holy nation means that we call on King Jesus to overcome all the effects of the Fall, including all five causes of poverty. Today we’ll look at…
The Five Causes of Poverty—Part 1: Stories
Adapted from A Field Guide to Becoming Whole, 17-19, 50-52. Poverty alleviation is fundamentally about transformation—about walking alongside people and communities who are materially poor as they move to a better situation than their present one. Doing this effectively requires us to know where we are trying to go and how we can get there….
Sewing False Dichotomies Back Together
We often operate under false dichotomies when we think about serving the poor. What are these dichotomies—and how can we think about poverty alleviation in more biblical ways?
Practicing What We Teach
When we try to help people who are materially poor, we often focus on the habits we think they need to change. But what about our own habits? How do our daily practices affect our ministry with the materially poor?
Start with the Story
When you’re doing ministry, it can feel like telling stories doesn’t count as “real” work. But telling the biblical story—focusing on what God has done, is doing, and will do—is crucial to poverty alleviation.
Helping that Helps: Principles for Ministry
How do we build ministries that address the five root causes of poverty? Here’s an introduction to some key principles that you can apply where you are.
Addressing the Five Causes of Poverty
There are five big things that create material poverty and keep people trapped in it. Learn the five causes of poverty—and how you can begin to address them.