When Helping Hurts

This book combines sound theology, solid research, foundational principles, and proven strategies that prepare you for Christian transformational ministry among the poor, whether in the local community or abroad.

Good Intentions Are Not Enough
Churches and individual Christians often have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty — assumptions that many times lead to ministry strategies that do considerable harm to poor people as well as to themselves.

The book addresses these assumptions and offers several principles and strategies for poverty alleviation, including:

•     the distinction between relief, rehabilitation, and development
•     the difference between asset-based and needs-based strategies
•     the advantages of participatory over blueprint approaches