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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
I had a great time at the "Helping Without Hurting" seminar. Thanks for praying for my time there. If you've not read the book, here's a snapshot. In every area of life, how you define a problem determines the solutions you put forth. Most of the time, poverty is defined in one of four ways. If poverty is defined as a lack of knowledge, then people work to improve education. If poverty is defined as oppression by powerful people, then people work for social justice. If poverty is defined as the personal sins of the poor, then evangelism and discipleship are seen as the solution. Finally and most pervasively, if poverty is defined as a lack of material things (money/stuff), then people strive to provide greater access to material things (we give people stuff). This last definition strikes home, because the vast majority of benevolence ministry, including much of ours, is built around this definition of poverty. Evaluating the "results" of our efforts to alleviate poverty using these definitions begs the question, are we defining the problem correctly? For example, if someone who is materially poor comes to us and says "I need a bed. I don't have enough money to buy one. Can you help?" After an interview, we decide to give them the bed. Have we actually done anything to help alleviate their poverty? Will their lives be transformed by the gift of a bed? Was a bed what they really needed? Maybe what they really needed was a job instead of a handout. How do we decide who needs a bed and who needs a job? And that folks, is our everyday dilemma. Every person reading this who has ever been on staff at a church knows what it feels like when someone walks into the church asking for help with an electric or water bill. How do you determine whose bill you're going to pay and whose you aren't? Furthermore, does paying the person's electric bill this month in any way alleviate their poverty?
Towards a New Definition of Poverty.
Fikkert and Corbett propose defining poverty in terms of four key relationships: Our relationship with God, Self, Others, and the Rest of Creation. Because of the Fall and our sin, all of those relationships are broken, leading to a poverty of spiritual intimacy, a poverty of being, a poverty of community, and a poverty of stewardship. By this definition, all of us are poor. The solutions to poverty are not material (stuff), they are relational. Our Creator is in the business of reconciling all things unto himself, and he is making all things new. This is the good news of the Gospel, and it ought to infuse everything we do. So by now you might be thinking, that sounds great (and maybe a little confusing), but what do we do with the person who needs a bed or needs their electric bill paid?
Where the Rubber Meets the Road.
Where the rubber meets the road is in what types of questions you ask the person when they come to you with their need, so we must learn to ask good questions. The interview should help you determine is this need a crisis, or is it chronic? Crises happen every day. Houses burn down. Women run away from their abusive partners. Crises require relief. But 90% of the stuff we deal with is chronic, not crisis. The person who needs their electric bill paid will probably need it paid again next month. Good questions can help get to the heart of the matter. Remembering that poverty is about broken relationships, good questions level the playing field. Providers are not superior to Receivers. We're all broken and in need of Jesus. Good questions can determine if there is a poverty of spiritual intimacy. Do they know their Creator personally? Are they walking faithfully with him daily in an attitude of humility and repentance? Are they a part of a healthy faith family (church) that's teaching the Bible well? This is a poverty that can be alleviated. Good questions can determine if there's a poverty of being. Do they feel worthless, like they're a drag on society, their family, or their church? Are they convinced that they're not good at anything, so they can't keep a job or even look a potential employer in the eye during an interview? Do they think they're just not smart enough to do what life and employers require of them? Again, this is a poverty that can be alleviated as people come to understand that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, made in the image of God to be His children. Good questions can help discern if there is a poverty of community. Are they involved in a healthy faith family? Is their community providing support and encouragement? Maybe they're a single mom who can't afford childcare in order to be able to go to work, and they don't have the community/family resources to provide childcare. Has anyone in their life ever modeled hard work? How many jobs have you had in your life that you found in an ad someplace, and how many have you had because you knew somebody who hired you or referred you to an employer? Most jobs, particularly entry level, come from the latter. The materially poor often have a poverty of community in that they simply don't know the potential employers. Again, poverty of community can often be reduced or alleviated by a healthy church family. Good questions can also reveal a poverty of stewardship. Do they believe that work is a gift from God, and that working hard reflects God's image as a workman to a lost world? Do they understand that God gave them unique gifts and abilities in order to bless others and provide for their families? If not, perhaps there is a poverty of stewardship that needs to be addressed.
Poverty Can Be Alleviated
All of these are forms of poverty that can be alleviated. Spiritual Intimacy can be restored into a right relationship with their Creator through repentance and faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. People can become children of God, put on the new self and be transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit into humble people who know their value rests in the eyes of the One who made them. Healthy, supportive faith families can provide community and a network to address some of the broken systems like childcare and employer references. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, people can learn to value hard work and to work not as unto men, but as unto the Lord. Through their work, over time they will be able to provide for their family's physical needs, so the church won't need to.
The key here is that relationships are messy because people are messy. There is no one set of right questions to ask, because every individual and every situation is unique. What we're attempting to do is to begin to ask better questions, and to begin to engage people relationally, instead of just being the people with the stuff that you come to when you need something. After all, our ministry's primary goal isn't to help people sleep better at night, it's to see people transformed by the goodness of God into children of God who will give glory to God. And that takes time and messiness. Which is why one of the next books on my list is from Paul David Tripp called Relationships: A Mess Worth Making.
At this point, I'm more convinced than ever that we aren't experts at anything. We've got a lifetime's worth of learning ahead of us. Please pray the Lord guides us in this process as we seek to glorify him in all that we do.
At home, we're potty training all out! The craziest part of this experience is that you've never seen two grown ups more excited about poop than when they're potty training a toddler. The first time Lily pooped on the potty, if you'd walked in you would have thought Jesus was on his way back because of the rejoicing in our home! All in all, she's doing great and we're surviving, though mommy has been more tired than normal at the end of the day.
We went to the doctor last Wednesday and heard the baby's heartbeat strong and fast, so we've been discussing baby names this week. Next month, we'll find out if it's a boy or girl!
Things you can be praying for this week:
1. Continue to pray for our BTCL class.
2. Please pray the Lord guides our efforts at the Storehouse as we think about how we can more effectively help without hurting.
3. Pray for our little ones, that the Lord would keep both of them safe and draw them to himself at an early age.
 |
| Our fruit trees are finally leafed out! |
Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
I had a great time at the "Helping Without Hurting" seminar. Thanks for praying for my time there. If you've not read the book, here's a snapshot. In every area of life, how you define a problem determines the solutions you put forth. Most of the time, poverty is defined in one of four ways. If poverty is defined as a lack of knowledge, then people work to improve education. If poverty is defined as oppression by powerful people, then people work for social justice. If poverty is defined as the personal sins of the poor, then evangelism and discipleship are seen as the solution. Finally and most pervasively, if poverty is defined as a lack of material things (money/stuff), then people strive to provide greater access to material things (we give people stuff). This last definition strikes home, because the vast majority of benevolence ministry, including much of ours, is built around this definition of poverty. Evaluating the "results" of our efforts to alleviate poverty using these definitions begs the question, are we defining the problem correctly? For example, if someone who is materially poor comes to us and says "I need a bed. I don't have enough money to buy one. Can you help?" After an interview, we decide to give them the bed. Have we actually done anything to help alleviate their poverty? Will their lives be transformed by the gift of a bed? Was a bed what they really needed? Maybe what they really needed was a job instead of a handout. How do we decide who needs a bed and who needs a job? And that folks, is our everyday dilemma. Every person reading this who has ever been on staff at a church knows what it feels like when someone walks into the church asking for help with an electric or water bill. How do you determine whose bill you're going to pay and whose you aren't? Furthermore, does paying the person's electric bill this month in any way alleviate their poverty?
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| Brian Fikkert |
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| Steve Corbett |
Fikkert and Corbett propose defining poverty in terms of four key relationships: Our relationship with God, Self, Others, and the Rest of Creation. Because of the Fall and our sin, all of those relationships are broken, leading to a poverty of spiritual intimacy, a poverty of being, a poverty of community, and a poverty of stewardship. By this definition, all of us are poor. The solutions to poverty are not material (stuff), they are relational. Our Creator is in the business of reconciling all things unto himself, and he is making all things new. This is the good news of the Gospel, and it ought to infuse everything we do. So by now you might be thinking, that sounds great (and maybe a little confusing), but what do we do with the person who needs a bed or needs their electric bill paid?
Where the Rubber Meets the Road.
Where the rubber meets the road is in what types of questions you ask the person when they come to you with their need, so we must learn to ask good questions. The interview should help you determine is this need a crisis, or is it chronic? Crises happen every day. Houses burn down. Women run away from their abusive partners. Crises require relief. But 90% of the stuff we deal with is chronic, not crisis. The person who needs their electric bill paid will probably need it paid again next month. Good questions can help get to the heart of the matter. Remembering that poverty is about broken relationships, good questions level the playing field. Providers are not superior to Receivers. We're all broken and in need of Jesus. Good questions can determine if there is a poverty of spiritual intimacy. Do they know their Creator personally? Are they walking faithfully with him daily in an attitude of humility and repentance? Are they a part of a healthy faith family (church) that's teaching the Bible well? This is a poverty that can be alleviated. Good questions can determine if there's a poverty of being. Do they feel worthless, like they're a drag on society, their family, or their church? Are they convinced that they're not good at anything, so they can't keep a job or even look a potential employer in the eye during an interview? Do they think they're just not smart enough to do what life and employers require of them? Again, this is a poverty that can be alleviated as people come to understand that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, made in the image of God to be His children. Good questions can help discern if there is a poverty of community. Are they involved in a healthy faith family? Is their community providing support and encouragement? Maybe they're a single mom who can't afford childcare in order to be able to go to work, and they don't have the community/family resources to provide childcare. Has anyone in their life ever modeled hard work? How many jobs have you had in your life that you found in an ad someplace, and how many have you had because you knew somebody who hired you or referred you to an employer? Most jobs, particularly entry level, come from the latter. The materially poor often have a poverty of community in that they simply don't know the potential employers. Again, poverty of community can often be reduced or alleviated by a healthy church family. Good questions can also reveal a poverty of stewardship. Do they believe that work is a gift from God, and that working hard reflects God's image as a workman to a lost world? Do they understand that God gave them unique gifts and abilities in order to bless others and provide for their families? If not, perhaps there is a poverty of stewardship that needs to be addressed.
Poverty Can Be Alleviated
All of these are forms of poverty that can be alleviated. Spiritual Intimacy can be restored into a right relationship with their Creator through repentance and faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. People can become children of God, put on the new self and be transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit into humble people who know their value rests in the eyes of the One who made them. Healthy, supportive faith families can provide community and a network to address some of the broken systems like childcare and employer references. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, people can learn to value hard work and to work not as unto men, but as unto the Lord. Through their work, over time they will be able to provide for their family's physical needs, so the church won't need to.
The key here is that relationships are messy because people are messy. There is no one set of right questions to ask, because every individual and every situation is unique. What we're attempting to do is to begin to ask better questions, and to begin to engage people relationally, instead of just being the people with the stuff that you come to when you need something. After all, our ministry's primary goal isn't to help people sleep better at night, it's to see people transformed by the goodness of God into children of God who will give glory to God. And that takes time and messiness. Which is why one of the next books on my list is from Paul David Tripp called Relationships: A Mess Worth Making.
At this point, I'm more convinced than ever that we aren't experts at anything. We've got a lifetime's worth of learning ahead of us. Please pray the Lord guides us in this process as we seek to glorify him in all that we do.
At home, we're potty training all out! The craziest part of this experience is that you've never seen two grown ups more excited about poop than when they're potty training a toddler. The first time Lily pooped on the potty, if you'd walked in you would have thought Jesus was on his way back because of the rejoicing in our home! All in all, she's doing great and we're surviving, though mommy has been more tired than normal at the end of the day.
We went to the doctor last Wednesday and heard the baby's heartbeat strong and fast, so we've been discussing baby names this week. Next month, we'll find out if it's a boy or girl!
Things you can be praying for this week:
1. Continue to pray for our BTCL class.
2. Please pray the Lord guides our efforts at the Storehouse as we think about how we can more effectively help without hurting.
3. Pray for our little ones, that the Lord would keep both of them safe and draw them to himself at an early age.
 |
| We had ribs as a special treat and she loved them! |
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| No bite is too big! |
