Product Details
When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves

When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves
By Brian Fikkert, Steve Corbett

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Product Description

Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves.  When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevant applications.  The result is an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel.

A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation.  Efforts are characterized by an "assest based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach.  Short term mission efforts are addressed and microenterprise development (MED) is explored.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #2822 in Books
  • Published on: 2009-07-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 208 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steve Corbett is the Community Development Specialist for the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and Community Development at Covenant College.  Previously, Steve worked for Food for the Hungry International as the Regional Director for Central And South America and as Director of Staff Training.  Steve has a B.A. from covenant College and a M.Ed. in Adult Education from the University of Georgia.

Brian Fikkert is an Associate Professor of Economics at Covenant College and the Founder and Executive Director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College.  Brian received a Ph.D. in Economics with highest honors from Yale University, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Dordt College.  Specializing in Third World Development and International Economics, Brian has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development.  He has published articles in both leading academic and popular journals and has been a contributor to several books.  Prior to coming to Covenant College, he was a professor at the University of Maryland and a research fellow at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector. 

Customer Reviews

Provocative, much-needed analysis of where our attempts to help have gone wrong5
Thank you, Brian and Steve, for this tremendous book. So often we miss the unintended consequences of our wonderful intentions. For anyone who has been on a mission trip, plans on going on a mission trip, or is thinking about supporting missions, please pick up a copy of this book. Its thorough analysis and helpful guide to thinking through long-term issues will dramatically refine your understanding of the world and of missions.

Chris Horst
HOPE International
www.hopeinternational.org

Lives Changing5
Yep, I know. "Lives changing" is not grammatically correct.

Nevertheless, I use this play on words to indicate that this book is not just life changing for you, me, and other readers, but, for the millions who we can and must serve. This is about THEM and their lives, even though it starts with you, me, and our churches.

As we learn and put into practice the authors' supremely wise counsel, we will see enormous increases in the effectiveness of our ministries to a hurting world. I dare say as well that as we see these profound qualitative improvements, the quantity of our efforts will skyrocket as well - we'll want to do far more as we discover the joy of doing far better.

Thus, This Is Big. To say this is the best book ever on the subject would be, believe it or not, an UNDERstatement. That's partly because it's not only a book - it also has fabulous accompanying materials (website learning and discussion aids, courses, speakers, trainers, etc.) that will significantly help readers and churches put these "lives changing" ideas into practice.

All this is literally an unbelievable Gift from God - for the church and the world.

Dave Larson
Economic Development Consultant
Portland, Oregon

A fantastic resource for understanding helping the poor5
When Helping Hurts should be in everyone's top 5 list of books to read & keep on hand for wisdom in planning & evaluating efforts to truly help the poor (whether in the US or internationally).

This book is a quick read, engaging, and jam-packed with wisdom: including practical ways to understand & evaluate the real, holistic effects of a program on the people it's designed to help.

Because of insights gained, I am making plans to add/change parts of programs I oversee to make them more holistically helpful not hurtful.