About book When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor . . . And Yourself (2009)
Although this book is best suited or a group, especially a church community to digest together, it offers excellent insights and thought provoking questions about doing meaningful for 'with' the poor. Corbett challenges Christians to make their efforts locally and around the world more caring, purposeful and frankly more fulfilling for everyone involved. I do not think you have to just look the the issued from a Christian perspective to gain something from this book, it is heavy tied to biblical teaching. The practical advice and examples are excellent. This was a different kind of read on ministry, poverty, and what our role is. This book discusses how you have to help the whole person. not just their finances, or just their spiritual side. The book talked about doing mission work but not in the normal sense. It talked of doing Community Asset mapping, where you figure out the skills in the community so people can go and help their own community. He also talked how us americans love going on mission trips but how that could be hurting more than helping because if we were to spend all the money that we do on missions giving it to the pastor of the church where we were going to go, he may be able to build a new church, upgrade housing for his village, build a school, and set up work programs. I had never thought of it in terms like that. He discusses how if a church in Sweden was going to send 13 people to help with his church's VBS program or send $25K he would take the money because that would pay off his church's addition and give them twice the budget for VBS that they had previously had. I really enjoyed this book though it was not a quick read because i found myself arguing with myself over wrong notions I had previously understood to be true.
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One of the most comprehensive books I have read on the topic of giving support and aid to developing countries. It gives a larger perspective beyond just handing out money or food or clothes. There is so much more to having an effective strategy that brings on longterm change and sustainability. Read it if you are looking for that kind of a view. Don't read it if you want to know what country to go to feel good about giving the less fortunate a day of food.
—daniel
This book encouraged me to consider carefully the methods and attitudes I bring to helping the materially poor. I have a short term missions trip coming up, and I read this book on the recommendation of the organization hosting the trip. Happily, my focus on this trip will be to equip leaders in another country to minister well to other men. That fits nicely into the nature of help that empowers others.
—Qwer
