Sequel to When Helping Hurts (first book) and Becoming Whole (deeper theology); this book: 20 principles (#1-#20); books should not be used to cut off funding immediately

Appendix C: false metanarratives of western naturalism (goal is consumption) and evangelical gnosticism (material world is bad) -> strategies: 1) handout of material resources & evangelism 2) economic empowerment & evangelism; brokenness -> relational poverty (with God, self, others, creation) -> this often leads to material poverty;

1. fundamental questions: 1) what is the goal of life? 2) how can that goal be achieved?; three fundamental religious perspectives: 1) traditional religion 2) Western Naturalism 3) historic Christianity; 5 causes of poverty: 1) false gods & erroneous stories of change 2) destructive practices 3) broken systems 4) broken people 5) demonic forces; no magic formula;

2. we are all broken (not just the materially poor); #1: ministry should be rooted in and lead back to the church; #2: use supportive groups (don’t cut them for the sake of efficiency);

3. people & societies are transformed into the image of whatever God they worship; #3: pray without ceasing; #4: constantly narrate God’s story (Deut 6:4ff); #5: integrate God’s story into technical training (eg. rely on God for success instead of witch/self); “credit should never be used to put another person in bondage”(?); false message: “trust in Jesus so that your soul will go to heaven when you die and chase the American dream now”; rich = “non-poor” 🙂; #6: be careful that your funding doesn’t undermine your ability to integrate God’s story in the technical training (often these are separated); don’t leave out the Bible from the technical training and restrict it to Bible studies only;

4. formative practices: people’s actions shape their hearts (~shooting makes better basketball players); beliefs and actions mutually shape each other; #7. all stakeholders are members of the same community under Christ; temptation in nonprofit sector: donor becomes primary customer (he pays the bills - eg short term mission trips); customer is king -> poor gets what customer wants (“if the short-term team believes that materially poor people in Tibet need Frisbees, then Frisbees it is!” 😀); keep God (and not the donors) at the center; common mantra: donors should “pay, pray, and get out of the way” <-> donors/staff/poor are both God’s priest-kings with different gifts; use different words: “donors” -> financial resource partners, “beneficiaries” -> participants; financial resources partners need to keep in mind that 1) their experience in one sector doesn’t necessarily translate into poverty alleviation 2) nonprofits are very different than for-profits 3) money is not the answer to every problem; practical tips: 1) respect the time of ministry partners 2) don’t do things you are not gifted at 3) be transparent & clear in your communication 4) stop the “dating process” (= “wine and dine” before “popping the question”); #8: focus on God’s story of change in marketing & communications (“$25 can save a life” -> really?); false ideas: 1) money/technology can solve all problems 2) everything has a quick fix 3) the poor are helpless and need white Westerners to save them); wrong “quick-fix” marketing makes it more difficult for other effective organizations to raise money for their work; marketing messages need to tell the truth about the complexity of poverty and what it really takes to address it; chief goal: make God famous; #9: learn from existing “best practices”; no need to reinvent the wheel; “learn from” != “mindlessly adopt”;

5. #10: use relief, rehabilitation, development appropriately; relief: immediate, temporary help, stopping the bleeding; rehabilitation: seeks to restore positive pre-crisis elements; starts after bleeding stops, requires active participation from the individual; development: process of ongoing change, moving everyone involved - both “helpers” and the “helped” - closer to God, to become more of what God created them to be; in most cases poverty is not a one-time crisis -> development is the right approach; relief: done to/for people <-> development: done with people; one-time giving: other miniseries might be doing the same; avoid paternalism, habitually doing things for people that they can do for themselves; “Is your ministry simply providing handouts to able-bodied people over long periods of time?”; #11: focus on assets, not needs; needs-based approach: assumption: resources will come not from people but ministry; asset-based approach: people are image-bearers of God; eg: microfinance institutions set up by Westerners vs indigenous savings and credit associations; even weakness can be turned into asset: OCD -> cleaning business; #12: use participatory rather than blueprint approaches; change is possible only if person is willing to change; even poor churches are charged for microfinance training (-> more valuable for them); if person only interested in quick cash but not committed to an action plan -> not interested to make long-term changes; participation increases ownership; #13: all interventions should be pro work; “Enabling materially poor people to engage in work that pays a living wage is the most sustainable way for them to no longer be materially poor. Period.”; work is essential to overcome poverty and to becoming whole; most churches treat symptoms (food, shelter, clothing); #14: encourage all stakeholders to give sacrificially; true measure of success for poverty alleviation: not consumption but sacrificial giving; don’t shy away from asking poor people to give sacrificially; #15: foster dialogue education instead of lecture-based teaching;

6. broken systems damaged all of us in different ways (it’s easier for the poor to recognize this than for the rich); white evangelicals least likely to recognize broken systems because of strong belief in individualism & freewill (Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson & Christian Smith); environment matters; God detests individual piety when it doesn’t lead to a concern for social justice (Am 5,21-24); #16: address broken systems by navigating existing ones, creating alternatives and/or reforming them altogether; #17: help people access physical & mental health care; #18: verbally invite unbelievers to saving faith in Jesus Christ; #19: invite people into the church’s administration of the ordinary means of grace; nonbelievers shouldn’t partake communion but it’s a good way to get them thinking where they are spiritually;

7. ending material poverty: spiritual battle; #20: every stakeholder should resist demonic forces & put on the armor of God;

Appendix B: Logic Model (secular): what the initiative will do, how it will do it, why is it important; 1. Inputs (resources needed) -> 2. Activities (work to be done) -> 3. Outputs (result of work) -> 4. Outcomes (short/medium/long-term changes) -> 5. Impact (ultimate benefits). Programs: Faith & Finances, Work Life (US), Restore: Savings, Plan a Better Business (Majority World)