Anne Brown reveals the invisible causes of poverty: ideas. Examples from Guatemala, Zimbabwe, and India show the transformational effects that biblical ideas can have on impoverished communities—and the tragic consequences of destructive ideas.

Anne Brown is Regional Manager of Global Engagement at Food for the Hungry. If you enjoyed this episode, listen to Anne share the benefits of having personal relationships with the poor.

Also mentioned in this episode! Audio from Summit 2010: The Truth about Poverty is now online. Check out the workshops below.

The Truth about Child Sponsorship with Jewel Anita Hendrix
The Truth about Physical Poverty with Victor Cortez
The Truth about the Human Soul with Paul Wilson
The Truth about Serving with Steve Corbett
The Truth about Prayer with Darryl Delhousaye
International Staff Panel with FH field staff

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World AIDS Day is December 1, 2009. In this interview, Carolyn Wetzel shares the story of 36 African women who turned away from prostitution when they were shown a way out.

Carolyn Wetzel is Health Programs Coordinator for Food for the Hungry. She lives in Washington, D.C.

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Change for Life is a new way to bring hope to those suffering from the AIDS crisis, one of the most severe health problems the world has ever faced.

When you get involved with Change for Life, Food for the Hungry will provide your church, Sunday School class, workplace or other group with small containers to collect spare coins for six weeks. As the containers fill up, the accumulation of pocket change will fund programs like the one Carolyn discussed on today’s episode. Get started here.

HIV/AIDS is not only a subject of global concern–it’s an issue embodied by real people every day. In this interview, Kim Buttonow tells the story of a teenager named Claire and the courageous woman who saved her life.

Kim Buttonow is HIV/AIDS Programs Coordinator for Food for the Hungry. Based in Washington, D.C., Kim has worked with Food for the Hungry in countries around the world since 2001.

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Change for Life is a new way to bring hope to those suffering from the AIDS crisis, one of the most severe health problems the world has ever faced.

When you get involved with Change for Life, Food for the Hungry will provide your church, Sunday School class, workplace or other group with small containers to collect spare coins for six weeks. As the containers fill up, the accumulation of pocket change will fund the programs that Kim discussed on today’s episode. Get started here.

In this third foundational episode, we look at the roots of poverty. If we provide food, health, and education to people living in poverty, will we solve the problem? Or does poverty run deeper?

Key thoughts:

1. Our understanding of how life works must be defined by God. (Romans 12:2)
2. When we don’t listen to what God says about how life works, poverty happens somewhere. (Matthew 12:33-35)
3. Our quality of life is based on the behaviors of ourselves and those around us, and those behaviors are ultimately rooted in beliefs and values.
4. We must address the root causes of poverty—beliefs and values—in order to make lasting change.
5. Before pointing fingers, American Christians should examine our own alignment to biblical values.

Mentioned in this episode:

• unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
• Take our Facebook quiz
• Order a copy of the Poverty Unlocked 4-week curriculum

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Carolyn Wetzel shares a tool called the Care Group Model, which mobilizes community members in developing communities to share health information with one another. It’s a low-cost, highly effective, far-reaching way to save children’s lives. Carolyn also discusses the biblical truths communicated by the innate structure of care groups.

Watch a PowerPoint presentation describing care groups.

Carolyn Wetzel is Health and Nutrition Programs Coordinator at Food for the Hungry.

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This is the second part of an interview with Tom Davis, Director of Health Programs, on Barrier Analysis.

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In this interview with Tom Davis, we learn why homes are more important than hospitals in health care. Tom discusses Barrier Analysis as a tool for helping people make healthy choices that can save their lives.

Tom Davis is Director of Health Programs at Food for the Hungry.

Learn more about Barrier Analysis.

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The poor are image-bearers of God, but well-meaning Christians sometimes send a different message.

Scripture tells us that God made all people, rich and poor (Prov. 22:2). We also know from Scripture that all people were created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26, 27). More than a nice idea, this truth should impact our interactions with the poor. By virtue of being image-bearers of God, the poor are:

innately valuable
creative
relational
capable of loving
capable of responsibility for themselves
charged with dominion

Christians are responsible for communicating these truths to the poor. This episode explores how we do—and don’t—fulfill this responsibility.

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Worldview is the key for solving poverty. What is worldview? Take an online course from Disciple Nations Alliance. In this episode we talk about Gnosticism and Animism,  HIV/AIDS, the American myth of being happy, and symptoms of poverty vs. causes of poverty.

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