Myers, Walking With the Poor

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Bryant L. Myers, Walking With the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development. Orbis Books, 1999.

Referenced in: Theological and Sociological Foundations of Social Ministry

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

Myers is Vice-President of International Program Strategy with World Vision International and Professor of International Development at the Fuller Theological Seminary School of Intercultural Studies. As such he brings great credibility to the subject of working with the poor. This is an academically weighty, balanced, and comprehensive book on the theology and practice of working with the poor. Many church leaders will not want or need the level of scholarship it provides. But for those who out of frustration with inadequate planning or less than transformative results in their efforts want an all-inclusive look at what it takes to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of the poor, this book has encyclopedic value. It covers virtually every angle of the theology, spirituality, sociology (e.g. economic systems, what causes poverty), and psychology of poverty. From there, it surveys and evaluates the various philosophies of how to transform the persons and contexts of poverty, and offers reasonable suggestions on how to craft the most effective and sustainable strategies for transformative development. Anyone who works consistently with the poor should wade through the contents of this book, and afterward will wonder why they did not do so sooner. A simpler version of much of the same material that draws heavily on Myers is Corbett and Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself.

Publisher’s Product Description

How do Christian practitioners express authentically holistic transformational development?

This is the challenge to World Vision development practitioners and to all nongovernment organizations concerned about community development that addresses the whole person and the entire community.

This dilemma is rooted in the western assumption that the physical and spiritual realms are separate and distinct from one another. Such a dichotomy leads to a belief among practitioners that restoring people’s relationship with God has nothing to do with restoring just political, social and economic relationships among people. Even Christians often believe God’s redemptive work takes place in the spiritual realm, while the world is seemingly left to the devil.

But the Bible never separates the physical from the spiritual – the rule of God permeates both. In this volume, development practitioners struggle to overcome the problem of dualism and find a way toward a more genuinely holistic approach to helping the poor. Experienced development practitioners reflect on:

Understanding poverty
Participatory learning and action
Appreciative inquiry
The Bible and transformational development
Sustainable economic development
Community transformation in the urban context
Community development and peacebuilding

Everyone wanting to engage in transformational development will find new insights and essential learnings from these hands-on practitioners.

About the Author

Dr. Bryant L Myers is vice president for International Program Strategy at World Vision International. He is author of The Changing Shape of World Mission, The New Context of World Mission, and co-editor of MARC’s cases in holistic ministry series that includes Working with the Poor in Africa. He is married to Lisa Anne and they have two children. The Myers reside in southern California.

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