Below are top recommendations for deeper study in service
Like the Samaritan who found a dying man by the Jericho road, we’re aware of people in need around us - the widow next door, the family strapped with medical bills, the homeless man outside our church. God calls us to help them, whether they need shelter, assistance, medical care, or just friendship.
Tim Keller shows that caring for these people is the job of every believer, as fundamental to Christian living as evangelism, discipleship, and worship. But he doesn’t stop there. He tackles thorny issues as he shows how we can carry out this vital ministry as individuals, families, and churches. Retypeset third edition. Includes discussion questions.
Poverty is much more than simply a lack of material resources, and it takes much more than donations and handouts to solve it. When Helping Hurts shows how some alleviation efforts, failing to consider the complexities of poverty, have actually (and unintentionally) done more harm than good.
But it looks ahead. It encourages us to see the dignity in everyone, to empower the materially poor, and to know that we are all uniquely needy - and that God in the gospel is reconciling all things to himself.
Focusing on both North American and Majority World contexts, When Helping Hurts provides proven strategies for effective poverty alleviation, catalyzing the idea that sustainable change comes not from the outside in, but from the inside out.