When Helping Hurts

The tsunami that hit Indonesia in December 2004 wiped out many of the small businesses in the city of Meulaboh in Aceh. These small businesses are owned by poor people and serve as their primary source of income. Most of the shops, equipment, materials, and inventory were destroyed. Four months after the tsunami, your church has decided to send a team to assist with the restarting of these small businesses.

Interview. Get in touch with 3-5 of the businessmen and women in Meulobah. Interview them to discuss their businesses-what they did before and what they believe a sustainable solution might be. Interview town leaders to discuss what would be a sensitive response to the situation. Look into other organizations working in Meulobah prior to the tsunami and interview them for what are effective solutions. Find out if there are any immediate relief needs that are not being met (health, food, shelter, etc).

Pray. Pray for God to reveal His plans for the city. Pray for health, pray for provision, pray for helpers, etc. Pray whether God even wants us to take the trip.

Research. Find out how many businesses were there and how many were destroyed. Find out what equipment, materials, and inventory costs are and where they are sourced from traditionally. Do some financial projections. Find out what other organizations or churches are helping out in the area or planning to.

Commit. Work up some potential financial situations based on proposed solutions and present them to the church. Decide whether this is something we want to commit to long-term, as that's the only way to do development, not just relief. Pray over the decision.

Development Resources. Maybe some materials or equipment to kickstart the shops, but probably just money in order to be able to purchase the materials and equipment from the local economy. Curriculum for running small businesses.

Relief Needs. Immediate relief needs have likely already been met, but if there were any discovered during interviewing the townspeople, bring food, medical supplies, etc.

The crew will depend on how much development versus relief needs to be done. Probably small business owners, teachers, possibly construction crews to help rebuild some of the shops. Also, prayer warriors, and people with relational giftings to start establishing relationship with the locals. Children as well to see the Kingdom of God at work.

Spend the first 3-5 days simply identifying whether our assessments made based on interviews and research were actually correct. Build relationships, pray, etc.

Meet with town leaders to discuss the potential solutions and to evaluate whether relief and/or development needs are welcome and practical. See if town leaders can be put in charge of the efforts from the beginning and our team can just "assist" or "partner with."

In the second week, begin meeting with shop owners to assist with individual shops, at the discretion and under the advisement of the town leaders.

Attend church, be a part of the community, share meals with people, worship with people, visit people's homes, pray with them.

Practical helps and encouragement in the Lord.

With the help of the town leaders in both cases, team will divide to begin discussing needs of the small business owners and another team will begin visiting homes to encourage people.

How? Respectfully. Without assuming that we actually have any answers. As partners, as God's hands and feet in this situation.

At the end of the time, have a retrospective meeting with town leaders to discuss what went well, what went poorly, what we can do differently next time, what are the needs for the future. Dream together. Celebrate.

Q: Reflect on your answer to the question at the start of this chapter: why did Jesus come to earth? How has your answer to this question shaped the way you live your life? How might you live a life that more fully reflects a Christ-centered, kingdom perspective? Be specific.

A: I would like to attempt to "set the captives free" and to "proclaim good news to the poor." I remember recently getting the revelation from God that setting people free will have something to do with work, and that I will help people to find employment. I hope to help people be reconciled to Jesus, and address each of the forms of relational poverty: God, self, others, and creation. I hope to live a life that shows an example of how to live in a reconociled relationship with creation, as I am particularly passionate about that one.

Q: Did you know before reading this chapter that one of the reasons Israel was sent into captivity was her failure to care for the poor? If not, why not? What does the North American church's ignorance about the cause of the captivity suggest about the way it is reading Scripture?

A: Yes. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that be preached on. Isaih 58 has been one of the most impactful chapters of the Bible for me this year, starting with when I read exercpts from it in Crazy Love earlier this year.

Q: Reflect on how your church answers the question: what is the primary task of the church? Your church's answer to this question might not be explicit. Hence, you might have to discern your church's implicit answer to this question by thinking about the messages from the pulpit, the types of ministries pursued, and the way those ministries are conducted. How might your church more fully reflect a Christ-centered, kingdom theology in its ministries? Be specific.

A: I think Christ Our King's primary task is to teach people the correct doctrines and theology and to challenge the way that we are living to line up with the Bible. We engage primarily through Sunday morning worship, and Wednesday night small groups, and fellowship through celebration at various times. We have not lived a life of service to the poor or the community, unfortunately. We are not living in the full expansiveness of the present reality of the Kingdom. We have other areas of "poverty" that need to be addressed.

Q: When poor people look at your church, in what ways do they see the embodiment of Jesus Christ and the comprehensive healing of His kingdom? What else could your church be doing?

A: Through Rev. Brickle's hands-on ministry, they see that God cares about the poor, the homeless, the drug-abuser. Through James's preaching, they hear the message that God loves them. Through their welcome in the church, they experience the love of Christ and the community that emerges from enjoying God together. But, we are not addressing life in their community, engaging them outside of church and small group. We need to build relationships to get to the depths of the problem.

Q: List three specific things you will try to do as a result of this chapter. Pray for God to give you the strength to be faithful in doing these things.

A: Three specific things…

Q: Reflect on your relationships with God, self, others, and the rest of creation. List specific things that you would like to see improved in your four key relationships.

A: Relationship to God - Spend more quiet time enjoying God's presence in solitude and listening to learn to hear His voice.

Relationship to Self - Learn to see myself the way God sees me, to live in a true humility towards myself. To accept myself for the passions that I have, and to learn to give over my own desires and passions to God every day.

Relationship to Others - To see others as better than myself. To create community and invite others into it. To see a community transformed for God.

Relationship to Creation - To grow in stewardship of my own things by having less of them. To grow in stewardship of my skills and talents by bringing them all under the direction of God. To challenge and change the systems present in my local community to better care for the poor, the orphan, and the widow.

Q: Read Romans 5:6-11. To what extent do you embrace the message of the cross: God Almighty died for you while you were still His "enemy"? How worthy are you of God's love expressed through Jesus Christ?

A: I am not worthy at all. That's grace. It's not fair. It doesn't make sense. It is God's divine mercy that He pursued me and saved me.

Q: In what ways do you suffer from a "god-complex," the belief that you are superior to others and are well-positioned to determine what is best for them? If you have this problem, what specific steps can you take to change this?

A: I have had this problem. I first identified it during my freshman year in college. I thought of myself as above the rules, that I could manipulate people and situations to be in my own best interest. I was caught in "selfish ambition and vain conceit." Through having to submit to others here in Swaziland, I've learned that I still operate in this "god-complex" in more subtle ways. I think of myself of deserving certain things (personal rights) when I deserve nothing of the sort. I don't know how to change this, except by continuing to serve and submit, even when its painful and continuing to remember the ugliness of my own sin and soul and my thankfulness to God for saving me.

Q: What really motivates you to want to help materially poor people?

A: Partly because it makes me feel good about myself. But also I identify with them in their poverty, for I know the poverty of my own heart and I am so thankful to Jesus my Savior, and the peace and joy he has brought into my life. I want others to experience his saving power now in their lives.

Q: Think about the approach of your church or your ministry to materially poor people. Is there any evidence of a god-complex?

A: I'm not sure, because we really don't minister to the poor in my church. I guess the Christmas dinner for the homeless was kind of a have and have-not fest.

Q: Think back to a situation in which you have tried to minister to others. In what ways did your approach help both you and them to overcome a poverty of spiritual intimacy, a poverty of being, a poverty of community, and a poverty of stewardship? In what ways did your approach actually contribute to greater "poverty" in the four relationships for both you and them?

A: When loaning money to people in poverty, even small amounts, I have created a barrier between us due to the sticky nature of money. It has contributed to their poverty of community, while also contributing to their feeling of shame for not being able to pay off the loan, increasing their poverty of being. I have not always been open to addressing the worldview issues, which can lead to the loans being taken the wrong way.

Q: Think back to your answers to the question at the start of this chapter: What is poverty? Compare your answers to the answers that the poor themselves give. What differences do you see?

A: I basically understood poverty as a mindset. Material poverty combines the mindset with a lack of material resources. I love how it is defined as "the absence of shalom in all of its meanings."

Q: Do you have a "material definition of poverty"? If so, how has this influenced the way that you have approached ministry to the poor? What harm might this have done?

A: I have reduced poverty down to the material only at times, and I have done things like giving money or blank CDs to some of the TCMI students. I have attempted to better their financial situations without addressing the spiritual, the worldview or the underlying personal problems that prevent them from flourishing.

Q: Are you or your church locked into the equation mentioned in this chapter (see p. 67)? If so, what steps can you take to break out of it?

A: Not really… but now seeing the more expansive view of dealing with poverty, its exciting to know that there are other ways.

Q: What is poverty alleviation?

A: Healing people's 4 primary relationships.

Q: How do you define "success" in ministering to the poor?

A: ???

Q: Reflect on your answers to the questions at the start of this chapter. Have your views changed at all? If so, how? Be specific.

A: I think I see success as more complicated and difficult to measure than I originally thought.

Q: Have you ever felt trapped by life's circumstances to the point where you believed that you could not do anything to change the situation? If so, describe the emotions and behaviors that this produced in you. Did you ever feel like just giving up?

A: Yes, particularly when I was going through my divorce. No matter what I tried to do to get my wife back and get my life back together, it seemed like everything that I tried just made things worse. There were times that I wanted to give up on my marriage, to just walk away from it. I felt powerless, small, insignificant. It was a terrible feeling.

Q: When you get sick, what do you do? Now read 2 Chronicles 16:7-9, 12 and Psalm 20:7. What was Asa's sin? One of the features of the modern worldview is an separation between the spiritual and the physical realms. Like Asa, we tend to rely on science—medicine, technology, machines, power, etc.—to solve our problems and forget to call on the One who created and upholds the universe. Are you like Asa? How does your worldview need to be transformed?

A: Trusting in horses and chariots, or modern inventions, over the power of God. I need to learn to put complete trust in God, in all areas of my life. I need to truly believe that He can change things, that He has all power on heaven and earth, and that He hears me when I call upon His name. I also need to remember the times that He has proven that to me.

Q: Think about your church's ministries and missions efforts. Do they include a clear, verbal articulation of the gospel? If not, what are some specific things that could be done to improve this?

A: No... I don't think I could make a clear, verbal articulation of the gospel. I need to know clearly what the gospel is.

Q: Again, think about your church's ministries and mission efforts. Are they about people and processes or about projects and products? List some specific things that you could do to improve these initiatives.

A:

Q: Answer questions 4 and 5 for any parachurch ministries with which you are involved.

A:

Q: Consider your community, city, or region. How might the economic, social, religious, and political systems be unjust and oppressive to some people? If you are able, ask several materially poor people or people who are ethnic minorities (e.g., Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics in the Southwestern part of the U.S.) to share their perspective on this with you. Spend some time really listening to them and considering what they have to say. Then ask yourself: is there anything you or your church could do to make these systems more just?

A:

Q: Do the ministries to the poor with which you are involved narrate that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the technology, resources, and methods that you are bringing? Or are you inadvertently communicating that the power is in the technology, resources, and methods?

A:

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