Focusing on the Vulnerable
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
Vulnerable people have needs much deeper than the physical lack we easily identify. To see lives transformed, we must help vulnerable people to regain hope, dignity, and a right understanding of their identity as image-bearers of their Creator and stewards of the earth.
How We Define the Vulnerable Matters
Too often, we define vulnerable people by what they lack—orphans, widows, the homeless, the uneducated, the hungry… These definitions, while not wrong, cause us to focus on physical needs while allowing us to lose sight of vulnerable people’s true identity: children of God with value, gifting, and potential. It naturally leads to efforts to meet those needs that are most obvious—working to provide food and clean water—while missing the deeper needs.
As outsiders seeking to be involved with those experiencing poverty and injustice, it is important to reframe our thinking and shift our expectations. Rather than thinking of those we work with as “the vulnerable,” we can remind ourselves that they are “people who have gotten stuck.” Instead of expecting only to keep people from dying or suffering, we can and should expect them to reach their God-given potential and to bring Him glory in every area of life.
What Those Who are Stuck Need Most
Every person’s deepest needs are rooted in beliefs about ourselves, God, and creation. For those trapped in poverty, many of these beliefs are broken. For example: I have nothing and can do nothing, I am inferior to others, things cannot change.
Vulnerable people need to know that they are created in the image of God, called to steward the earth, and commanded to love one another. Their eyes need to be opened to all that God has given them—things like land, relationships, knowledge, and strength. They need hope that, with God’s help, the future really can be different than the present. Even more than having their physical needs met, vulnerable people want and need to regain the dignity of being fully human—valuable and capable.
Our Role in God’s Plan for Their Flourishing
Our activities should revolve around teaching people their true identity according to the Bible, restoring hope and dignity, and ensuring they have appropriate skills to be good stewards. We need to challenge them to obey God in every area of life and to steward their resources well, trusting Him to multiply. As we do these things, with God’s help, we really can see people get unstuck and move from vulnerability to flourishing.
