We spent the morning with Steve Corbett of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College on the top of Lookout Mountain, Georgia. It was a great meeting. Steve walked us through the basics of community building. His experience is largely international, but his work at the Center applies to foreign and domestic situations. We discussed different models of poverty--different ways in which it saps the strength of individuals and communities.
"What causes poverty?" Steve asked us at the beginning. Our answer to that question will shape our response to poverty. Is it a matter of [poor] personal choices or is there a systemic component? Some of each? How we tackle the issue determines what we will do to ameliorate it. Our discussion ranged into theological waters as we discussed Christian responses to poverty. We all want to help, our Christian hearts desire to relieve suffering, but can we actually do more harm than good when we reach out to help?
Steve emphasized (repeatedly) that the way we offer help is just as important as the help that we offer. Through the way we offer assistance, we can isolate and devalue those who seek to lift up. We must take care with our process as well as our product.
Overall, a very informative session. Steve offers an online development class, which I'd love to take. The next time it's offered I'll be in licensing school, so I may have to catch a later course.
In the afternoon, we visited with Bethlehem Center, in downtown Chattanooga. We met with the Director, Lurone Jenkins, who shared his experience in this vibrant United Methodist community center. They run after school academic programs, athletic programs and leadership training for young people in the adjacent public housing. They also partner with churches to develop their own programs to lift up at-risk youth and show them the love of Christ. The work they're doing seems to be faithful and effective.
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