THF_2025ImpactReport_Digital - Flipbook - Page 22
Where Generosity
and Reality Meet
Kalee Perlman
When we asked partners what barriers they face in practicing
generosity, their responses were both honest and hopeful.
Resource scarcity and financial limitation were the most frequently named
challenges. Many organizations operate within tight economic realities that put
constraints on their capacity and outreach. Several others noted cultural and
structural factors, including dependencies on external support, limited
formation around financial stewardship, and a hesitation to expand generosity
beyond financial giving.
At the same time, it was clear that generosity itself was not in question.
The desire to cultivate generosity runs deep among partners. What we saw
throughout the survey was not a lack of understanding or reluctance to be
generous but a desire to practice it wisely, sustainably, and with courage.
Across responses, three recurring pressures surfaced—the weight of scarcity,
the fear of fostering dependency, and the felt fatigue from deep, continual giving.
The Weight of Scarcity
A recurring tension was navigating the space between a Kingdom mindset
of abundance and the lived realities of economic instabilities. One partner put
it this way: “While we believe deeply that God’s economy is marked by sufficiency
and provision, local contexts often experience real constraints that can foster
a scarcity mindset and complicate how generosity is practiced or measured.
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This tension is especially present when discerning appropriate levels of local
ownership and participation.”
In other contexts, generosity is mainly experienced privately, which limits
collective learning, sharing, and celebration of it. When generosity is kept quiet,
it is often reduced to a financial expression and diminished by fear in contexts
with limited resources.
In response, organizations are seeking broader ways to extend generosity
publicly—through time, hospitality, and the sharing of goods and resources.
This shift requires wisdom, requiring leaders to balance encouragement with
accountability and inspiration with structure. One partner said, “Ultimately,
we want generosity to become a contagious culture, where communities are
shaped by trust rather than fear, abundance rather than scarcity, and love rather
than self-protection—reflecting the generous heart of God in ways that
transform people and societies from the inside out.”
The Fear of Fostering Dependency
Partners shared a collective concern around fostering dependency over
strengthening the idea and practice of interdependence. They emphasized
the importance of empowering recipients to become givers, encouraging local
leadership, and promoting dignity through shared responsibility. As one partner
said, “We address this through open conversations about honesty, integrity,
and remembering that our actions are ultimately known to Christ. Sometimes
we have to end a partnership because of their inability to prove trustworthy,
because we want to balance generosity with wise stewardship and need to ensure
our generosity is not taken advantage of.”
There is a strong desire to see generosity enable a move from dependence
to ownership, with communities taking initiative and investing in their own
growth and support systems. Partners mentioned that they offset dependency
by requiring local contributions, shifting from free to subsidized models,
and cultivating a culture where generosity is practiced collectively rather than
relying on external support. As one partner put it, “We would love to see
generosity grow in sustainable ways—where believers learn to give not only
financially but also through service, hospitality, and mutual support, while
