Posts in “Helping Without Hurting”
Work is good. It is the most effective way to provide for our material needs, but also provides ways for us to interact with the world around us and contribute to our community. How can we creatively shift our ministries to help people discover their God-given capacity for meaningful work?
Adapted from Chalmers online training Helping without Hurting in Benevolence Ministry. The ultimate goal of poverty alleviation and development is the restoration of people to all that God has created them to be—priests and rulers who proclaim His glory to the world and call others to worship Him. A nearer-term goal is change. We long…
Donors, ministries, and materially poor people are often very different and may live thousands of miles apart. It sure doesn’t feel like much of a community, and sadly, it often doesn’t function like one. How can we better practice kingdom community in the space of poverty alleviation?
Every poverty alleviation effort includes three groups of stakeholders: donors, ministry staff and volunteers, and the materially poor people the initiative hopes to serve. How can these three very different groups of people manage their differences and work together for God’s kingdom?
The church is called to address the social, spiritual, and physical needs of the poor—but that call is not only for the church. Parachurch organizations, nonprofits, and even businesses and government agencies can all be part of someone’s journey out of material poverty. How can these organizations work well together?
How we diagnose the problem of poverty directly impacts how we will seek to address it. If we treat only the symptoms or if we misdiagnose the underlying problem, we will not improve the situation—and we might actually make the lives of the materially poor worse in the long run.
What is the task of the church? We are to embody Jesus Christ by declaring with both our words and our deeds that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords who is bringing in a kingdom of righteousness, justice, and peace. And the church needs to do this where Jesus did it: among the blind, the lame, the sick and outcast, and the poor.
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?
In God’s grand story, churches in the Majority World of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, have a critical role to play. How can we walk together in ways that enhance the dignity of materially poor churches—and the individuals and communities they serve?
The right approaches to poverty alleviation are not quick fixes, but often decades-long processes that you can’t control. That’s why it’s so important to focus on being formed into people who can walk the long road of mutual transformation by the power of Christ.
If you’ve been following the work of the Chalmers Center for any length of time, you know that we don’t operate in quite the same way as many ministries. Chalmers isn’t an implementing organization that directly helps materially poor people; rather Chalmers equips your church or ministry to help materially poor people more effectively. To…
When we try to help people, we often start by trying to identify what’s wrong with the low-income individual or community, and then we try to bring in outside resources to fix what’s wrong. What if we started with what’s right with the people and communities we serve?
We’ve all felt the impact of the global pandemic in our own backyard. But what’s been the effect on our global neighbors, their families, and vulnerable children? And what can American Christians do about it?
When we’re faced with a pandemic or a global economic crisis, we look for solutions that are as big as the problem. As part of the global body of Christ, your local church is part of the biggest solution to the world’s biggest problems!
Whether you’re new to Chalmers or have been with us for many years, this online guide will help you get connected to the right tools for your ministry.
In a global pandemic and economic crisis, helping your neighbors in need can seem like an impossible task! But your church can do something to help. Watch this webinar to learn more!
The best approach to helping someone depends on the situation. In a time of crisis, we should definitely err on the side of generosity. What does this generosity look like during a global pandemic?
People in a middle-class community often see the materially poor as people we need to “fix.” But what if everyone is affected by the same underlying brokenness that contributes to material poverty?