Proud to be Here.

Read this article and discover some exciting new reasons to be a proud southerner (or like me, a proud transplant to the South).

How can we take advantage of these new opportunities?

http://www.gadling.com/2012/09/04/the-southern-road-traveling-through-the-new-industrial-america/

This is a Problem. Or is it?

What do you think? Read the following article for the Non-profit Quarterly. Contact us and let us know what you think at heather.hope4nwga@gmail.com.


A Job Not Done: Rural Areas Socked By Unproductive Congress

Understanding Poverty: For Educators

I just finished reading a book and must make a recommendation for anyone who is an educator! If you work with children living in poverty, this is a must read. Written by Ruby K. Payne, A Framework for Understanding Poverty delves into the hidden rules of the three economic classes and introduces the reader to some exciting strategies for overcoming the obstacles facing those in poverty.

If you are not an educator, or are simply excited about Payne's ideas, check out her website at AHA Process.

Justice to Charity

In Lawrence Mead's From Prophesy to Charity: How to Help the Poor, he argues that we must move on from Justice, and take a step towards Charity.

"The Good Samaritan rescues the man beaten by robbers not because his community expected this -indeed, it did not- but because of his personal compassion toward the victim."

Mead then goes on to apply this to today's society. He argues that, in order to be charitable, the poor need not have some kind of value applied to them by society.

"The poor need not have standing in their community. They need not be 'deserving.' Indeed, the Bible virtually defines them as the undeserving. We need not claim that they have been wronged [as Justice would seek to do]. We need not identify with them, claiming that they are citizens just like the more privileged. We need not deny obvious differences between the poor and nonpoor. Rather, in the sight of God everyone is unworthy, poor and nonpoor alike."

 When one takes this approach, it becomes impossible to ignore one glaring fact: we are all poor. If this is true, how might we then apply charity to our fellow impoverished brothers and sisters?

Thank You!

Many thanks to those who joined Hope at Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian Church this past Saturday for a training on Mercy & Justice in the church. We had a wonderful time! I was truly blessed by the discussions we had, and hope to continue this journey of learning and repentance with you! Living a life that truly shares itself with the poor is no easy task.

Justice & Mercy

He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

                                             Micah 6:8 (ESV) 


So which is more important... mercy or justice? 
If we don't wrestle with this question, we are kidding ourselves! 
Hope for Northwest Georgia will be leading a time of conversation and learning on this subject at Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian Church on August 4th. 
Interested in Hope leading a training at your church or ministry? Contact the Hope office.

Toxic Charity: A Good Read

I am currently reading Robert Luptin's Toxic Charity. A good read -yes. A MUST read, really.

If you are involved in charity on any level, whether giving a regular tithe to your church diaconal fund, volunteering at a local non-profit, or enjoying full time employment in a local ministry, there is something for you. Actually, there is something in this book which you urgently need to hear.

Instead of attempting to re-word Luptin's already masterfully written work, let me instead include a short paragraph from his chapter entitled "The Anatomy of Giving":

Mercy is also a portal through which we glimpse the heart of God.  The tug on our heartstrings draws us in. But soon we encounter brokenness so overwhelming that neither tender heart nor inventive problem solver feels up to the task. Our solutions fall short. Pathologies are too deep, pathologies too entrenched. And we descend into our own poverty, a poverty of spirit, a crisis of confidence in our own abilities to rescue. And, like the broken, we find ourselves calling out to God for answers. When our best efforts have failed us, we are left with nothing to cling to but frail faith. ...In a strange twist of divine irony, those who would extend mercy discover that they themselves are in need of mercy. Out of our own need, we are readied for service that is both humble and wise.

...And that is just one gem from page 42! Read this book. I promise it will be well worth your time. Luptin has taken the time (40+ years) to learn that not all charity is good charity. Some can be quite deadly to both giver and receiver. However, Luptin does not merely tell his readers to stay clear of charity; but he instead spurs them on to be excellent in acts of mercy and justice, in the Lord's name.

Read this book.