When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor
by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert
One of our book assignments for missionary training was to read the book, When Helping Hurts. Have you ever thought that when you give money to somebody in need it addresses only 10% of their poverty problem? Have you ever thought how poverty is much more complex than lack of material resources?
What the book and this short documentary says is that most Americans define poverty in material terms such as lack of income, lack of health care, lack of housing, lack of food, lack of wealth.
What you are going to see is that people who live in poverty see it a different way. The response may be that poverty has to do with a lack of dignity because they feel inferior, their voice is unheard, their relationships are broken and this makes them feel down and in need.
In the past, the Christian focus was ultimately on evangelism & crusades while ignoring social and justice issues. At present, it seems we talk about lack of material, but we forget to work on the roots of poverty. Check out this 17-minute video and let me know what you think. Click here.
Fábio and Johnna
