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. . .

In Christ alone, my hope is found. . .

A few years ago Eric Moe was leading contemporary worship at Wellshire, as well as leading the youth praise band that lead worship with the youth group every Sunday night. He started rotating "In Christ Alone" through the song list. I loved this song as we sang it each week. Then this Sunday, the handbell choir at Wellshire played an amazing arrangement of the hymn "In Christ Alone." The music was glorious, and it got me thinking about the lyrics too.

I did some research, thinking that this was an old hymn set to a more modern score. As it turns out it was written in 2002 by a guy named Stuart Townend: "Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" (2002, cowritten with Keith Getty[1]), "

A common and sometimes accurate criticism of contemporary worship songs is that they are very repetitive and not very profound. That is true many times, but not in this case. These guys really knocked it out of the park with this song, rivaling any old hymn in depth of message.

The lyrics for this hymn are below and below that is a video of the Newsboys version of the song. I encourage you to read through the lyrics as a prayer of hope and thanksgiving. Stop and pause as you read, really reflect on them. Then if you want, listen to the song and continue to meditate on the lyrics. This is some powerful stuff!

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Guest Blogger: Great blog post from a good friend about missions work

So I haven't been great about getting new content on my blog this month. It has been a crazy few weeks, and I just haven't felt inspired. . . until this morning.

I read a blog post from a friend of mine and wanted to repost it. I think it is profound enough that it needs to get some circulation. The "Guest Blogger" today is Paul Sundberg, who is a Lutheran pastor up in Lynwood, Washington. His daughter, Kirsten, and son-in-law, Nathan, are some of our best friends and I count Paul as a friend of mine in his own right.

The post really resonated with me relative to the work I do with Healing Waters and any other global or local missions work that people do. Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Are We Just Enabling?

So here is the question-- We do a whole lot of local mission work, helping those who are homeless, have little in the way of resources or money. Jesus teaches us to take care of those-- feed the hungry, etc. When people have made a whole host of poor decisions that have landed them in that spot, are we doing more to enable them to make more poor decisions, or are we really doing good? There are consequences to our decisions--where do these come in? In this culture of kindness and gospel outreach, I feel guilty even asking the question-- but it has been bothering me for months. And maybe it's grace. We don't judge-- we just do what we can and leave the rest to the Lord. Comments?

This is a question with which we constantly struggle as we work to address basic needs. There simply aren’t simple answers.

It is an accurate reading of the gospels to conclude that Jesus never asked someone how they got into a situation of need. It is also an accurate reading to conclude that much of Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees, scribes, priests, and leaders is directed to their socio-economic/political failure to care for the poor and excluded. Such care was an obligation of the “system”/institutions. When it comes to personal choices Jesus seems to point to the reality that systems themselves limit the range of choices one can make. What is possible from one position in the system is impossible from another position in the system.

Maybe the most interesting situations occur with the feeding of the great crowds 5000 and 4000 “not counting women and children”. These people willingly followed Jesus out into the desert and seem to have neglected to provide for their own needs – generally accepted foolish behavior. In addition, it’s likely that few would have suffered by waiting for a meal until they got back home. But, Jesus says, “feed them”.

It’s not that Jesus doesn’t call us to exercise our decision making abilities; he just doesn’t call us to self care. When he feeds and heals he sends people back home to take up their productive/supportive roles in society. When he doesn’t do that he invites people to follow him and join his community – and become healers and feeders of those in need. There is nothing he does about past choices; he only draws people into new opportunities. And what if their choices are once again bad? 70 X 7 seems to be the formula for forgiveness – transformation most often takes a long time.

So, meeting basic needs seems to have several objectives. 1) Meet the need, after all, hungry is hungry, thirsty is thirsty, homeless is homeless. 2) Draw people into community. 3) Turn the healed and fed into healers and feeders of others.

Those are the objectives we actively pursue at Trinity as we deal with basic needs. Thanks be to God, we’re seeing all three of them realized.

Posted by paul sundberg - justkeepasking@gmail.com at 6:34 AM
Labels: care, choice, community, Compassion, forgiveness

Another Amazing video from Playing for Change

This is another video from Mark Johnson and the "Playing for Change" movement. If you don't know what I am talking about, read the blog post below from yesterday.

I have to give a shout out to one of my other Blogging friends who is also a co-worker with me here at Healing Waters International, Aaron Walling. He has a great blog called "One Drop", the title is from the Bob Marley Reggae song, so this next video I am posting is for him. His blog is a lot like mine with a mix of videos, thoughts, reflections, and some good Healing Water stuff thrown in there. Check him out and check out the remarkable video below:

A quote that gives me peace in turbulent times

This is a photo of a child in Guatemala at one of the water purification systems installed by Healing Waters in the Landivar community in Guatemala City.

Still reading the book "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction" by Eugene Peterson. Wanted to share this slightly long quote with you from page 62:

"Too often we think of religion as a far-off, mysteriously run bureaucracy to which we apply for assistance when we feel the need. We go to a local branch office and direct the clerk (sometimes called a pastor) to fill out our order for God. Then we go home and wait for God to be delivered to us according to the specifications we have set down. But that is not the way it works. And if we thought about it for two consecutive minutes, we would not want it to work that way. If God is God at all, he must know more about our needs than we do; if God is God at all, he must be more in touch with the reality of our thoughts, our emotions, our bodies than we are; if God is God at all, he must have a more comprehensive grasp of the interrelations in our families and communities and nations then we do."

Wow! What a relief. It is a test of faith to see how deeply I believe this.

I am generally a very sound sleeper, but I have not gotten a night of really good sound sleep in over a week. It is time to "Let go and Let God!"