Home Grown Glory: Parables of Developmental Aid to the World's Impoverished

In response to the myriad of complexly interconnected health and socioeconomic problems that wreak their worst destruction in the world's poorest communities, an equally complex developmental-aid industry powered by the West has arisen. While appearing enormously beneficial in intent, expertise, and finances, it often perpetuates dependence and yields mediocre long-term results, due to its massive systemic, impersonal, autocratic, self-enhancing, and shallow programmatic nature.

The most indispensable resources for catalyzing transformative development among impoverished communities lies within their own borders, where God has sown infinite prosperity in less-visible forms. Home-Grown Glory conveys the spirit of discerning and building upon such treasure, using prose-poetic stories that depict:

• God's heart for liberation of the impoverished into freedom and prosperity.
• Limited impact of global "best practices" often used with HIV-related developmental aid.
• The power of reaching and inspiring individual and collective hearts with love, hope, and creative dreaming.
• Hidden wealth and opportunity amid the overwhelming tragedy of poor communities.
• God's creative and unpredictable means of sparking transformational development in a shanty town community.
• The call of the church toward unity, humility, and honor in its developmental aid practices, rather than reinforcing damaging power dynamics and further division.

As eyes and minds of "rich" and "poor" are opened to such potential, the latter will lead the way toward unprecedented and unimaginable change, as together they experience heaven on earth in the most unlikely of places.