When Helping Hurts - Review

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Interesting review by Mez McConnell of the book "When Helping Hurts".

20Schemes » Is Our Helping Really Hurting?

 

[Pergamum]

Yes, it is a very good book. Every church engaging in overseas missions ought to take a look at it.

 

[Scott1]

Overall, a worthwhile book.

While it at times almost elevates doing mercy to being an end unto itself, apart from evangelism, discipleship and witness for Christ, it is useful and well worth reading.

It does a good job broadening the definition of poverty, more toward how Scripture speaks of it.

And it is a big topic.

 

[jwithnell]

Multiply causes of poverty need multiple solutions ... sounds like a good concept.

 

[Pergamum]

Overall, a worthwhile book.

While it at times almost elevates doing mercy to being an end unto itself, apart from evangelism, discipleship and witness for Christ, it is useful and well worth reading.

It does a good job broadening the definition of poverty, more toward how Scripture speaks of it.

And it is a big topic.

Doing mercy is a good thing even apart from evangelism.

One does not do good only to "buy" an opportunity to speak of Christ, but because another creature is suffering.

 

[Pergamum]

Here is a section of our field's "Philosophy of Ministry" which tries to succintly come to grips with these principles:

Avoiding dependency and encouraging local ownership:

Due to the unequal economic statuses which accompany most Western-indigenous relationships in our area of missionary service, this section attempts to address this specific topic of dependency and how to avoid it. Let it be noted that, in our attempts to avoid dependency, we are not to take a default position of stinginess, but that generosity and self-sacrifice ought to be clearly evident as we engage in ministry here.

Two books that we as a field recommend are (1) When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett and also (2) To Give or Not to Give: Rethinking Dependency, Restoring Generosity & Redefining Sustainability by John Rowell

Here are some suggestions for avoiding dependency, even while exercising generosity:

• Christians are giving people. And there are appropriate pathways to channel this generosity. In our efforts to reduce the risk of dependency, we ought never to limit generosity. Given the great needs in the world, better channels of giving, rather than reduced giving, is the better pursuit.

• We will distinguish between relief and development. Those who are experiencing disaster may need an immediate outpouring of monetary and material aid. This can come from the outside and come with little local initiative or ownership. However, for long-term development, sustainable strategies that increase local initiative and ownership ought to be encouraged (giving a hand-up rather than a hand-out). In general, we are to avoid doing anything for the people which they can do for themselves and any monetary or material aid merely ought to be used as a catalyst to encourage or sustain existing locally-initiated efforts or as a bridge enabling local communities to work towards the eventual goal of self-support.

• Money ought never to be used as a tool to dominate. We ought to avoid any giving that reduces local leadership, initiative or ownership. We should not give to enforce our wills on others, but to make possible what is agreed upon by both the mission and its indigenous partners.

• Works of compassion are not to be treated merely as a means to an end. We help because we love. Humanitarian work is not to be used as a bait-and-switch technique to lure people to Jesus through material gain, but naturally springs forth from Christian compassion.

• Those who will not work should not eat (II Thessalonians 2:10). We ought to ensure that our generosity does enable locals to depend on us or feign greater levels of poverty or self-pity in order to increase their dole. If someone is, in fact, working but their work is inefficient, it is permissible to give a hand to the industrious, remove barriers from the inefficiencies of work, or to help remove hindrances or even oppressive power structures which contribute to inequities and deprive the poor of the fruit of their labors.

 

[Pergamum]

Here is another good book on the same topic, To Give or Not to Give: Rethinking Dependency, Restoring Generosity & Redefining Sustainability by John Rowell. I actually think this book is even better than When Helping Huts because it seems to stress generosity more instead of mainly warning of the negatives of unwise giving.

To Give or Not to Give: Rethinking Dependency, Restoring Generosity, and Redefining Sustainability: John Rowell, Peter Kuzmic: 9780830857739: Amazon.com: Books

 

[Philip]

I read this book as part of a class at Covenant (naturally) and found it very informative. I also think it helped me to see both positives and negatives of the types of community development I've seen or been involved with.

 

[Scott1]

Overall, a worthwhile book.

While it at times almost elevates doing mercy to being an end unto itself, apart from evangelism, discipleship and witness for Christ, it is useful and well worth reading.

It does a good job broadening the definition of poverty, more toward how Scripture speaks of it.

And it is a big topic.

Doing mercy is a good thing even apart from evangelism.

One does not do good only to "buy" an opportunity to speak of Christ, but because another creature is suffering.

Yes,
not to "buy," but because God has changed us from the inside so we are able to do it both outwardly and inwardly for the right reasons.

It's not, e.g. about us being "good" people because we do things we think are "good."
The world is full of people who think they are "good" because of what they imagine themselves doing outwardly (or because of their selective words). In their own eyes, "good," and morally superior because they imagine themselves being merciful (in their own assessment).
For the believer, it's about obedience to God (love God, love neighbor), never apart from it.

This is a much deeper topic, but one that must be considered in the context of a book that seeks to lay a philosophical pretext for a broad topic for believers.