Attacking Poverty in the Developing World

Book excerpt: The needs of the poor in developing countries for more productive and satisfying ways to earn their living, and for better nutrition, education and health care are tremendous. God in his grace moves his people to contribute money, skills and other resources to meet these needs, often through the work of Christian development organizations. But the resources forthcoming from a fallen world are limited, and the call to exercise good stewardship over them is pressing. This book equips Christians for "thoughtful stewardship": the application of God-given analytical abilities in making the most of the limited resources available. In particular, it calls Christian development professionals to collaborate in thinking flexibly about the range of programs and policies that might be used to help the poor, and in gathering the evidence required for making wise program and policy design choices. For those in all stages of relief and development efforts, this book provides an expert and accessible introduction to the choices and challenges that development organizations face today, it challenges received wisdom and pushes readers to consider ways of improving the status quo, and highlights areas in which research and participation might be especially useful to Christian development efforts.