The Power of "WITH"

Some of you might be wondering about the strange title. It was the name of a conference that I went to at the end of February. The Christian Reformed Church and many of it's member organizations sponsored this conference to promote working "WITH" the community you are in. What exactly does this mean? Most people especially churches and other civic organizations still look at the poor as "them" and the well off as "us". This view promotes the idea that we have to help the poor and we know exactly how we are going to do it. By having this attitude not only do we do a disservice to those we are trying to help as it promotes both the attitude of dependency and a sense of entitlement. It does nothing to solve the core reasons behind the poverty. The Power of "WITH" promotes going out into the community and learning each others skills and gifts. We walk amongst those we are "helping" and become their friends and true neighbors. This empowers all of us to become better people and to make the changes needed to improve our own lot in life. I personally see this as a way to reduce poverty by showing the skills we all have to go out and make jobs as well as fill existing jobs that are already in place. By working with our neighbors we focus on finding the natural leaders in the community and work with them to make the changes they feel are needed to make life better. This not only works on an individual level, but organizational as well. My previous blogs touch on this part so I will not go into too much detail. I am opening the blog up to the public. All I ask is that if you make a comment please try to think of ways to implement this process not only in your own community but in others as well.

Thank You,
Ted