Abstract
Two difficult issues that the Christian community deals with are the existence of poverty in our communities and the appropriate balance of private and government solutions to the problem. These two issues often conflict with one another in the economic and political spheres in the form of government policies like entitlement programs. For these programs, type of program, recipients, size, funding and evaluation are issues that many believers struggle with. On the private side, should aid come from individuals or organizations like charities, churches or businesses? Poverty is a problem that has existed throughout human history, and it seems the debate as to how to address it has been around about as long.
