USA (MNN) — Many people want to help with global poverty but have no idea where to begin. Dale Hanson Bourke, a board member for Opportunity International, wrote a book called The Skeptic's Guide to Global Poverty.
"I went out and looked for a basic book that I could understand, and I was having a really hard time finding it," said Bourke.
The book is designed to answer the questions many don't want to even ask. "I think a lot of people wonder if people who are poor are really lazy. You know, you don't really want to say that because that just seems so rude. So the book is full of a
lot of those kinds of questions– the questions that people are kind of afraid or embarrassed to ask. But I think that the book gives them the ability to get to the root of those issues," Bourke said.
Bourke says the book is not an opinion but rather a discussion of what the real issues are. "I want us to be able to talk about poverty in an educated way," said Bourke. She
hopes that the book will be used in Sunday schools, discussion groups, and classrooms.
It addresses things like why people are poor and what has to be done in order to help those already in poverty. "People who are poor lack a lot of the very basic things that we rely on whenever we go through bad times," she explained.
Bourke says she wants people to begin to gain a better understanding of poverty so they can "then be able to look at what they're really called to do."
Bourke says prayer is also a huge part of getting involved. "If we can begin to understand and meet people and look them in the eye and know their story, it makes a big
difference in the way we look at poverty. And if you pray and ask the Lord what it is you're supposed to do, you'll start to feel your heart softening."
From there, God may lead you to one of many organizations that focus on things like children's ministry or micro-finance.
The Skeptic's Guide to Global Poverty can be found online and in select book stores.
