Empowerment is a Justice Issue

What does the Bible say about helping vulnerable families?

At Helping Children Worldwide, we talk a lot (A LOT) about empowerment.  Over the past 5 years at least, it has become a guiding principle - not just in what we do, but in how and why we do it the way that we do it.  For us, empowerment is about more than equipping families with resources or connecting them to services.  It's about restoring dignity.  It's about making space for families to rise on their own strength, not just survive on our support.  That's not just a nonprofit, development strategy - it actually comes straight form scripture.  

The Bible calls us as believers to care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:18, James 1:27).  But what we often miss is how God tells us we are to respond.  God didn't tell us to give His people handouts - He created systems that allowed people to retain dignity while they rebuilt their own lives.  For example, Old Testament gleaning laws found in Leviticus instructed landowners not to harvest everything, but to leave the edges of their fields so that the poor could come and gather food for themselves.  It's important to note that this wasn't just about meeting a need, but about creating space for people to participate in their own provision.  To be seen as capable, not helpless.

Jesus modeled this approach as well.  When He healed people, he often invited them to take part in the healing.  "Take up your mat and walk," he says in John 5:8.  Not because they had to earn a miracle, but because He saw them as people with agency, not just as problems to be solved.  That's true empowerment.

That's why empowerment matters.  If we're truly doing justice work, we have to go beyond relief and  enter into real relationship.  We must listen to the voices of families, communities and local leaders - and then walk alongside them, not in front of them.

A lot of efforts to help - especially in missions and development - end up creating or fostering dependency, even when that's not the intent.  But the gospel calls us to something much deeper more respectful.  Galatians 5:13 teaches us "through love serve one another."  That word - serve-  doesn't mean swoop in and solve everything.  It means engage in relationship that honors, walks with, and lifts up.

Let's be honest - empowerment is harder.  It takes more time.  It requires things we find uncomfortable - more listening (less talking), more humility, less spotlight on us and good work we're doing.  But it's also where real, lasting transformation is possible - where families aren't just helped, they're strengthened to the point that they don't need us anymore.  Where children thrive not because of what we've done, but because of what their families and communities are capable of doing with the right support.  

We love to parrot Kennedy's quote that "a rising tide lifts all boats"  (we even named our annual policy conference Rising Tides).  But we've learned that it's true.  When we work in ways that empower other, when we invest in capacity building that equips social workers, share best practices that protect children, seek ways to help churches to support families and systems that put dignity first - everybody rises.  That's justice work.  That's gospel work.  

When we say that we believe in empowerment, we don't just mean that it's effective (thought we know it is).  We mean it's right.  It's the way that we try to live out God's justice in the way that we serve, the way we partner, and the way we see those we seek to help.