‘When helping hurts’ pt 1 – Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

Christian ministry, Cross-culture, Equipping, Finance, Good Practice, International, News, Poor
Foundational Concepts for helping without hurting. In this excellent book - a ‘must read' for all who are involved in helping people who are poor or disadvantaged - the authors look critically at both the issues of poverty and how it is defined, and at the typical response of very well meaning individuals and agents of society that may in fact be doing more harm than good. This is a book that will challenge the accuracy of notions you may currently hold - ‘is my desire to do good actually doing harm?' It applies both to ministry within your community and to international development ie how to relate across cultures. Each chapter begins with questions for you to answer which reveal your present stance and ends with questions to review.…
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The Poor deserve the Best – part 12 – Sustainability

Christian ministry, Equipping, Ghana, Good Practice, Planning, Poor, Relief and Development, Training, Zimbabwe
We have been considering Key Indicators of Good Practice under the title The Poor deserve the Best and now come to the final 2 of 20. 11. Sustainability Much charitable work relies on continual fund raising. Called Donor Dependency this makes a ministry very vulnerable. However, Donor Dependency introduces a measure of insecurity and puts the permanence of the ministry in doubt. It can also lead to the compromise of values in order to obtain funding. Further, Donor dependency may diminish the dignity of the ministry, but sometimes is a necessity. To mitigate against this a thorough assessment should be made of the reliance on outside funding and how this may be reduced. Appropriate practice should then be implemented to make the ministry as self-sustainable as possible. Clearly certain ministries…
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