Last week, Gospel for Asia (GFA) was stripped of it’s accreditation by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). In addition to being of note to potential donors, this bit of news is particularly disappointing given the fact that GFA was a “charter” (founding) member of the organization.
Category Archives: Making a Difference
Will We Share?
Our last post (Extreme Poverty, Income Inequality, and the 1%) pointed out that
- our lives much more closely resemble the lives of “the 1%” than the lives of those who suffer the harsh realities of extreme poverty ---
- our Lord counts compassionate generosity shown to the least and the last as love shown to Himself.
Here’s the rest of the story...
A Scene We’d Like to See
One of the underpinnings of our work at Givers by Design is the conviction that our nation’s churches do not do what they could for those who suffer in extreme poverty. Meanwhile, many exemplary parachurch organizations (World Vision, etc) do excellent work, in the name of Christ, in bringing sustainable improvements to the lives and communities of the world’s desperately poor.
The Frozen Pool
In the last post (Futility or Effectiveness?), we talked about the roadblocks that keep many of us from giving to help the world’s desperately poor – and noted that dismantling these roadblocks was one of the primary purposes behind our work at Givers by Design. So here’s the question: Continue reading
Futility or Effectiveness?
After reading about the Church in America’s anemic response to the problem of extreme poverty in Richard Stearns’ landmark book, The Hole in Our Gospel, we began talking with people – lots of people. And in these conversations, a common thread quickly emerged.Continue reading
Overview: Making a Difference
This archive category will contain discussions centered on the idea of making a difference. The desire to have an impact has been built into us, made as we are in our Maker’s image. Still, a creeping sense of futility keeps many of us from doing what we could. So, in this space we will highlight time-tested ways to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of the world’s poorest people. We hope you’ll join the discussion — joy awaits us as we discover what we need to know to exercise our stewardship privileges responsibly and effectively.
For an easy to use, information packed list of organizations whose programs have proven effective in helping the world’s poorest people to lift themselves out of extreme poverty, go to Best Christian Humanitarian Organizations.
Short Term Missions and Helping Well
Dollar spending on short-term mission trips in the U.S. has grown 20-fold in the last 20 years; for 2006, this figure stood at $1.6 billion (1). A key question arises when church missions and service projects are viewed through the lens of helping well: Where the goal is transforming communities by empowering them for self-sufficiency, how do church-based short term missions measure up? The answer depends on the extent to which best practices for helping well are utilized. Continue reading