REL 253-4 : Foundations of Mission

Gifts from the Poor draws lessons about human resilience and global interdependence and describes how the rewards of helping those less fortunate can enrich the whole planet. From challenging his academic associates at George Washington University Medical Center to exposing the hypocrisy of the foreign aid game, the author does not flinch from conflict in his analysis of foreign aid. He describes how well-intentioned aid projects, both religious and secular, are often compromised by corrupt and broken governments.

In August 2004, South Africa officially legalized the practice of traditional healers. Biomedical practitioners looked toward the country's traditional healers as important agents in the development of medical education and treatment. The two medical cultures embrace different ideas about the body and the origin of illness, but they do share a history of commercial and ideological competition and different relations to state power.

This book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created. Kidder takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity" - a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health.

The culture of a black South African community & the religion & rituals that enabled it to survive the devastating apartheid era.

Imagine, for example, the culture shock of moving to a Hindu country under such rigid religious control that it is not only illegal to proselytize, but illegal to change religions as well. Imagine further the shock of moving to that country as a missionary doctor. Thomas Hale and his wife, Cynthia, also a physician, too on that awesome challenge in 1970. God wasted no time teaching tom the peculiarities of his new culture.