True Charity
- Redemptive Charity Requires More of Us
- Food Aid Should Be Linked to a Willingness to Work
- A Review of In the Shadow of Plenty: Biblical Principles for Caring for the Poor by George Grant
- Collaboration Is Overrated: Why Charities Working Together Is Not the First Step
- What It Means to Flourish like a ‘Watered Garden’
- Lessons Learned in Affordable Childcare Ministry
- Measuring a Different Kind of ROI: How Philanthropists and Churches Can Spark True Transformation
- Does A Christian Worldview Boost Economic Outcomes?
- Why Voluntary Charity Is Not Optional: A Reflection on Rights and Duties
- How to Do Redemptive Welfare Reform
Journey Church: a Congregation and Community Transformed
Pastor John “Chip” Boyd recalls that prior to 2011, Journey Church’s ministry focus was almost 100% internal. With a small church of only 130 members, they did not expect to change their predominantly poor urban neighborhood in Joplin, Missouri. When a devastating tornado ripped through their town in 2011, they were jolted to consider how they could help their neighbors. This question was amplified by a Wisconsin-based missions company that used Journey as a platform for a short-term mission trip to assist with tornado rehabilitation.
Neighbor Connect: Meeting the Needs Next Door
Kyle is a young man who has been mowing the yard for Mary over the past two summers. Mary is in her sixties, suffers from depression and anxiety, and is on disability. Kyle and Mary were introduced through Neighbor Connect, a program of Watered Gardens Ministries that cares for the local community by connecting one neighbor’s need to another neighbor’s skill. By databasing and categorizing the services volunteers can offer, Neighbor Connect took Kyle’s willingness to volunteer mowing services and paired it with Mary’s lawn care needs.