In 2009, knee-deep in volunteering in the United States and abroad, I bought three newly published books on poverty. I was feeling uneasy about the way I related with the poor, and I hoped these books might help identify the problem. One volume was written by two then-obscure college professors, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. Its title was provocative: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself.
By the end of the introduction, I was infuriated. The authors, economics and community development scholars based in Georgia, accuse the North American church of not doing enough to alleviate poverty. And they suggest that Christians who are doing something are probably doing more harm than good. Determined to prove them wrong, I read on.
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