You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
The same basic principle applies to missions work. Too many churches and other missions organizations over-emphasize Relief Aid―no-strings-attached, handouts of vital supplies given in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. While necessary and lifesaving, Relief Aid is only a temporary fix. Once the funds dry up and the ground team leaves, the impoverished community is often no better off than they were before.
In Teach a Man to Fish, the authors illustrate the benefits of “wholistic transformational development,” where―through engagement with the local church― the community is empowered to identify and carry out long-term sustainable solutions to meet its own needs.
Florence Muindi, MD, MPH, is the founder and president of Life in Abundance International, a faith-based nonprofit headquartered in Nairobi Kenya, that serves the poor and the vulnerable through partnerships with local indigenous churches.
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