Teach a Man to Fish: Engaging the Local Church to Create Sustainable, Transformational Missions

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The same basic principle applies to missions work. Too many churches and other missions organizations over-emphasize Relief Aid—no-strings-attached, handouts of vital supplies given in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. While necessary and lifesaving, Relief Aid is only a temporary fix. Once the funds dry up and the ground team leaves, the impoverished community is often no better off than they were before.

In Teach a Man to Fish, the authors illustrate the benefits of “wholistic transformational development,” where—through engagement with the local church— the community is empowered to identify and carry out long-term sustainable solutions to meet its own needs. A few of the steps that “wholistic transformational development” includes are:Give dignity to “the least of these”Address the root causes of poverty to provide solutions for the affectedHelp the vulnerable to become empowered in their own communitiesFilled with real-life stories from the authors’ own experiences, Teach a Man to Fish provides churches and missions organizations with a blueprint for helping people help themselves in order to create lasting change and long-term sustainability and independence.