Authors Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College have written a very interesting and timely book entitled When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself. For the next two days, Westminster Bookstore is offering this book for $4.89 (less than half the Amazon.com price, as you can see to the left). This $4.89 price is only valid until 5 PM (EST) on Saturday, July 18th.
A bit about the authors:
Steve Corbett is the Community Development Specialist for the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and Community Development at Covenant College. Previously, Steve worked for Food for the Hungry International as the Regional Director for Central And South America and as Director of Staff Training. Steve has a B.A. from covenant College and a M.Ed. in Adult Education from the University of Georgia.
Brian Fikkert is an Associate Professor of Economics at Covenant College and the Founder and Executive Director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College. Brian received a Ph.D. in Economics with highest honors from Yale University, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Dordt College. Specializing in Third World Development and International Economics, Brian has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development. He has published articles in both leading academic and popular journals and has been a contributor to several books. Prior to coming to Covenant College, he was a professor at the University of Maryland and a research fellow at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector.
Fikkert and Corbett were recently interviewed in byFaith Magazine about their new book. Here is one of their interactions:
After people have read the book, what do you want them to know, generally, that they don’t know now?
FIKKERT: I want people to have a biblical framework for thinking about the nature of poverty and its alleviation. If a doctor misdiagnoses the patient’s illness, he will prescribe the wrong medication. The patient will not get better and might even get worse. The same is true about our efforts to minister to the poor. The “medicine” we prescribe reflects our understanding of the underlying problem. If we have misdiagnosed the problem of poverty we can do harm to poor people, and surprisingly, to ourselves. I hope this book will help people examine their diagnosis of the causes of poverty and reconsider the medicine they are prescribing. Where are they in tune with Scripture and where do they need to make some adjustments? In the process, I also hope the book will help readers learn some fundamental things about themselves.
CORBETT: We want people to learn a number of things: that poverty has multiple dimensions; it is not primarily about “providing”; helping can hurt; something is not always better than nothing; short-term help which feels good to the giver can often be harmful to the receiver; and start with what people have and build from there.
Some of the Endorsements:
“Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert are zealous to make sure that we honor the gospel not only in word but also in deed by caring for “the least of these” as Christ instructed. But how can a local church make a difference, and how do individual Christians meaningfully reflect Christ’s grace, when the disparities of wealth and power in our world are so great? And how do we show material care without drifting into a social gospel devoid of spiritual priorities? When Helping Hurts explores biblical principles in terms of real-life situations to offer real help and grace-filled answers for such questions.”
– Dr. Bryan Chapell, President, Covenant Theological Seminary
“From the early pages, where the authors promptly and humbly confess how they have “messed up” in their own efforts to alleviate poverty, to the last chapters where their vast experience and on-the-street wisdom show through so helpfully, this is a book that wonderfully combines heavy-duty thinking with practical tools. As a journalist, I appreciate the author’s story-telling and descriptive abilities. As a churchman, I appreciate their zeal to root all strategies in the institution God has ordained to bring about His goals. No donor should invest another dollar in any kind of relief effort before digesting the last page of this important book.”
– Joel Belz, Founder and writer, World Magazine
“Corbett and Fikkert have done a masterful job integrating insights from Scripture, social science research, and community development practice to give readers sound, practical, and effective strategies for equipping people to have more effective ministry to the poor. In this excellent book you’ll discover new ways of approaching short-term missions (that truly help the poor rather than hurt them) as well as new ways of providing long-term economic empowerment of poor people both in North America and across the world. When Helping Hurts should be required for all church leaders, academics and church members.”
– Steven L. Childers, President & CEO, Global Church Advancement; Reformed Theological Seminary