Dorrell: Four characteristics of Christian community development

WACO—Four distinctive attributes should characterize Christian community development, Mission Waco Executive Director Jimmy Dorrell told the No Need Among You conference in Waco.

• Compassion. Christians should not treat the needs of poor people as a Thanksgiving or Christmas project to be adopted, Dorrell insisted.

“In America, we have reduced concern for the poor to end-of-the-year guilt-relief projects,” he said. Instead, Christian should enter the pain of the poor—even relocating to live among hurting people for the long term.

• Empowerment. “Use the people with the problem to address the problem,” he said. “See the potential among the poor.”

To recognize how poor people can deal with their own problems, the Christian community developer must take the time to develop relationships and learn who the natural leaders are in the community. “It means hanging out long before the program is created,” he said.

• Courage. Living among the poor means taking some risks, and dangers are magnified for parents with children, he acknowledged.

However, Dorrell noted, because his children grew up in a racially, culturally and socio-economically diverse neighborhood, they had advantages children attending high-ranking racially homogenous schools lack.

“My kids have no problem living and working among people who are different from them,” he said.

• Enjoyment. Relax and take delight in the surprises that ministry among the poor offers, Dorrell suggested.

He described the creativity and spontaneity—and the stark honesty—of the Church Under the Bridge, the multicultural congregation he leads under the Interstate 35 overpass.

“I would never go back to the world I came from,” he said. “I could never go back to boring, middle-class white church.”