When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself

by Steve Corbett; Brian Fikkert; John Perkins; David Platt

Publisher:

Moody Publishers

, 2014

Overview

With more than 450,000 copies in print, When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation.

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.

Key Features

• Presents a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation.
• Shows how some alleviation efforts, have actually (and unintentionally) done more harm than good.
• Provides proven strategies for effective poverty alleviation.

Contents

• Foreword – 2009
• Foreword – 2012
• Preface
• Opening Exercise
• Introduction
• PART 1: Foundational Concepts for Helping Without Hurting
• 1. Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?
• 2. What’s the Problem?
• 3. Are We There Yet?
• PART 2: General Principles for Helping Without Hurting
• 4. Not All Poverty Is Created Equal
• 5. Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, and Their Assets
• 6. McDevelopment: Over 2.5 Billion People Not Served
• PART 3: Practical Strategies for Helping Without Hurting
• 7. Doing Short-Term Missions Without Doing Long-Term Harm
• 8. Yes, in Your Backyard
• 9. And to the Ends of the Earth
• PART 4: Getting Started on Helping Without Hurting
• 10. Excuse Me, Can You Spare Some Change?
• 11. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!
• A Final Word: The Most Important Step
• Appendix: The Community Organizing Process in North America
• Concluding Remarks
• Notes
• Acknowledgments
• Excerpt from When Helping Hurts: The Small Group Experience

Praise for When Helping Hurts

I can honestly report that When Helping Hurts is the single best book I’ve seen on this topic. Although this book will make many readers uncomfortable, it quickly offers hope in the form of understandable, feasible new strategies that better grasp the dignity and promise of the materially poor. It deserves a #1 spot on the reading list of every Christian who wants to follow Jesus in a genuine, mutually transforming love of neighbor.

—Amy L. Sherman, PhD, senior fellow and director, Sagamore Institute Center on Faith in Communities, author, Restorers of Hope

What an opportunity evangelicals have to make a difference in our world through the church. Corbett and Fikkert build on the growing momentum of holistic witness that’s sweeping our country and globe and are eminently qualified and positioned to take motivated kingdom citizens on a Christ-centered and comprehensive journey that will pay huge dividends for impoverished people and for Christians in our broken world.

—Dr. Ronald J. Sider, president, Evangelicals for Social Action, author, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger

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? When Helping Hurts explores biblical principles in terms of real-life situations to offer real help and grace-filled answers for such questions.

—Bryan Chappell, president, Covenant Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself
• Authors: Steve Corbett, Brian Fikkert, John Perkins, David Platt
• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Print Publication Date: 2014
• Logos Release Date: 2017
• Pages: 288
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Church work with the poor; Poverty › Religious aspects--Christianity; Religion and spirituality
• ISBNs: 9780802487629, 0802487629, 0802409989, 9780802409980
• Resource ID: LLS:9780802487629
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-05-20T08:15:04Z