Whether you look across your street or across the ocean, it's not hard to recognize that poverty is one of the biggest problems facing our world today. When we see people living in extreme poverty, we know that’s not how God intended things to be. And we know that as Christians we should do something to help. But what? The last thing anyone wants to do is make things worse. So we often stay stuck, unsure of how to take action. We feel overwhelmed by the complexity of poverty and struggle to help in effective, biblical ways.
Through resources like the bestselling book When Helping Hurts, the Chalmers Center has helped thousands of churches and ministries around the world discover new ways of thinking about poverty, reimagine their role in the Kingdom of God, and build transformational relationships with people in poverty.
Whether you’re just starting out or have walked alongside people who are poor for years, Chalmers can help you discover a better way to love the poor—and gain the skills and confidence you need to start helping.
article
One of the most challenging elements of any poverty alleviation effort is identifying people who are truly ready to change. [ read more ]
article
Because sin entered the world, our stories and practices are twisted by its effects, and both individuals and groups are broken and can do evil. [ read more ]
article
There are both internal and external causes of relational and material poverty. Systems are broken, and individuals are broken. [ read more ]
article
True or False? The story of change in the culture in which we live impacts our intestines. [ read more ]
article
How can we fight against destructive formative practices that would keep us stuck in stories of change that aren’t true and don’t work? [ read more ]
article
Poverty alleviation is fundamentally about transformation—about walking alongside people and communities who are materially poor [ read more ]
article
Poorly-thought-through short-term mission efforts can cause real harm and is a real issue with real-world consequences. [ read more ]
article
What are short-term missions practices that should be followed to protect and encourage missionaries and local ministries that teams want to support? [ read more ]
