Kurt Ver Beek
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Director of Calvin's Honduras Program
Address: Apartado 30676
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Central America
Telephone: 011-504-257 1021
E-mail: kverbeek@calvin.edu

Kurt Ver Beek joined the faculty at Calvin College in 1996, after completing a Ph.D. in Development Sociology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He received a Fulbright Fellowship to do his dissertation fieldwork in Honduras on how several thousand very poor and marginalized Lenca Indians were able to mobilize and effect many positive changes in their community. Prof. Ver Beek completed his BA in Sociology from Calvin College in 1986 and his MA in Human Resource Development from Azusa Pacific University in 1992.

Kurt and his wife Jo Ann worked for six years (1986-1992) in Central America for an International Development Organization called the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. The last four of those six years Kurt was the Honduras Country Representative and was responsible for project evaluations, staff training and supervision of funds for Honduran grass-roots organizations. Kurt and Jo Ann also led numerous workshops on participation and community organization and developed a variety of training materials on those topics.

Kurt and Jo Ann lead Calvin College's Semester in Honduras. They also lead an interim in Honduras which provides an overview of similar topics.

In addition to his work with Calvin, Kurt is one of six founding members of the Association for a More Just Society (AJS) in Honduras. AJS seeks to create a more just society, focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable sectors through the creation of more just legislation, by a more just application of current legislation, and increasing the role of churches in promoting social justice.

While working for Calvin College, Prof. Ver Beek has also carried out short-term consulting work with international development organizations, including World Vision and Tear Fund UK.

He is currently working on a study of the long-term impact of short-term missions. If you would like to see more on this topic, please click one of the following links:

Audio Recording of Kurt's Short-Term Missions Lecture at Calvin College

SHORT-TERM MISSIONS

a. Interactive Bibliography of Short-Term Missions Resources

b. The Impact of Short Term Missions: A Case Study of House Construction in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch. Missiology: An International Review, October 2006 Special Edition, pp.477-496. Online Information (article by Kurt Alan Ver Beek).

   1. Appendix 1 - Full Survey and Response Rate
   2. Appendix 2 - Individual Giving
   3. Appendix 3 - Church Giving

Study Questions: Whether Short-Term Missions Make a Difference (article by Abram Huyser Honig). Christianity Today June 2005.

Are Short-Term Missions Good Stewardship? (Christianity Today's on-line discussion about Short-Term Missions between Kurt Ver Beek and Robert Priest, associate professor of mission and intercultural studies atTrinity Evangelical Divinity School. June 2005).

Lessons from the Sapling: Review of Research on
Short-term Missions, Study Abroad, and Service
Learning. (first draft article by Kurt Alan Ver Beek).

c. International Service Learning: A Call to Caution (Chapter 5 in Commitment and Connection; editors Gail Gunst-Heffner and Claudia DeVries-Beversluis) University Press of America: New York, NY, 2002

d. The Cost of Short-Term Missions (article by Jo Ann Van Engen), The Other Side Jan/Feb 2000

e. Reanalysis of Purvis (1993) data on reported giving vs. actual missions giving as a result of a STM experience.

f. Media mentions of Kurt's research

MAQUILAS

a. Maquilas: Exploitation or Emancipation?: An Overview of the Situation of Maquiladora Workers in Honduras. World Development (29:9) 2001.

b. Maquilas: Saviors or Enslavers? Spark. Calvin College Alumni Association: Grand Rapids, MI. 45:2 (Summer, 1999) pp.32-36

SPIRITUALITY AND DEVELOPMENT

a. Spirituality: A Development Taboo. Development in Practice. Oxfam Publications: London, England. 10:1 (February, 2000) pp. 31-43. Article republished in Development and Culture, Editor Deborah Eade, London: 2002.

Other documents that might be of interest:

1. Kurt and Jo Ann's Recommended Reading List:

2. Organizations and Websites Jo Ann and Kurt recommend

3. How to get a development-related job in the U.S. or overseas

4. Jo Ann's favorite Wednesday night Recipes

5. Information on buying more "socially responsibly."