Some reflections on "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without hurting the poor"

Here at Healing Waters we do a book study, bible study or prayer time on Friday mornings. It is a chance for the staff to touch base and focus and reflect on our work from a spiritual perspective.

We have just started the book When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor. . . and yourself.

This is a great book and should be required reading for anyone that is doing any sort of missions work, local or global. Most of the examples in the book focus more on global missions, but the content is relevant in either case.

I wanted to share a few quotes and reflections with you as we study this book.

"We write this book with a great deal of excitement about the renewed interest in helping low-income people that is so apparent among North American Christians. While materialism, self-centeredness, and complacency continue to plague all of us, nobody can deny the upswing in social concern among North American evangelicals in the past two decades. There is perhaps no better illustration of this trend than the exploding shor-term mission movement, much of which has focused on ministering to the poor at home and abroad.

But our excitement about these developments is seriously tempered by two convictions. First, North American Christians are simply not doing enough. We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Period. Yet, most of us live as though there is nothing terribly wrong in the world. We attend our kids' soccer games, pursue our careers, and take beach vacations while 40 percent of the world's inhabitants struggle just to eat every day. And in our own backyards, the homeless, those residing in ghettos, and a wave of immigrants live in a world outside the economic and social mainstream of North America. We do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth. But we do need to get up every morning with a deep sense that something is terribly wrong with the world and yearn and strive to do something about it. There is simply not enough yearning and striving going on.

WOW! This is difficult to read and even more difficult to digest. I think my first reaction is to get defensive. I do a lot of social justice and poverty alleviation work, where do they get off talking to me like that? I pursue my career and take beach vacations, should I feel guilty? While the authors state that "we do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth," it is really hard not to after reading this. But I think the key lines in this passage are right after that (which is why I italicized them in the original passage.)

We DO NEED to get up EVERY MORNING with a DEEP SENSE that something is TERRIBLY WRONG with the WORLD and YEARN AND STRIVE to do SOMETHING about it. There is simply NOT ENOUGH YEARNING AND STRIVING going on!

Ok, let's take some time to reflect and pray on that. And let's ramp up our striving and yearning. . .

Back from Guatemala, Snow Boots and Flip-Flops and other contrasts

I arrived safely back from Guatemala on Thursday night. It was great to be back with Jessica, Lil' A-P and Sol. We are mid-way through Week 34 of the pregnancy and cannot wait to meet our little girl.

Today I took a "travel comp" day to get caught up on things around the house and run some errands that I had neglected during my trip to Guatemala. I raked the leaves in the yard, cleaned the house, did some small home improvement projects and got caught up on work at Wellshire Presbyterian Church where I am the Youth Director.

The temperature today in Denver was in the high 70s. Just last week I was shoveling 20 inches of snow off my driveway and sidewalk. I love living here in Denver, a city of contrasts. We have almost two feet of snow one week and I am tromping around in my Sorel snow boots and the next week we have temperatures in the high 70s and I can walk around in my flip-flops. A few winters ago, I even went skiing on a Saturday and golfing on a Sunday.

These contrasts in temperature and weather are not so common in Guatemala. The weather tends to be pretty even keel there. However Guatemala is a land of contrasts, just not contrasts of temperature.

The contrast in Guatemala is the incredible wealth and the oppressive poverty. Last time I was in Guatemala I was visiting a coffee plantation. I saw workers in the field that were making an average of $300 per month, just a little more than minimum wage in Guatemala. While I was talking with one of the plantation workers a loud noise caught our attention. It was the owner of the coffee plantation, arriving to work in his own private helicopter.



The wealth in Latin America is impressive, even by our own standards here in the United States. One of the richest men in the whole world, Carlos Slim, is a Mexican. The upper classes in Latin America live well. Which is why it contrasts so much with the impoverished masses, the folks we have the privilege of working with in Healing Waters International.

I never cease to be amazed by the spirit of the people we work with. Despite extreme poverty contrasted with such wealth, the people we work with have profound faith and an incredibly positive outlook.

The class system in Latin America is not as rigid as the caste system of India, but the chance of moving from the lower classes to the upper classes is pretty slim. Despite this, and despite having this class contrast front and center every day with helicopters landing in coffee fields and Land Rovers and Mercedes driving by urban slums, the people we work with find joy in their lives, their families and their faith.

That is one of the things that drew me to Latin America originally and keeps me coming back. That spirit, the sense of faith and community, and the general sense of joy.

So as I settle back into my life here in Denver, trying to decide whether to wear my flip flops or my snow boots, that contrast will make me grateful for my time in Latin America and the people I am privileged to work with there.

Snow Day in Denver and Matthew 25. . .

I am sitting here at home writing this blog post today. Ed Anderson, my CEO at Healing Waters International called at 10pm last night to tell me not to come into the office today because of a pretty big snowstorm that started last night and is supposed to get worse as the day progresses.

The office for Healing Waters is on the campus of Lookout Mountain Community Church in Genesee. The church gives us office space up there, it is very generous of them. Genesee is about 15 miles west of Denver up in the foothills. So when we get snow in Denver, we REALLY get some serious snow up at our office. It is almost 2000 feet higher in elevation up at the office.

So I am working from home today. The change of scenery is nice and Sol (my black lab) is curled up at my feet. (Although that is not all that different from a normal day because Sol comes up to the office with me most days, Healing Waters is a dog friendly workplace.)

Snowy days like this make me think about our field offices in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Some of our field staff and most of the people that benefit from our water projects have never seen snow.

This makes me realize what a true life of privilege that I live. Here I am sitting in Denver with six inches of snow on the ground and watching it fall. On Sunday I will be hopping on a plane and flying down to Guatemala for work. When I am there, we stay in Antigua, which has an average late Oct. temperature of 75 during the day.

Beyond being able to jet-set around for a change of scenery and weather, I am really privileged to be able to go to my sink for a glass of water. Just like the people who get water at our projects have never seen snow, they have also never been able to get a glass of safe drinking water from the taps in their home (if they even have taps in their home.)

So my snow day is making me reflect on my privilege in life. And with privilege comes empathy and responsibility.

Empathy arises from a profound realization of intrinsic interconnectedness between all humans, a sense of connection that God calls us to recognize. As a result, I feel the suffering and pain of others - to varying degrees - and am called by something very deep inside to do what I can to help them.

Jesus words in Matthew 25:34-40 really speak to me on this point. The version below is from The Message:

34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
Iwas sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, (to the least of my brothers and sisters) that was me—you did it to me.'

So that is how a snow day in Denver and Matthew 25 are related.

Below is a video that we filmed at our office in Denver back in September. Ed Anderson, our CEO wanted to record a message for the inauguration of our 35th water system in the Dominican Republic. The day we decided to record the message we were getting one of our freak Colorado September storms. Kind of puts the snow day, and the work we do for Healing Waters in perspective. Enjoy!