Behind the Scalpel

Hello Scalpel friends and family! As you are a part of our mission community, we wanted to update you on some of the things going on with our board! One of those items is a book discussion we have been partaking in for the past two years. We do this in order to develop relationship with each other, broaden our personal perspectives on missions and faith, and give us tools to grow in effectiveness in ministry.

Most recently we are reading the book When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. This has proven to be an incredibly powerful and practical read, as it has in a healthy way challenged the cultural confines of the way North American missions organizations often function and shown us how to effectively evaluate whether we are truly and accurately supplying assistance where there is a desired need. Additionally the author has stretched our definition of poverty to see it as something far beyond a mere material lack. Rather, he argues that, “…a more relational understanding of poverty sees both the materially poor and materially non-poor as suffering from broken relationships, albeit in different ways, and seeks to pursue processes that foster the reconciling work of Jesus Christ in the lives of both parties” (Corbett & Fikkert 155).

As a mission board we are excited to continue to let God shape and mold Scalpel at the Cross in ways that heal broken bodies and broken hearts in the light of knowledge and faith in Jesus Christ, for both the “ministers” and the “ministered to”. Stay tuned for further book discussion updates!