Who we are
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Cape Town, once said, "There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in." Over three decades of working upstream, we’ve witnessed that opposition to God, which leads to social injustice and economic exploitation, is the root of many painful consequences downstream.
At Paulos Group, we see God’s design in all creation and believe that people and conditions can change and be made whole in Christ. We've also observed that even small improvements upstream can prevent people from falling into the river, reduce the need for rescue, and empower individuals to become dream-makers and change agents in their own communities, and step into who they were created to be.
By addressing the root causes upstream, Paulos Group has established itself as the most innovative accelerator for economic and social impact in Haiti.
Where we started
The genesis of Paulos Group goes back to 1998, when a group of students from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, working with CAM International and Samaritan’s Purse, was among the first responders to the town of Morolica, Honduras, in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch.
Residents clung to trees as the Choluteca River flooded the town. When the rains stopped, Morolica was buried beneath mud. The group from Moody helped residents build the very first building, a church, to serve as a building material warehouse during the reconstruction of “New Morolica” relocated on higher ground.
Relationships from the Moody group over 25-years ago, still provide encouragement, guidance, oversight and financial backing for Paulos Group today.
How we evolved
The Talmud—the Hebrew commentary on the Torah—describes four ways of helping the poor, an insight shared by sociologist Tony Campolo: four levels of charity.
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The highest level is to create real jobs for people in need without their knowing.
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Second, is to give someone work to avoid giving a handout.
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Next is to give an anonymous gift to meet an immediate need.
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The least effective way to help people, to be avoided if at all possible, is to give to someone in need with their full knowledge of who this giver is.
Serving in the most complex environments, Paulos Group goes upstream to understand the factors really creating the problems. From there, discreetly as possible, our work is to create real, lasting and profitable opportunities for people to empower themselves, their communities, and actively participate in Transformation+
Eliminating the Gaps - 2018
How We Do It - 2019
Meet the team
Matt McCormick
Partner
MA Wheaton College
BA Moody Bible Institute
Renaud Cherenfant
PDG of Côte Brillante
College Echo du Calvaire