sarkelifirangi

When Helping Hurts is the second in a list of books on ministry we've been asked to read by a pastor in our church. I started it a few years ago but it's quite methodical and I'm afraid, though it was helpful, I didn't finish it then.

After picking it back up again this month, I'm eager to recommend it to you. The homeless/panhandling in Raleigh seems to have skyrocketed since COVID and it's hard to resist giving my cash tips out at every stoplight - even when I know that may contribute to the problem, not help to fix it.

But what if I want to do more than pray? Proverbs 28:27 says, "Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse." I don't want to be guilty of hiding my eyes from the poor - literally or figuratively." So this book helped expand my understanding of poverty, and think critically about ways I and organizations I support or partner with in some way seek to care for the poor and needy. An overly simple summary of the problem posed by the book would include the fact that poverty is complex, and includes different facets such as: poverty of being, poverty of spiritual intimacy, poverty of community and poverty of stewardship. All proposed solutions must include an understanding of these factors and seek to touch all sides through Asset Based Community Develpment (ABCD) strategies like Asset Mapping, Participatory Learning and Action (PLA), and Appreciative Inquiry (AI). These methods acknowledge that God is already at work in these communities in ways that can bring the community together to help become a part of their own long-term solution.