Interested in Helping without Hurting in Africa?

 The purpose of this post is to help us determine what type of interest there might be in a Helping Without Hurting in Africa training or learning event in the United States some time in 2026. Please read, share and comment with your ideas on our Form. We appreciate your feedback!

For the past couple years, my colleague Jonny Kabiswa and I have been facilitating our training curriculum called Helping Without Hurting in Africa in various countries throughout the continent, both to groups of church leaders, missionaries, local and international humanitarian and development  workers. This training, based on the principles in the book When Helping Hurts, was designed to equip African leaders, pastors, missionaries, development workers, NGOs, government institutions, and financial partners with a biblical framework for poverty alleviation. The goal is mindset change so that we can help materially poor people in an effective and compassionate way without causing unintentional harm.

Most of our trainings have had a good mix of African leaders and foreign missionaries and development workers from outside Africa. This created opportunities and space for deep conversations, mutual learning and understanding on both sides which is very crucial for holistic development.  Through these training sessions, there has been a call to share widely about this training beyond Africa and as such, we have started exploring ideas concerning how to offer this training or relevant topics to interested parties in Canada, the US and beyond. We are currently trying to discern interest and feasibility.    

The key goals of a US based training or event might be:

1. Participants will develop greater compassion and generosity for the materially poor, and learn how to effectively and holistically help without causing unintentional harm.

2. International organizations, churches, financial partners, and missionaries in North America will learn and directly gain firsthand insights from Africans about their cultural and Christian perspectives concerning helping the materially poor communities in Africa.    

3. Participants will learn how to collaborate effectively with African leaders, churches, and organizations for community transformation through resource sharing, clear communication, and strategic planning.

To meet these goals, we prefer a mix of participants. We believe the training will be beneficial to both Africans living in North America, as well as Canadians and Americans working in Africa or with partners in Africa to help meet the needs of disadvantaged communities and materially poor people in Africa. This could include international development or humanitarian organizations, churches in Canada and the US that are in partnership with African churches or assisting African refugees in Canada and the US, financial partners, missionaries, individuals and foundations that are involved in sending any form of support or help to Africa.     

There are other very effective trainings, curricula, books, and videos directed to North Americans on the same poverty alleviation principles. For example, see the great resources that the Chalmers Center offers to churches. We do not want to reinvent the wheel. We would not be offering a training or an event that is focused on caring for materially poor people in North America, but rather focused on Americans and Africans working together to help the materially poor in Africa.

We have not yet decided whether to offer a full training or a short learning event with key topics and group discussions. Your feedback below will assist us in making this decision.

This is our website for more information about the curriculum - https://oasisinternationalpublishing.com/helping-without-hurting-in-africa-2/

We would not be able to complete all of the lessons in only one training, unless in an extremely abbreviated form. In our usual training (virtual or in-person), we take 8-10 full training days to complete all lessons, usually over two separate weeks of training with months in between. The lessons are:

Lesson 1: Introduction and Opening Exercise
Lesson 2: Why did Jesus Come to Earth?
Lesson 3: What is Poverty?
Lesson 4: Broken Relationships in Africa
Lesson 5: Fighting Poverty through Reconciliation
Lesson 6: Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development
Lesson 7: Asset-Based Community Development
Lesson 8: Opening Exercise Evaluation
Lesson 9: Working for God’s Glory
Lesson 10: Worldview Transformation
Lesson 11: Broken Systems
Lesson 12: The Prosperity Gospel
Lesson 13: African Culture and Money
Lesson 14: What Causes Change in Someone’s Life?
Lesson 15: Participation of the Community
Lesson 16: Church Benevolence Ministry
Lesson 17: Urban Ministry: Opportunities and Challenges
Lesson 18: Mission Trips within Africa
Lesson 19: Foreigners, Missionaries and Sponsors
Lesson 20: Seed Projects and Further Resources

We would appreciate it if you would fill out this form by the 31st of July 2025 to give us your feedback and creative ideas. Even if you cannot personally attend, you may know of others who would benefit from such a training so please be free to share with them.