Chronic or Crisis?

April 2012

By Bob Lupton

A crisis requires emergency intervention;

A chronic problem requires development.

Address a crisis need with a crisis intervention,

And lives are saved.

Address a chronic need with a crisis intervention,

And people are harmed.

Have you noticed that many of the same people return week after week for free food from our food pantries?  Ever wondered whether our handouts were really helping or merely perpetuating a dependent lifestyle?  Admitting and verbalizing these observations, at the risk of appearing heartless, is the essential first step toward truly effective service.

The key to effective service is accurately matching the need with the appropriate intervention.

The universal need for food is a good place to begin.  Starvation is a crisis issue; hunger is a chronic issue.  When famine sweeps a land, or a tsunami devastates coastal cities, starvation becomes an urgent, life-and-death situation.  Emergency food supplies must be rushed in without delay.  But in a stable nation with abundant supplies of food and adequate government food subsidies, occasional hunger – not starvation – is the reality that faces the less advantaged.  Food insecurity is a chronic, not crisis, poverty issue.

Food security is what free-food advocates talk about these days.  That means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.  The poor in our country, roughly 15% of our population, are food-insecure at least some time during the year.  Even though four out of five of these households receive food from the government, there are times when their cupboards are bare.

But food-insecurity is not a crisis issue. It is a function of chronic poverty.  Unlike during the great depression of the 1930’s when one in four of our workers stood in bread lines with no government safety net to rescue them, today more than 90% of our workforce is employed and our public subsidies are ample.  Hunger is not our problem.  Poor nutrition perhaps but not hunger.  Food insecurity is a chronic poverty issue and chronic problems require altogether different strategies from crisis problems.

Starvation is a crisis need;

Hunger is a chronic issue.

Address hunger (chronic) with a free feeding program (crisis)

And unhealthy dependency occurs.

As our hearts constrain us to intervene on behalf of our needy neighbors, we certainly want our responses to be effective.  And to be truly effective we must match the need with the appropriate response.  Distributing free food (an emergency response) is seldom an appropriate response to those facing chronic food-insecurity.  It may seem compassionate at the moment but in all likelihood it will prove to be more hurtful than helpful.

But isn’t it a crisis when a family does not know where their next meal is coming from?    Admittedly, this is a crisis of a sort, the type of crisis that spurs one to action.  Hunger is a powerful motivator.  It stretches budgets.  It drives creativity.  It forces choices.  It accepts peanut butter sandwiches over McDonald’s big-meals, cool-aide over coke, beans and rice over potato chips and dip.  Food insecurity may not be all bad.

Lest we become hard-hearted and err on the judgmental side, however, let’s proactively pursue some helpful responses to chronic hunger.  Of course, one of the best antidotes to food insecurity is decent employment.  Adequate income provides adequate food.  And, as ancient Talmudic wisdom contends, the highest form of charity is to provide a man a job.  Employment training and job creation is obviously a major shift from the food pantry paradigm but it is certainly one that should be considered.  Another alternative more directly related to food is the food cooperative – a “buying club” model that gives members legitimate access to surplus food through non-profit or church structures.  Another is a bartering system that exchanges food (and other commodities) for work performed in the community.  Rather than dependency-fostering emergency responses, these and other development strategies strengthen the capacity of people in need to assume greater measure of control and self-sufficiency over their own lives.

Compassion is essential but not sufficient – the mind as well as the heart must be engaged.

The Golden Rule of empowering service:

Never do for others what they have the capacity to do for themselves.

What do you think?  Any thoughts on how we (SOS) can grow in this area?  We would love your feedback!

SOS Spring Clean and Binghampton Bayou Bash are NEXT SATURDAY, APRIL 28.

SOS Spring Clean

The SOS Spring Clean is from 8:30 am to noon at the SOS building (2505 Poplar Ave.).  We need all the help we can get preparing our building for the 1,500 volunteers that will be housed there this summer as they serve economically disadvantaged homeowners in Binghampton.  If you plan on attending, please email Drew by Tuesday, April 24 (drew@sosmemphis.org).  

• A system of two way exchange for our homeowners – how can they contribute towards the work being done on their home in a way that affirms their dignity?
• A better follow-up system – how can we stay in touch with our homeowners to encourage them and keep them connected to the SOS community?
• A plan for targeting specific areas of our neighborhoods – how can we make be more strategic in home selection, etc.?

This internship will be a part of the SOS Academy – our one-year internship for 19-26 year olds.  So, in addition to working full time at SOS, this intern will

• Build community doing life with the other SOS Academy interns
• Live incarnationally in Binghampton, an urban poor neighborhood in Memphis, TN
• Grow spiritually as they are discipled and trained by SOS staff and community leaders
• Participate in an overseas mission trip
• Gain practical, real life experience working among the urban poor with a successful non-profit

This is a support raising position.  However, SOS will provide housing.  Position begins September 4, 2012 and ends August 6, 2013.  Applications are due by June 15, 2012.

For more information about this internship, contact Philip Walkley – philip@sosmemphis.org.  Or you can visit our Academy page to find out more information about the program.

Here is Marlon “Big Dog” Brown discussing one of the ways you can get involved in the change that is happening in Memphis.  The SOS Academy is a one-year urban internship.  If you’re nearing college graduation, consider spending a year learning growing, and working in a low-income neighborhood in Memphis.  If that’s not you, please pray for the SOS Academy.  It is one of the most important elements of change in the city of Memphis.  If you don’t believe me, look at these stats:

Since launching in 2005, the SOS Academy has hosted 41 Interns.  Of those 41 Interns, 60% still live in Memphis, and 100% of those that live in Memphis live or work in a low-income neighborhood.

These numbers don’t even include all of the former SOS Academy Interns serving in other cities in the U.S. and around the world.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Matthew 23:23-28

When Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, he challenges them on the fact that they are quick to give, but they neglect the hard and dirty part of involving their lives in “weightier matters”:  ”justice and mercy and faithfulness.”  He describes the problem, and he’s quick to get to the “heart” of the issue.  In verses 25-28, he examines the heart of the Pharisees.  He tells them that they look good on the outside, but all of their good and moral actions come from a hypocritical and selfish heart.

Here are two practical suggestions that I’ve been thinking about regarding this passage:

• Think about ways that you’re involved in the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
• What is the heart behind your involvement in those things?

As you consider those two things, read what happens next: right after Jesus speaks these challenging words to the Pharisees, he laments over the city of Jerusalem:

Over a month ago, The Academy interns and Philip went to India for 11 days. One of our interns, Breezy Torres, is a photographer and helped document the trip.

As a way of supporting the ministries they worked with there, Breezy has decided to give to those ministries half of the profits from selling prints of some of her favorite photographs, check them out! Through buying some prints, be a part of the work that is happening in India. Click here to read Breezy’s blog about her doing this.

To view the rest of the images Breezy took, go to the Facebook album.

Here is an excerpt of an email from a former SOS summer staffer who intentionally lives in Binghampton with his wife.  This story shows that relationships aren’t easy.  They’re messy. But often we find that when we build a relationship with a person for the sake of helping them, we’re often the ones who are affected most.  It’s a humble reminder that God puts others in our path not simply for the sake of serving others, but to teach and change us as well.  The command to love your neighbor isn’t solely for the benefit of your neighbor.  It’s also for your benefit.

We spent the day with Shana* yesterday, she came to church and lunch with us, and then we got her moved into her new duplex.  It is very much in Orange Mound, but on the inside it’s decently nice and it’s what she can afford right now. We’re nervous for her safety and the fact that she doesn’t know anyone over there, but she’s a lot more accustomed to the hood than we are.  She still doesn’t have any water or electricity, but I’m hoping that we can raise some money for her to get them on today or tomorrow.

Yesterday was a good day, but last night my wife and I both were pretty broken.  Really getting to know Shana, you find out that she’s just a normal person.  She’s easy to talk to and (for the most part) fun to be around, and it’s not fair that we don’t have to worry about anything while she’s scraping by in a duplex with no water in Orange Mound.  And beyond that, she shows such incredible grace to us who have been in her life.  I for one ignored her for almost a year, pretending she didn’t exist so that I wouldn’t have to get involved, and still ignore her some days, but she never brings it up.

One thing for sure is that God is revealing things in me that I’ve never had to deal with before.  I’ve seen in myself that I truly can’t do enough to earn God’s favor because I won’t do enough.  So many times I know the good I should do, and refuse to do it.  God’s grace is sufficient.

*Names have been changed.

1. Glorify God.  At SOS, you’ll have the opportunity to impact hundreds of lives, including teenagers from all of the country, economically disadvantaged homeowners, and the other staff you’re working with.
2. Build community.  It’s hard to believe, but after spending 10 weeks working alongside like-minded men and women, you leave with some life-long friends.
3. Grow spiritually.  SOS has lots of different things in place to make sure that you grow.  You’ll participate in Bible studies, learn from Memphis leaders, interact with Christians who are serving around the world, and do it all in close community.  It’ll absolutely change your life.
4. Learn construction.  It sounds strange, but one day you’ll be glad you know how to replace a piece of drywall or stop a leaky faucet.
5. You’ll have a BLAST!  Working at SOS won’t be the easiest summer of your life.  But it really might be the best.

If you’re interested, go ahead and apply.  You can do that online here.  The application deadline is February 15. Questions?  Email drew@sosmemphis.org.

Watch this video to see what a day in the life of a summer staffer is like.

SOS exists to glorify God by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed through urban home repair camps.

This summer, close to 1,600 junior and senior high students from all over the country will come to Memphis, TN, to partner with economically disadvantaged homeowners to make necessary home repairs on their homes.  Do you want to spend your summer:

• …making a difference in the lives of hundreds?
• …developing your construction and leadership skills?
• …learning and growing like never before?

Most importantly, you can spend your summer bringing much honor and glory to God.

Here’s how it works:

SOS hires 45 summer staff each year.  24 of these positions are filled by Team Leaders.  Each Team Leader spends his or her summer at a home making home repairs with campers and homeowners.  Each TL has a construction manager that leads and oversees his or her work.  SOS hires 8 Construction Managers, so each CM manages and oversees three TLs.

SOS is looking for 8 qualified candidates to fill these positions.  

We’re looking for spiritually mature people who are leaders and learn quickly.  Construction experience is helpful. Most important, we’re looking for people who love to serve, work hard, lead well, and figure things out quickly.

If you’re interested at all or have any questions, contact Drew Haltom at drew@sosmemphis.org or (901) 681-9044.

Apply online today!  Application deadline is February 15, so don’t wait.

India!

We met up with a group from Billings, Montana and joined an NGO to share the truths of Christ with people living in some of the villages north of Mussoorie. It was a challenging, fun and awesome trip!
After travelling by plane, train, and windy mountain roads we ended up at our campsite. Both days we split into two teams to hike to villages nearby and share.

One team hiked while stopping to ask if we could talk about Jesus in the villages. We had the joy of sharing stories from the Bible, our own testimonies, or specific Scripture while sitting in people’s homes with them, often drinking chai, and later playing with their kids. It was beautiful the way people welcomed us in, served us, and allowed us to share with them!

The second team held a medical camp in a village for the day. Individuals and families came to see the doctors and were told of Jesus as being the One True Physician. The non-medical ones of us got to help with bringing people in to the doctor, play with the beautiful children, and take a whole lot of pictures (the kids LOVE the camera!). At one of these villages we worked in a Christian school and met an Indian man living there and running the school with hopes of spreading the Gospel. It was so encouraging to sit, talk, pray and hear his passion for the Lord!

During the end of our trip we travelled to one of the holy cities (Rishikesh), saw the Ganges River, and visited a couple of Hindu temples. Going to these places allowed us to see more of the Hindu religion and the way many people in India are caught in false worship.

We were all deeply encouraged by the Believers we met in India, their desire for the Gospel to be known throughout their country and the ways they welcomed us into their lives. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement with this trip and our year in Memphis! Please continue to join us in praying for India and the seeds being planted in these villages.