Lent 2021: A Story to Live BySample

A beautiful potency

Reflection:

There’s an old saying: ‘Give someone a fish and they will be fed for a day. Teach someone to fish and they will be fed for a lifetime.’ It’s used as an example of how community development should be done. It makes a certain amount of sense; but it also has a problem.

What does that person do when the fish runs out? Or when their equipment breaks? Or if something else goes wrong?

This is why, at Tearfund, we don’t just ‘teach people to fish’. We empower communities to solve their own problems, using the resources they have to hand. Often this is done through local churches – using Bible studies to help people unlock their God-given potential.

An example of this that I’ll never forget was when Cyclone Idai devastated southern Africa in 2019. A support team sent by one of Tearfund’s partners arrived at a village only to be told they’d wasted a trip – the community had already swung into action and begun rebuilding.

Prayer:

God has placed a beautiful potency within each of us. Where there are issues weighing on your heart, ask God to reveal what you have in your hands that could make a difference.

Author: Gideon Heugh