It’s wonderful to see people desiring to help the poor. Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough. Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty. What we often don’t realize is that most of our efforts to help the poor, harm to the poor themselves and to us as we attempt to minister to the poor.

The following outlines the practical principles and strategies evangelical churches can employ for poverty alleviation and for a more effective and transformational ministry among the poor:

1. Have a Biblically-based Understanding of Poverty — In order to help people in poverty we need to have a biblically-based understanding of poverty as being rooted in the effects that Original Sin and the "fall of man" has had on our four foundational relationships - our relationship with God, self, others, and creation
2. Engage in Development Rather Than Relief — Too often we engage in "relief work" when we should be doing "development work." Relief has its place, but if we do relief when development is called for, we do more harm than good.
3. Take an Asset-based Instead of Needs-based Approach — An asset-based approach focuses on leveraging the gifts and strengths the person or the low-income community has to offer as they participate in their own recovery, rather than focusing on the disadvantages, weaknesses, or deficiencies.
4. Implement “Participatory Instead of “Blue-print” Interventions — For successful poverty alleviation, it is less about money and more about relationships. Christians need to engage poor individuals and low-income communities in development and the recovery process. Rather than imposing solutions on the poor, the poor are empowered to propose their own solutions of recovery.

Learn more about each of these strategies »