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Posts in “U.S. Ministry”
God Is Restoring What’s Broken: Kellie’s Story
As we look back on 2025, one theme rises above all others: God is restoring what is brokenโthrough His Church, through His people, and through partners like you. Kellie’s story is proof. Kellie arrived at Lighthouse Ministries in Lakeland, Florida with years of trauma, addiction, and loss weighing her down. But through Faith & Finances, one of Chalmers’ biblically-based poverty alleviation programs, everything changed.
Giving Well at Year-End
As the holiday season approaches, opportunities for volunteering and drives for giving to local charitable organizations and church programs start to pop up regularly.
๐๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ & ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด Snapshot: Data That Tells a Story of Grace
Financial education for low-income citizens is crucial, though they face particular challenges that often mean their ability to make gains is more modest. But through Faith & Finances, we have the privilege of providing money management classes that see and cheer on those small first steps.
My Favorite Moment of ๐๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ & ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด
I have the unique privilege of experiencing the Chalmers Center’s Faith & Finances program from two distinct vantage points: as chair of Chalmersโ 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.
Map Your Community
When local churches try to engage in ministry that allows their members to be more present in the community around themโoutreach, evangelism, or mercy and benevolence workโthey 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.
For the Kingdom: The Impact of Influence
Across the globe, churches and ministries are stepping into hard placesโwalking with families facing poverty, isolation, and loss of dignity. The Chalmers Center exists to equip Godโs people to respond in a way thatโs rooted in biblical truth and practical love. By Godโs 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: Tonkaโs Story and the Power of Work Life
In a world where โgetting a jobโ is both vital to survival and difficult to achieve, job readiness programs often feel transactional. This is exactly where Chalmersโ Work Life program stands apart. It weaves faith, character, and community into every lessonโoffering more than just skills but also hope.ย
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.
Financial Literacy: More than Just the Facts
April is recognized as National Financial Literacy Month. Hereโs a question to ponder: why donโt more Americans make better decisions in managing their finances? Is it simply that they need better information?
Exchange Models Done Well: Eight Ways to Empower Without Exploiting
or most able-bodied adults, paid employment is essential to the long-term path out of poverty. To effect that outcome, many churches and ministry organizations use a partial-exchange, intermediate-steps model that teaches the skills necessary to succeed in the marketplace.
The Exponential Power of Partnership
During the past 25 years, in addition to publishing books about poverty alleviation, Chalmers has been creating training for use in both the U.S. and the Majority World (of Africa, Asia, and Latin America). These field-tested programs are built on Godโs story of change and community development best practices to help you put a biblical framework for addressing poverty into practice.
Training to Help Your Ministry Help without Hurting
During the past 25 years, in addition to publishing books about poverty alleviation, Chalmers has been creating training for use in both the U.S. and the Majority World (of Africa, Asia, and Latin America). These field-tested programs are built on Godโs story of change and community development best practices to help you put a biblical framework for addressing poverty into practice.
Hope Exchange in Jackson, Mississippi: From Crisis Relief to Long-Term Development
Levi and Kateri Gill met while serving with a jobs training program that created employment opportunities through a wood shop and a local coffee shop. This work not only set the course of their personal lives, it also deepened their commitment to serving their community.ย ย
Making Work Work: Why Most Advice about Work Doesnโt Work in Economically Challenged Communities
Helping people experience the dignity of sustaining work can be an effective way to address material poverty in a long-term, holistic way.
Tools to Serve Well: Chalmers Ambassadors Share How the Training Has Blessed Their Ministry Work
A little over two years ago, Chalmers started an Ambassador program. Through this two-month-long intensive training, ministry practitioners from all over North America have been certified to represent Chalmers in their region or ministry field. This has allowed Chalmers to send out Ambassadors to provide presentations of a biblical framework for poverty alleviation and help churches and organizations implement healthy, sustainable ministry initiatives.
Why Work Matters
Godโs passion for work is a theme found throughout Scripture. One example found in the Old Testament is gleaning laws, which we explored in previous posts (HERE and HERE). In addition, Scripture also has a lot to say about why work matters, why justice for workers matters, and why we should care for those who are vulnerable.
Building Your A-Team: How to Recruit, Equip, and Support a Core Team for Your Work Readiness Ministry
Last week, Shay Bassett, Director of the Work Life program at the Chalmers Center hosted a webinar on Building Your A-Team: How to Recruit, Equip, and Support a Core Team for Your Work Readiness Ministry. She shared about why work matters, the barriers people face to finding and keeping sustaining work, and why we need a new story about work.
Donโt Reinvent the Wheel: Learning From Others in Ministry Design
Over the years, Iโve had conversations with hundreds of ministry leaders who reflect on how, in the early years of their work with the materially poor, they did as much harm as good.