Giving Wisely?: Killing with Kindness or Empowering Lasting Transformation?

What happens when we give with our hearts, but not with our minds? Martin beautifully and provocatively encourages Christians to closely examine our compassionate endeavors. Are we "killing with kindness" or "empowering lasting transformation"? I wish everyone could read the first chapter of this book...as the stories he shares are an incredibly powerful and compelling encouragement. Would we ever have the courage to tell our church or local ministry that sending clothing to an orphanage might not be the best way to help? How could someone have the audacity to challenge the good intentions and generous hearts of God's people? In the first chapter, Martin shares a heart-wrenching story of misguided compassion. In 2007, an American Christian church sent truckloads of nice clothing to a Mexican orphanage. The older teen orphan boys accepted the clothing with smiles on their faces. After the church left, the boys sold the clothing in the local market. What did they do with the money? "The boys were able to purchase prostitutes thanks to the generosity of the American churches." While perhaps an extreme example, it sets the stage beautifully for this book. A convicting and timely book!

This book gives a great insight into how our mission dollars impact third world countries and how to best give your resources. How much of your money actually gets to the project? As good stewarts we need to know this information and so much more.

Jonathan Martin, through multiple examples and stories, walks us through the maze of giving money overseas. We are to be generous but also wise in our giving. It's easy enough to write a check but what if we understood that doing so could bring ruin to the life of the recipient rather than anticipated fruitfulness. Jonathan outlines four financial principles for generous and wise giving: 1. Relationship first--never lead with money 2. Accountability--never give to an individual pastor or indigenous missionary. Give to organizations that provide oversight and accountability. Good people are ruined by easy access to money, no matter how good intentioned they are. 3. Indigenous Sustainability: "Ask yourself: Will the project I give to require ongoing and continual foreign funds to keep it alive, or are these funds seeding a plant that can be eventually watered and grown by locals?" 4. Equity--"The financial gift should not create economic inequities in the place it is given." We may think, "This pastor shouldn't have to live in this shack...let's build him a house." That may be the right thing but know this, his congregation will never learn to financially support that pastor. Why should they? In this new era of missions we need to re-think finances. This book is a great help in navigating the journey.

I serve on the Missions & Policy Committee of our Church, where we allocate approximately 1/2 million dollars yearly to Missionaries and Related Missions organizations. I am in my 8th decade and am also a retired Missionary. Jonathon's book has PRACTICAL & BIBLICAL advice that will serve any & every Church that struggles with the every day difficulties faced with limited dollars and un-ending requests for funds. My advice is to purchase one for every person responsible for dealing with the Misisons outreach (local and foreign) from your Church, then gather together prayerfully and reconsider your fund allocations and their effectiveness on site. Prepare to make adjustments for better results!!

I read this book when it was in draft form. I said to myself, "This is a very valuable idea for teaching Biblical generousity." Now, here it is published and it is even better. A worthwhile read, and a better exhortation to genuine Christian giving. I pray that it will have a wide audiance and impact giving worldwide.