Tag: poverty

Blog, Friday Faves

Friday Faves

Kimmy

This week is all about homeless and poverty as that is what has been on the brain lately with our Helping Hands fun Saturday morning coming up! I hope you and your little ones will come and spend a little time with us preparing bags for our homeless friends. If you have not signed up, it’s not too late! The link is below!

Here are some other faves I’ve found this week as I’ve been searching and preparing for our event.

  1. Ever Wondered What to Say? 

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Often times we sometimes aren’t sure what to “say”… here are some great conversation starters that you can use as you meet our friends on the street. There are also some things that may be we just shouldn’t say or ask, or even think…

2. Books for Kids about Poverty & Hunger 

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I’m always on the lookout for great books to read with my kiddos and while I haven’t read through each one of these, many of these are on my list to read and several of these are just great!

What books have you read that teaches about poverty and hunger and homelessness? 

3.  Hippie Jack 

I don’t really know anything about Hippie Jack, other than what this video shows, but it makes me smile and reminds me that there are still some good men and women out there serving with all they have, and it makes me tap my toe a little too…

How can you be like Hippie Jack? Don’t you have a fun bus like that?!? haha

4. Blessing Bottles

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This is a great unique “spin” on blessing bags!

Have you made anything like this before to give to our homeless friends? If so, share and let us learn new and different ways! 

5. Helping Hands FUN Event! 

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You can sign up in our On Mission Moms Facebook Page link above! We will be meeting at Caroline Brewer’s home and she will be sending out info. It’s going to be a fun morning together serving, learning, and praying with our little ones.

 

And one last little plug, if you haven’t had a chance to read the Do No Harm Series, well… you should!

Do No Harm: Be Prepared

Do No Harm: We’re All Poor

Do No Harm: Knowing When

Do No Harm: Learning More

 

*Just a reminder that I don’t necessarily “endorse” the websites that I’ve linked to above.  Not all are Christian based websites/blogs/videos; however, they are all great ideas that we can learn and grow from and adapt to work with what we believe as On Mission Moms! 

Blog

Do No Harm: Learning More

Kimmy

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There are so many different avenues that we could take when seeking to help those in need and there are so many thoughts and opinions about it all that sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed and confused; however, I have learned that I can’t stay in that place of confusion. I must be obedient to God’s call to love and serve the poor so therefore I must study and learn and ask the Lord to reveal to me what He would have me do and how He would have me respond. I pray that is your response too – to dig in and ask the tough questions, to learn and grow, and not just bury your head in the sand and let people walk on by.

The following are just a few of the great resources that I have studied that I hope will help you learn even more about the world of poverty and help you learn how you should respond when you meet that new friend on the street.  

Resources: 

When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert 

This book is also a 6 week group study that you can do with a small group or on your own. You can also access Right Now Media (which is a GREAT resource in general) for the videos or on the web.

Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton 

This is a very similar read to When Helping Hurts but a little stronger! They tend to lean toward the idea that “all charity is toxic” which I believe is not always true in every situation. I mean you can’t “throw the baby out with the bath water” as my grandma used to say.

Seeking Shalom *this is an ECourse by Focused Community Strategies in Atlanta, GA

This is an excellent class that explains poverty and how to work with those in poverty pretty well. This group is connected with Robert Lupton, the author of Toxic Charity, so they follow many of the same principles. It’s explained well though and I always love being able to interact with others and chat about what I’m learning! (I’m weird like that.. ha)

Bridges out of Poverty or Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne

Ruby Payne is an educator and shares about the impacts of poverty in the classroom and while this is “different” than poverty that we see on the streets, it helps us understand how poverty is effecting us across the board. It’s a great general discussion on poverty.

Loving our Neighbor by Beth Templeton 

Beth Templeton is the former director of United Ministries, based here in Greenville, SC. I had the great privilege of meeting with her before I began Refuge and gained some valuable insight and wisdom from her. There is also a 6 week video series that they have produced  that explains poverty and how to work with those in poverty well.

The list could go on and on of books and classes that you could take as you learn about helping those in poverty. What resources could you share with us so that we can learn more?

 

More than any wisdom that you have gained from books or videos though, I want to challenge and remind you to do the following:

  1. Ask God how He would have you respond in each specific situation and be obedient to the Holy Spirit. 
  2. Read His word and see what He has to teach us about poverty and loving our neighbor. 

Above all, We must obey the Lord when he places people in our path and help them as He would – loving and serving them well. I pray that we will do just that!

 

For our Spartanburg friends, I will be posting a list of local resources soon to help you as you meet and get to know our friends.

Blog

Do No Harm: We’re All Poor

Kimmy

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You’ve met the sweet young mom standing on the corner with her child and given her a blessing bag. What do we do from there? Well, let’s back up even before you roll down your car window. Before we can even begin to work with those in poverty, we must understand a crucial truth.  We must spend some time looking inward. We are all created by a loving God but we are all poor and broken in some way. 

Yes, you read that right…. you are poor and broken. How’s that for a great way to start out the second part of the Do No Harm Series.   But it is true and sometimes, as we all know, the truth hurts. But I’ve also read that the truth can set us free… (John 8:32)

While their poverty is mostly visible for all the world to see, my poverty is usually hidden and disguised well (most of the time). Steve Fikert, the author of When Helping Hurts explains it through 4 broken Relationships that we each have. 

  1. We all have a broken relationship with God (thanks Adam & Eve).
  2. We all have a broken relationship with self.
  3. We all have a broken relationship with others. 
  4. We all have a broken relationship with creation.  

So where are you broken? Where are you poor? We can’t begin to help and serve and love others in a helpful and gospel centered way until we acknowledge our own poverty. 

Spend some time today seeking to acknowledge and understand your own poverty. 

If you have a broken relationship in one (or more of these areas), how can you seek to restore it today? 

If you missed the previous post on Being Prepared, take a minute to read it here!