THE POOR YOU WILL HAVE ALWAYS -

Why I Wrote This Book
After facilitating the Breaking Barriers program in Chongwe Kasengwa, I encountered a deeply moving experience that stirred up a powerful mix of compassion and pity for the people I met. As I observed their lives, I couldn’t help but ask myself, What can be done to help them? It was a moment of profound reflection, one that not only brought me closer to their struggles but also made me revisit my own past wounds—those dark memories of suffering, of not having enough to eat or to wear. It was as if I was walking through my past once more, feeling the ache of hunger and the sting of not having what others seemed to take for granted.
The same pattern repeated itself when I took the program to Linda, a poor community in Lusaka, Zambia. There, I saw the same levels of desperation, the same sense of lack. But this time, people reached out to me, asking for money to start a business, to buy food, or even for rent. The weight of their requests was overwhelming. It left me with more questions than answers. I asked myself, Can this problem be solved by one individual? What do I need in order to make a real difference?
As I sat with these questions, I realized that it wasn’t just about handing out money or providing temporary relief. There had to be a more sustainable way to address the root causes of poverty and help empower people to break free from it. This book was born out of those questions.

It was born out of a need to understand how to minister to the poor in a way that truly uplifts them—without dishonoring their dignity, but rather, helping them build lives of self-sufficiency, hope, and purpose.
In writing this book, I hope to share the lessons I've learned, the wisdom gained from working with those in poverty, and the deeper understanding of what it really means to serve the poor—not out of pity, but out of love, respect, and a commitment to seeing them rise. This book is not just for those who work with the poor, but for anyone who feels a calling to be part of the solution to poverty and injustice.
TERENCE PHIRI-AUTHOR