when-helping-hurts150In my opinion, “When Helping Hurts” is the single best book I’ve read on the topic of working with the poor. Not only should every Christian worker read it; every Christian ought to read it whether or not they work directly with the poor.

The authors of the book, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, are community development specialists with the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and professors at Covenant College. Striking to me were the misperceptions we often have regarding the true needs of the poor. Summarizing the results of a polls, they comment:

Poor people typically talk in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and voicelessness. North American audiences (or the wealthy) tend to emphasize a lack of material things such as food, money, clean water, medicine, housing, etc.

The result of such misconceptions is that we seek only to bring relief or aid, when what is ultimately needed is rehabilitation and restoration in relationship with God and others. They write that there are three reasons we do this:

  1. Many service organizations have a material definition of poverty; hence they believe that handouts of material things are the solution to that poverty.
  2. Relief is easier to do than development. It is much simpler to drop food out of airplanes or to ladle soup out of bowls than it is to develop long-lasting, time-consuming relationships with poor people, which may be emotionally exhausting.
  3. It is easier to get donor money for relief than for development. “We fed a thousand people today” sounds better than, “We hung out and developed relationships with a dozen people today.”

Key to their approach to relief and development is assessing local assets. Too often we ask, “What do they need?” and fail to ask the even more important question, “What do they have?” They point attention to Colossians 1:16-17, where we’re told the Christ is holding all things together and that he does not allow the effects of sin to completely destroy the inherent goodness of the assets he has created. In Christ, God is reconciling to himself all things–natural resources, individuals, neighborhood associations, schools, businesses, governments, etc. All are being liberated from their “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:12).

The process of assessment involves appreciating, envisioning, co-constructing and sustaining, and can only be done together. We need to move from “doing for” to “doing with” so that eventually they will be able to do it for themselves and even assist others in the same way they have been helped.

Finally, they wrap up the book with a chapter entitled, “Doing Short-term Missions Without Doing Long-Term Harm.” This is a Must Read for anyone going on a short-term trip. The key here is quite simple: don’t do for people what they can, or should, do for themselves. The goal is for the work to be done primarily by the community members with the team in a helping role. Stay away from the “go-help-and save-them” and maintain a “go-as-a-learner” attitude.

camp_cotubicCamp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio, has announced its summer camp schedule.

June 13-18: Teen Camp (grades 7-12). Cost: $260
June 27 – July 2: Discover Camp (grades 5-6). Cost: $260.
July 18-22: Voyager Camp (grades 2-4). Cost: $240.

You can register online.

Camp Cotubic began in the 1970s as a year-round camp operated by Central Conference, which included UB churches in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Though Camp Cotubic is no longer operated by the United Brethren church, it continues serving the United Brethren constituency.

feedburnerPhil Whipple, Bishop

I’d like to give a little plug for Feedburner. I’ve been using this service to deliver UBCentral straight to my email each day. Anything posted during the previous 24 hours is sent to my inbox.

This works well for people who check email every day, but who don’t necessarily check the same websites every day. It comes to you; you don’t have to do anything except check your email. You can then scan it quickly to see what’s happening in the United Brethren world.

For people who may feel disconnected, Feedburner is a good tool to help them stay informed. I find it very convenient. It’s a free service from Google. About 50 UB people are currently using Feedburner.

It’s easy to signup. You submit your email address, and that’s it. Each email includes a link for removing yourself from the list.

Bob Bruce shows Din Wan, a recent Burmese immgrant, how to eat an ice cream cone.

Bob Bruce, Pastor of Spiritual Care at Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.), shows Din Wan, a recent Burmese immigrant, how to eat an ice cream cone.

My wife and I, along with Bob and Kathy Bruce from Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) are involved with a family of Burmese immigrants. A couple days ago, Bob and I took the five children to McDonald’s for ice cream. They had never eaten ice cream before.

To to honest, the reaction was somewhat mixed. Some thought ice cream was pretty tasty; others couldn’t figure out why anyone would eat something that cold on a winter night.

But the biggest challenge seemed to be eating it. However, not to fear, Bob Bruce (or Mr. Bob to the Burmese kids) demonstrated with fine fashion the most effective method of eating an ice cream cone.

United Believers in Christ Fellowship consists of churches in California which withdrew from the denomination in 2005. However, they are raising funds for Haiti to be channeled through UB Global Ministries.

Nicholas Kern, CEO of United Believers in Christ, writes, “If you or your congregation wishes to do so, please send your contribution to the United Believers in Christ Fellowship. We will send any monies collected through the Global Ministries department of our parents (The United Brethren in Christ Missions Dept) designated to our Missionary in Haiti.”

We learned today (Jan. 15) that Rev. Oliam Richard, superintendent of the 40 United Brethren churches in Haiti, made it back to Haiti, and he was reunited with his wife, Esther. She was not injured. However, Esther is not well, and they are making arrangements with the French embassy to send her back to France as soon as possible. She arrived in Haiti from France the day before the earthquake.

Bishop Phil Whipple is preaching at tonight’s General Conference service in La Ceiba, Honduras. The service will be held at one of the local churches. He’s been having some stomach problems, so you might say a prayer that he’ll be just fine tonight.

Phyllis Cherry, wife of retired UB minister, Herb Cherry, passed away on Tuesday, January 5, 2010. Her funeral arrangements are as follows:

Visitation: Friday, January 8, 5-8 pm

Location: Chas. J. Burden & Son Funeral Home, 1806 E Michigan Ave, Jackson, MI 49202-3646 (517) 784-3104  www.dignitymemorial.com

Funeral: Saturday, January 9, 11 am. Visitation 10-11 am

Location: Eden UB Church, 1938 Eden Road, Mason, MI 48854 (517) 676-1376

Herb Cherry’s address is: 3913 Sage Court, Bloomington, IN 47401

Last Thursday, Dec. 3, Bishop Phil Whipple was a guest on the popular Mid-Morning show on WBCL, a Christian radio station in Fort Wayne, Ind. He was joined by two Huntington University graduate school professors, Mike Cook and Jerry Davis, along with another Fort Wayne pastor. The topic: “Healthy Church, Healthy Pastor.”