Charity

"Ancient Hebrew wisdom describes four levels of charity.  The highest level is to provide a job for one in need without his knowledge that you provided it.  The next, lower level is to produce work that the needy one knows you provided.  The third level is to give an anonymous gift to meet an immediate need.  The lowest level of charity, to be avoided if at all possible, is to give a poor person a gift with his full knowledge that you are the donor." -Bob Lupton, Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life

Levels of Charity:

1. Providing a job without the recipient knowing who provided it

2. Providing work and the recipient knows it was you that provided it

3. Giving a gift anonymously to meet an immediate need

4. Giving a gift and the recipient knows it was you that provided it

This is interesting.  I'm sure the most frequently practiced levels of charity go from numbers 4 through 1.  It's also true that it's easier to perform level 4 charity and subsequently harder to perform three than it is two and one.

Maybe you have to start at number four before you can move to other higher forms of charity.  Number four then being the bottom or base of compassion.. an entry way so to speak.  If anybody is interested in reading more about how to go from betterment to development, or to go deeper into development.  I'd suggest reading Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life.  This book and others have helped to shape my thinking when it comes to ministry to the poor.