When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor

There is an undeniable movement in our U.S. culture, and thankfully, in our churches as well, to engage with the poor and the hurting around the world. Enhanced technology like satellite broadcasting, streaming Internet video, and global social networking has brought the stories and faces of people in poverty into our homes and makes us all aware of the dire poverty of people in places we once felt were far off. One need only remember the swift and incredibly generous response by governments, organizations, churches and individuals to the recent earthquake and subsequent humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

But do these efforts actually facilitate long-term holistic health for the people on the receiving end of our charity? How can we ensure that those in dire need are actually being helped and not hurt by our financial giving and good intentions? How can we strive to improve the outcomes of social ministries to the poor, both in the U.S. and abroad? These are some of the questions that Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development, seek to address in their new book, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor.

This eye-opening and challenging book is divided into three sections. The first section provides a biblical foundation for engaging those in poverty and helps to build a Christian framework for thinking through the complexity of the issues related to poverty alleviation. The second section provides general principles for helping the poor in a way that does greater good than damage and shows that many of our intentions in giving actually end up hurting those we are trying to help. Additionally, the authors advocate an holistic, asset-based, approach to community development that can empower the poor to not only be immediately relieved, but also pursue long-term reconciliation to God, themselves, others, and creation. The third section of the book deals with practical solutions and strategies to help those in material poverty. 

As I read this book, I was challenged to examine not only the methods in which I have given, but also my motives as well. When Helping Hurts forced me to ask if I really desired for the poor to be restored and healed, or if my giving was only a way to assuage my guilt and subtly feed my own prideful tendencies. If it is true that we really want to help those in need, we must go further than just sending a check to a charitable organization. We must examine the methods these organizations and our churches employ, asking if they help, rather than hurt. Moreover, we must examine our own hearts and strive to love and serve the poor in way that honors God and brings holistic healing to those in all forms of poverty. To do this, we must become more knowledgeable of the issues related to poverty alleviation and economic development. When Helping Hurts is an excellent introduction and starting point for this process.

I would recommend this book not only to those who work specifically in poverty alleviation organizations, but also to all Western Christians, financially blessed are we are, who have a responsibility to love those who are material poor not only in words, but also in “action and truth” (1 Jn. 3:18). May God use this book to move us from good intentions, to holistic healing of the poor in our cities and around the world.