Most
of us at one time or another have thrown a dollar bill into the cup of a
homeless man standing on a street corner. We do it because we want to help even
though we know that our dollar won't really solve a problem that has much
deeper causes. He'll be on the street again tomorrow because we've just treated
a symptom of his condition without really addressing the cause.
As
president of World Vision, I see Christians taking a similar approach to
helping the poor internationally. Out of obedience to Christ, churches rightly
want to respond to the desperate needs of the billions who suffer in poverty
around the world and so they often reach out by feeding the hungry, caring for
orphans, sending medical teams or shipping in various supplies. And these
things do help to relieve suffering, but at the end of the day the poor are
still poor. It's not much different than handing that dollar to the homeless
man.
American
Christians are astounding in their generosity. Tens of thousands of churches
pour resources into feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and building houses
and orphanages. Hundreds of thousands trek to Africa, Asia, and Latin America
each year on short-term mission trips desiring to offer their help.
But
here's the problem: Poverty, whether here in America or abroad, is one of the
oldest and most complex problems plaguing the human race. It is tangled in
social, cultural, economic, political, ethnic, geographic, and spiritual
factors that challenge even the most skilled experts. Simple solutions just
don't work, and well-meaning amateurs can not only waste valuable resources but
even cause unintended harm in their efforts.
The complex puzzle of poverty
We
are right to help, but we also need to help in the right way. In the complex
system of poverty, well meaning efforts can have unforeseen and unintended
consequences in another area. Here's a hypothetical example. Let's say that a
church here in America decided to partner with a sister church from its same
denomination in Zambia. Looking to encourage its members toward missions and to
respond to their needs, the senior pastor arranged for a short-term missions
trip to the church in Zambia, where they helped build a school.
Over
the following year the church planned a bigger project to help address the
grinding poverty their brothers and sisters in Zambia faced every day. They
began shipping bags of grains and beans to the Zambian church to distribute to
the hungry and fundraised for a new health clinic to treat children in the
area.
These
actions seemed to be quite positive until problems started to arise. The rice
and beans, sent regularly from the U.S. church, drove down the prices of those
items in the local markets. That caused area food production to drop because
farmers, who were already struggling, could no longer afford seeds and tools
needed to farm their land.
The
clinic also ran into trouble. During construction, the local government learned
about it and decided to cancel a clinic they had planned for the area. The
church mobilized doctors and nurses from the U.S. to staff the clinic, but the
costs of finding and transporting these volunteer staff meant that the new
clinic could only be open sporadically. When U.S. doctors were there, people
were treated for malaria, dysentery, and other diseases, but the rate of new
infections stayed the same because causes had not been addressed.
Despite
these challenges, more people flocked to the little church in Zambia to take
advantage of the food and health programs. It grew quickly, but that growth
provoked resentment. The village chief, who attended a different church in the
village, resented its sudden popularity. So now the community had become
divided denominationally and politically.
Finally,
during a subsequent visit, one of the American visitors noticed the Zambian
pastor doing suspiciously better financially. A new motorbike, a new house, and
finer clothes appeared to confirm rumors that the pastor was taking some of the
money the church had sent to maintain the clinic.
I
often say that the complex task of helping communities is, in fact, like rocket
science. We easily underestimate the intricate complexity of the puzzle of
poverty—culturally, politically, socially and economically, even in a small
community. The American church had intended to do good, but their initiatives
had damaging and unintended consequences. Effectively addressing poverty
requires cultural understanding, technical expertise, and a great deal of
perseverance. It takes wisdom and experience to recognize the difference
between the symptoms of poverty and its causes. The simplistic solutions
brought by the well meaning church had only managed to put short term Band-Aids
on problems that had much deeper causes.
In
this hypothetical example, giving food to a church treated a symptom—hunger
—while actually exacerbating the underlying problems of poor farming methods,
and access to markets. The constant illnesses were largely due to the
contaminated water supply and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. The clinic
would have been more sustainable had the community petitioned its own
government to provide one, or at least to provide local health workers to staff
it. Involving leaders from across the community instead of from just one church
might have avoided the divisiveness that erupted.
A
more complete solution to this community's problems would have likely required
addressing the water and sanitation issues, improving agricultural methods and
irrigation systems, economic development initiatives, facilitating access to
markets for farmers, youth leadership development training, safe childbirth
courses and AIDS and malaria prevention to name just a few of the puzzle pieces
needed for this community to truly begin to overcome its poverty. Addressing
all these issues simultaneously takes most American congregations way beyond
their current capabilities.
Principles for a new approach
It
is critical for the church to get this right. We have been called to preach the
good news to the poor, to feed the hungry, bring water to the thirsty, care for
the sick, and stand up against injustice. We have been sent to care for the
widow, the orphan, the alien, and the stranger. This is the work of the Great
Commandment and the Great Commission. Despite these many challenges, churches
can and must equip themselves with new strategies, innovative approaches, and
the expertise needed to do this work with excellence. Let me propose four
principles that can help guide us toward a new approach to the puzzle of
poverty.
1. Poverty goes beyond material things.
Because
poverty is a complex puzzle with multiple inter-related causes, solutions
addressing just one or two pieces of the puzzle will not fundamentally change a
community trapped in poverty. We have to help a community address their
challenges on multiple fronts: food, water, health, education, economic
development, gender, child development and even leadership and governance.
We
have to get beyond the notion that providing 'stuff' to poor communities will
lift them out of poverty. No amount of material assistance will transform a
community that struggles with gender inequality, domestic abuse, alcoholism,
inadequate education, tribal tensions, and other cultural issues. It isn't
enough to just provide things—schools, clinics, food—to a community.
I
like to use the analogy of a computer's hardware and software. Poor communities
do need "hardware" inputs like water wells, irrigation systems,
schools, clinics and microloans. But hardware alone is not enough. Thriving
communities also need good governance, committees to manage community health,
water and education, savings and loan groups, business training for farmers and
entrepreneurs, support groups for domestic violence victims, farmer's
cooperatives, access to markets, and strategies for disease prevention,
neonatal care, and child nutrition. We may also equip the community to advocate
on their own behalf for better services—roads, electricity, teachers, and
health workers—through their local government.
Solving
the puzzle of poverty requires that we go well beyond just meeting material
needs.
Working
with a community through these "software" strategies provides them
the foundation they will need to leverage their physical and structural assets
while equipping them with the tools needed to take charge of their own
development going forward.
And
let's not forget that the most powerful software tool we can offer is the human
transformation that comes from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ,
something no government or United Nations agency has to offer. This is why the
church is potentially the most powerful change agent of all.
2. Sustainable solutions require community
ownership.
Americans
like to fix things. Often we rush into a community, diagnose its problems, and
prescribe quick-fix solutions, without taking the time to listen and learn.
Imagine if the roles were reversed. How would we react if a group of Christians
from Africa, upon learning that our local public school system was performing
poorly, came to your hometown to help? With no knowledge of our culture, our
language, our children, our schools, our political processes or the real causes
of the problem, they would look rather silly to us. Might we not look the same
way to them?
When
we seek to work cross-culturally we need to take the time to appreciate the
rich knowledge and considerable assets already present in a poor community. The
people of the community are created in God's image, brimming with gifts,
talents, and abilities very useful in their context. They often know a great
deal about their own problems and their potential solutions.
More
importantly, if we seek to solve all of their problems for them, we become more
likely to create a harmful dependency than a lasting solution. This is about their community and their children's future. We
can advise, encourage, help, and provide some expertise they may lack, but the
community should lead and direct its own change. We simply help make it
possible. When a community takes pride and ownership of its accomplishments,
the solutions are more likely to be sustainable and we can work ourselves out
of a job.
3. We may need to bring in the experts.
When
a U.S. church sets out to construct a new sanctuary building, the pastor
doesn't just post a sign-up sheet in the foyer. For big and complex projects,
we hire professionals—an architect, general contractor, skilled tradesmen, and
so on. There are roles for us "amateurs," maybe hanging drywall,
spackling, and painting but building a new church is not a volunteer project.
Yet,
when we approach global poverty—one of the human race's most intractable
problems—we think we can somehow tackle it using only amateurs and volunteers.
Churches call in experts to help with all kinds of things: music, accounting,
audiovisual support, counseling, and building construction. Shouldn't we do the
same to assist us in tackling complicated problems halfway around the world?
Some of this expertise may reside within our congregations, but we will likely
have to look outside as well, perhaps hiring people with the necessary skills
or partnering with organizations that have experience and a long track record
of success. (Interested churches can start with these two umbrella groups: InterAction is a respected secular alliance of
international NGOs, with many Christian members. The Accord Network brings together Christian organizations working
internationally.) Even when those with specific expertise provide project
leadership, there will always be some valuable places where volunteers from
your church can also add value.
4. Change doesn't happen overnight.
Be
patient and stick with it. Many poor communities have been poor for
decades—even centuries. They won't transform in two or three years. A church
that commits to go deep and long with a community can experience the richness
of relationships that come from doing God's work with God's people in a spirit
of love and commitment. World Vision invests between 10 and sometimes 20 years
in the communities in which we work, but the changes we see are often remarkable.
Our goodbyes are often both tearful and joyful knowing that our friends can now
continue their journey without us. If you don't have an exit strategy the
community you are serving may never become fully independent.
A
few months ago I visited a community in Honduras where World Vision had been
working for 18 years. I got a glimpse of the kingdom of God coming in all its
fullness. Once poor, despairing and without hope, the community was bustling
with life and optimism. Farmers had been trained and organized into co-ops to
gain better access to markets. Crop yields and incomes had improved. Mothers
met in groups to weigh their babies, assess their level of nutrition, and help
new mothers to know how to raise healthy children. Savings groups were stimulating
savings, giving loans, and boosting family incomes and assets. Children had
participated in leadership development programs, attended school, and grown
more involved at all levels in their community. Meetings began with prayer and
Bible reading, often led by the children, and local churches had become more
deeply involved in people's daily lives. Bible study groups had sprung up—one
founded by a former alcoholic and wife abuser who had found new faith when he
came to receive agricultural training.
When
Jesus told his followers to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the
earth, he asked us to show the world a different way to live. He asked us to
demonstrate His great love in powerful ways and to restore, redeem, and renew
the brokenness in our world. There is no more powerful invitation to this new
way of life than the tangible demonstration of that kingdom to people who have
been broken, exploited, forgotten, and ignored.
Christians
do a good thing when they eagerly respond to the needs they see around the
world. Sometimes, though, as business guru Jim Collins has said, "the good
is the enemy of the great." It is a good thing to give a meal to a hungry
child, but it is a great thing to offer "life in all of its fullness"
to that child, her family and her community and to do it with compassion,
excellence, and the good news of the gospel.
Scripture
says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news" (Isa.
52:7). When we offer loving help to our neighbors in ways that allow them to
live full and abundant lives, we make the good news attractive and we bring
substance to that oft prayed line, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven."
Richard
Stearns is president of World Vision US and author of The Hole in Our Gospel
and Unfinished: Believing Is Only the Beginning. Follow Rich at RichStearns.org.
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