Welfare: a brief history

At the Hope offices this morning, the topic of Welfare came up in conversation. I found myself wanting to know more about it, and other types of government aid. What kinds of aid are out there? Who gets what, and what are the limits? If one of our participants gets employment, is this going to be more helpful or harmful in the long run?

I never thought that I might say that work might be bad. -not that I am saying this still- However, it is not as clean cut a thing as to be able to say work=better. Unfortunately, society and those structures in which we all live do not support such statements. I do believe, as a Christian, that work is good. In doing work, we are imitating our maker. We are creating, making new, pressing on, to bring him glory through the work of our hands and minds. The Bible tells us in Genesis 2:15, God "took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." And in Genesis 3:23, after the fall, God still says that man will work. I could, of course, go on and on, because the Bible is full of passages on work. In Proverbs, again and again, we see that man should work for his food, labor with his hands- and that idleness is not to be rewarded. For the sake of brevity, I'll just say this: Work is good!

But what happens in a world that does not run in accordance with the Scriptures? What happens when the rulers and powers that be do not see the poor as image bearers? Even if their intentions are good, it is possible to do harm -great harm- by attempting to "fix" by the standards of the world.

Take a moment to read through the following link on the history of welfare. As you read, think about what God has to say about work and about poverty.

Who is responsible for the poor?

When is it good/bad for a man to work?

Why do we work?

How can the church act on behalf of the poor?

http://www.welfareinfo.org/history/

Please feel free to email us here at the Hope office with any comments or questions on this particular issue, or anything else that comes to mind.

Skill

It has come to my attention that my "skill level" is not as impressive as I once thought. A friend of mine was recently seeking to employ someone as his administrative assistant. He casually asked if I might be interested in the job, and then went on to list the various skill sets he was requiring in order to hire- all of which he assumed I must surely possess, having worked in such an office setting for quite some time. I don't. I can get by on the bare necessities, and if I really need to, I can [eventually] figure it out. A little doggy-paddling here and there, and I can hand you a nice piece of work. I type a very average 50 words per minute on my 9-inch notebook. But here is the thing: if I lost my job, which -let's face it- is a definite possibility in today's time of financial unknowns, could I find and keep another? What kinds of competition am I up against?

I've posted a few office-friendly training courses. They are all free, and all worth your time. Just click on the links to the right under Develop. I found the Word courses very helpful, since you can sort through what you already know and not waste a bunch of time finding out how to cut and paste, etc. Even if you are feeling safe and secure in your present employment, it can never hurt to give your employer even more from your time under their employment!

Read This

Sometimes helping the poor can be painful. You might find yourself sacrificing time, money, or other resources. It can be a draining experience or one that does not turn out quite how you might have expected. ...But did you ever wonder just what this help has done for those on the receiving end of all your efforts? What if what you have been working so hard at has actually done more harm than good? A frightening thought.

Steve Corbett and Dr. Brian Fikkert have written a book that attempts to enlighten the reader (and church, group, or organization) on this very subject. For more information, go to the Chalmers center website. The book is also available at Amazon.com.

Jobs & Debt

Here at Hope, we have been working on a Financial Literacy Course based on the work of Larry Burkett as well as Jerrold Mundis' How to Get out of Debt, Stay out of Debt, and Live Prosperously. In this time of recession where so many are short on cash and out of work, credit checks could create an even graver situation for the unemployed individual experiencing financial crisis.
To find out more, check out this article in today's New York Times.

Jobs for Life at Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian

Several months ago, I made mention of Jobs for Life being held at Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian Church in Fall 2009. That class has now been moved to begin January 201o. Hope is very excited about their partnership with this church in Flintstone, Georgia, and looks forward to this winter start date.

Karen and Gerald Collins will be Site leaders for the 16 week course. If you are interested in participating as a student or volunteer, please contact the hope office at 706.820.2833 or email heather at h.prettyman@gmail.com.

To learn more about Jobs for Life, check out their website!

Hope Intern Blogs through Summer 2009

If you would like to hear more from Renee Barnett, one of our Hope Community Development interns, check out her blog at http://rjbarnett.blogspot.com/.

Observations by a Hope Intern

The following is a journal entry of observations by Hope Intern Christina Canche.

"This week I saw community development principles of ownership come out in the way the church members acted with community members. There is an apartment complex for disabled people a little ways away from one of the churches with which I am working this summer. The church is really interested in building relationships with community members of the area, and one way they are seeking to do this is through getting to know the people who live in these apartments as friends and actual people, and not as service projects. They have worked at the apartments in the past with things such as community suppers, ice cream socials and having the youth bring over groceries to the residents of the apartments, but they want to do more, and do it in ways that make the residents feel empowered. I got to sit in on a meeting about planning for another event: dinner and a movie on the lawn. This event that is getting planned for later this summer got me excited about the ways the church is interacting with the members of this community.
For one, when we showed up at the office, a woman with a disability greeted us at the desk. I was told she ran the office but also was a resident there. Seeing her handwriting, the way she formulated sentences and a few other things, I saw that although she had an impairment of sorts that perhaps slowed her down a bit, she was still really running the show, and doing a great job of it. The cool thing I noticed was that the church members didn’t come in with an attitude of “we are here to do this wonderful thing for you,” but rather they asked her to make the final decisions on things. Her ideas were actually listened to and respected, not just listened to for politeness’ sake.
In addition to this, when we went outside for her to show us where the best place for tables was, the church members continued to show respect to other residents by shaking hands and carrying on conversations with those who came to say hi. They also asked their opinion about how many tables would be needed, the kinds of tables and number of chairs. The number of chairs was reduced when some of the residents said they had chairs they would be willing to lend for the night. When one man heard we were making a meal, he said he’d like to help out by making turkey and stuffing. One of the church women said, “Wonderful! We’d never say no to food!” I think further plans were made after that for him to make the turkey. I think that if the attitude of letting the community take ownership of the project continues, the potential for good community development to take place exists in this apartment complex."