Addressing the Needs of the Poor: A Church Mobilization Guidecomment (0)
April 19, 2012
By Martine Bates Sharp, Ed.D.
Mark Hazen. Bloomington, Ind.: CrossBooks, 2011. 130 pp. (Paperback)
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 46.2 million Americans living in poverty in 2011. That was up almost 4 million from the year before and the number continues to rise. Mark Hazen makes a strong case for the need for churches to help the poor, beginning with a series of verses that forms a clear biblical mandate.
“How is it, then,” asks the author, “that many churches and individual Christians are still not engaged in helping the needy?” Hazen gives at least a partial answer: because they do not know how. This book is a how-to guide for churches and individual Christians who desire to help the poor but have no idea where to start.
The heart of the book contains tables for the different classifications of people who are likely to need help — children, the elderly, families — the needs they are likely to have and a table of needs and suggestions for meeting those needs.
It is well-organized and engagingly written; an individual or group seeking to help those in need is likely to find this book helpful, either as motivation or as a manual.
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