Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
“If money is the focus, then money is perceived to be the key to transformation. What we put at the center of our program is our witness. We must always ask if we are acting as a dependent people, looking to God for every good thing. We want people to observe us and say, “Theirs must be a living God!”
Bryant L. Myers as cited Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty is not the American Dream by Brian Fikkert and Kelly M. Kapic (Chicago: Moody, 2019) 55.
In the first part of this book, Fikkert and Kapic dismantle the weaknesses of models for alleviating poverty that relate to giving handouts or providing economic empowerment (with aid such as micro-enterprise).
By this statement, I mean that well-intentioned activities can have harmful or less that fruitful results.
Let me state pointedly that micro-enterprise can be a helpful tool, but only if the gospel gets the central focus. Only Christ can change a situation and money must not wrongly be the center of focus.
Money does not sustain people, Christ does.
The authors rightly surmise that “Human beings are transformed into the image of whatever god they worship, so at the core of poverty alleviation is worship of the one true God.”
Bryant’s quote highlights that our witness to God’s faithfulness must remain central to poverty alleviation work.
We must not come into any poverty situations with outside financial support or external dependency on human agency, but rather come in with truth that transforms and empowers people.
This fills me with gratitude to God today as it matches how God has led us at GTP to work in Malawi.
Any funds we spend relate to deploying people to train tribal authorities, pastors, and teachers to spread a biblical curriculum that inspires children to give God what they have as a reflection of true Christianity.
It’s drawing many to faith, the church is growing, and people are solving their own poverty issues!
If you have not watched the Palmful of Maize video that reflects the work of GTP and the witness of the people of Malawi, watch it here and check out the watch party collateral material.
This will help you spread transformation through your witness to Christ at the center where you live.
And, at GTP, we got a $40,000 matching gift for all gifts through the end of February 2023. Give today to help us continue to build trust and grow local giving in even the hardest places.
Click here to learn more about the match or to give.
With the funds, we hope to open work to serve the underserved in countries like Ethiopia, Honduras, Jamaica, Thailand, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Benin, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal in 2023.