{"id":2170,"date":"2012-01-30T10:32:57","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T15:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/?p=2170"},"modified":"2012-01-30T07:58:12","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T12:58:12","slug":"apologies-equations-and-the-end-of-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2012\/01\/apologies-equations-and-the-end-of-poverty.html","title":{"rendered":"Apologies, equations, and the end of poverty…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Apologies are never easy because they unmask our failings. I am not above recognizing my mistakes–and my organization’s mistakes–while trying to help lift people out of poverty.<\/p>\n

Sometimes our “help” has turned into hurt. Unintentional, perhaps prideful, mistakes have been made. And for those mistakes, I apologize.<\/p>\n

I think it is important to approach new solutions with the humility that comes from failure–from the recognition that our unintended consequences have hurt those we’ve tried to help. We’re not just picking new strategies, we’re embracing new philosophies as well. Philosophies that put the role of local community leadership at the center, with us Westerners invited in as partners–not anti-poverty colonizers.<\/p>\n

Because of our relative wealth, strength, and competency, it is dreadfully tempting to think we’ve got it all figured out and if developing nations would just listen better, or “get it,” we could really do some good.<\/p>\n

Wrong, wrong, wrong.<\/p>\n

How can we say, “We know what is best,” when all we have done is take a few trips or read a few books or heard a sermon or went to a conference?<\/p>\n

Right now there is a convergence of ideas that I think are forming a simple equation:<\/p>\n

+ Community-to-Community Partnerships
\n+ Local Leadership Leading First
\n+ Compassionate Short-Term Intervention
\n+ Economic Development Activity<\/span>
\n= End of Poverty<\/strong><\/p>\n

While many have pursued pieces or parts of this equation, I am seeing a great convergence of thinkers, practitioners, ministries, NGOs, and governments espousing this basic framework.<\/p>\n

We’ll keep unpacking the specifics of this through this series of articles. Your feedback is welcome always.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apologies are never easy because they unmask our failings. I am not above recognizing my mistakes–and my organization’s mistakes–while trying to help lift people out of poverty. Sometimes our “help” has turned into hurt. Unintentional, perhaps prideful, mistakes have been made. And for those mistakes, I apologize. I think it is important to approach new…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nApologies, equations, and the end of poverty... - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2012\/01\/apologies-equations-and-the-end-of-poverty.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apologies, equations, and the end of poverty... - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Apologies are never easy because they unmask our failings. I am not above recognizing my mistakes–and my organization’s mistakes–while trying to help lift people out of poverty. Sometimes our “help” has turned into hurt. Unintentional, perhaps prideful, mistakes have been made. And for those mistakes, I apologize. I think it is important to approach new…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2012\/01\/apologies-equations-and-the-end-of-poverty.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-30T15:32:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-30T12:58:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/files\/2012\/01\/2012-01-30_07-52-29_378-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Apologies, equations, and the end of poverty... - Red Letters","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2012\/01\/apologies-equations-and-the-end-of-poverty.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Apologies, equations, and the end of poverty... - Red Letters","og_description":"Apologies are never easy because they unmask our failings. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2170"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2175,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170\/revisions\/2175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}