Redemptive Poverty Work - Student Workbook

L E S S O N 4 | R H Y T H M S O F L I F E A N D P O V E R T Y W O R K / 5 3

CASE STUDY

Having completed this teaching, revisit the case study from earlier in the lesson. How might you respond differently, given the content of the teaching? You do poverty work in an urban neighborhood and run into a colleague at the corner store. He asks if you have some time to spare to talk. After walking to his office and starting to talk, it is apparent he is angry and frustrated. He is overwhelmed by the challenges he faces daily. The challenges don’t shock you because you face the same ones. However, what does shock you is his tone and what he is saying. He is very cynical about the people in the neighborhood and the organizations set up to help them, including the local church he belongs to which he has stopped attending. His complaints revolve around not being appreciated for the sacrifices he has made and how physically tired he is. What would you tell him? In order to avoid the trappings of cynicism and burnout in poverty work, we must practice the fundamental spiritual disciplines of the Great Tradition of the Church. Faithful engagement of these spiritual practices will act as a countermeasure to help you avoid slipping into toxic poverty work and serve as a catalyst to both grow your faith and maintain your spiritual health while you help others. If you are interested in pursuing some of the ideas from this lesson, Rhythms of Life and Poverty Work , you might want to give these books a try: • Allsman, Don, and Don L. Davis. Fight the Good Fight of Faith: Playing Your Part in God’s Unfolding Drama . Wichita: TUMI, 2014. • Davis, Don L. Sacred Roots: A Primer on Retrieving the Great Tradition , 2nd Ed., Wichita: TUMI, 2010, 2017. • Carter, Ryan. Guard the Good Deposit: The Great Tradition for the Whole Church . Wichita: TUMI, 2019. Take some time to meditate on how the Holy Spirit is connecting the material from this lesson Rhythms of Life and Poverty Work to your life and ministry. How might you think, or act differently in a real situation based on this lesson? Does this lesson cause you to reconsider any of your past thoughts or actions? Pray that our Lord would show you examples from your own life where this lesson may apply.

page 36 & 13

Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis

Resources and Bibliographies

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Ministry Connections