What will I learn about: how extending unconditional trust, rather than just offering material aid, can defuse volatile situations and empower individuals to follow their best instincts?

Discover how extending unconditional trust, rather than just offering material aid, can defuse volatile situations and empower individuals to follow their best instincts.

What will I learn about: Learn why overcoming a 'messiah complex' is essential for community leaders, requiring them to change their own mindsets instead of trying to fix the people they serve?

Learn why overcoming a 'messiah complex' is essential for community leaders, requiring them to change their own mindsets instead of trying to fix the people they serve.

What will I learn about: the reality of 'chronic opportunity injustice' and how systemic neglect, rather than a lack of moral compass, drives the difficult choices made in impoverished neighborhoods?

Understand the reality of 'chronic opportunity injustice' and how systemic neglect, rather than a lack of moral compass, drives the difficult choices made in impoverished neighborhoods.

What will I learn about: Realize why tackling systemic poverty requires directly changing the material conditions of people's lives rather than simply lecturing them on morality?

Realize why tackling systemic poverty requires directly changing the material conditions of people's lives rather than simply lecturing them on morality.

What will I learn about: why achieving genuine social impact requires total, immersive commitment, such as living directly within a struggling community to build authentic trust?

Find out why achieving genuine social impact requires total, immersive commitment, such as living directly within a struggling community to build authentic trust.

Trust First

A True Story About the Power of Giving People Second Chances

Bruce Deel with Sara Grace

★ 4.3 / 5(32 ratings)

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Categories:

Society & Culture Motivation & Inspiration Biography & Memoir

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡What if the secret to transforming a life wasn't making someone earn your trust, but giving it to them unconditionally from the very first day?
💡Have you ever wondered how one pastor turned one of Atlanta's most dangerous neighborhoods into a global model for social change?
💡What's the secret to helping people in crisis when traditional charity and standard rules have failed them?

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Key Takeaways from Trust First

✓Discover how extending unconditional trust, rather than just offering material aid, can defuse volatile situations and empower individuals to follow their best instincts.
✓Learn why overcoming a 'messiah complex' is essential for community leaders, requiring them to change their own mindsets instead of trying to fix the people they serve.
✓Understand the reality of 'chronic opportunity injustice' and how systemic neglect, rather than a lack of moral compass, drives the difficult choices made in impoverished neighborhoods.
✓Realize why tackling systemic poverty requires directly changing the material conditions of people's lives rather than simply lecturing them on morality.
✓Find out why achieving genuine social impact requires total, immersive commitment, such as living directly within a struggling community to build authentic trust.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Trust First

Mind Map

Trust First

The Catalyst+

Rethinking Poverty+

Radical Commitment+

The One-Stop Shop Vision+

Proving Ground & Expansion+

Redefining Success+

The Power of Trust+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7

What profound realization did Pastor Bruce Deel have after intervening in a gunfight in a liquor store parking lot?

A. That providing physical security is the most critical first step in community outreach.
B. That extending unconditional trust can be more powerful and necessary than just providing food.
C. That he needed to partner with local law enforcement to make the neighborhood safe.
D. That his initial approach of preaching morality was the only way to stop violence.

Question 2 of 7

How did working on the Westside change Deel's perspective on why people in poverty make detrimental choices?

A. He concluded that they simply lacked a strong moral compass and needed spiritual guidance.
B. He realized their choices were compelled by 'chronic opportunity injustice' and skewed circumstances, not a desire to fail.
C. He learned that most people in the community actively preferred a lifestyle of rebellion against societal norms.
D. He decided that the community's problems were solely caused by a lack of government funding for public schools.

Question 3 of 7

What major personal sacrifice did Deel and his family make to prove their commitment to the Westside community?

A. They donated their entire life savings to purchase an abandoned warehouse.
B. They gave up their salaries to ensure all church funds went to the poor.
C. They left their peaceful suburban home to live in an empty, grimy floor of the Westside church.
D. They sent their children to live with relatives so they could work 24/7 at the shelter.

Question 4 of 7

What event made Deel realize that his organization was only offering 'crisis management' and needed to build a comprehensive 'one-stop shop'?

A. A devastating hurricane that brought thousands of evacuees to Atlanta.
B. A violent and upsetting confrontation with a homeless man suffering from severe mental illness.
C. A massive cut in state funding that forced local fragmented charities to close down.
D. A conversation with the city's mayor about the growing housing crisis.

Question 5 of 7

How did City of Refuge finally convince skeptical donors that they were capable of running a massive, multi-service NGO?

A. By successfully sheltering and feeding thousands of evacuees during Hurricane Katrina.
B. By publishing a comprehensive academic study on urban poverty in Atlanta.
C. By securing a multi-million dollar grant from the federal government.
D. By eradicating the rat infestation in their newly acquired warehouse.

Question 6 of 7

Over time, how did Deel's metric for a 'successful' intervention change?

A. He stopped measuring success altogether, believing statistics were dehumanizing.
B. He shifted from expecting grand, permanent transformations to celebrating small steps and harm reduction.
C. He began requiring participants to sign contracts guaranteeing their sobriety before receiving help.
D. He focused exclusively on how many individuals were able to secure full-time corporate jobs.

Question 7 of 7

What actionable advice does the book offer regarding how to give to those in need, based on Deel's experience with food distribution?

A. Always provide the cheapest options available so you can feed as many people as possible.
B. Require people to attend a short educational class before receiving their meals.
C. Only give people things that you would be happy to receive and consume yourself.
D. Focus entirely on nutritional value, even if the food is unappetizing.

Trust First — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
2Stepping into a violent gunfight taught Deel that offering people trust matters even more than basic food.
3Serving on the Westside forced Pastor Deel to totally rethink his views on poverty.
4Deel and his family left the leafy suburbs behind to fully commit to their dream.
5A disturbing encounter pushed Deel to confront the greatest challenge of his career yet.
6Hurricane Katrina posed a challenge that allowed City of Refuge to prove themselves.
7Over the years, City of Refuge evolved into a full-fledged professional organization.
8Success is best gauged and honored in small steps, not sweeping transformations.
9Trust is contagious.

Trust First Summary & Overview

Trust First (2019) recounts Pastor Bruce Deel’s remarkable journey to creating City of Refuge. Since its founding in 1997, this innovative social project has helped thousands of the most vulnerable people in Atlanta, Georgia and has been emulated by NGOs around the world. Deel reveals how the policy of offering unconditional trust allowed him to build meaningful relationships, completely transform his ideas about poverty, and learn what it means to provide support to people in crisis.

Who Should Listen to Trust First?

Burned-out activists looking for new ways to transform communities
Curious Christians who want to learn about one of America’s most inspiring pastors
People who love memoirs – or simply a good tale of triumph over adversity

About the Author: Bruce Deel with Sara Grace

Bruce Deel is the founder and CEO of City of Refuge, a nonprofit organization that’s assisted more than 20,000 people with housing, educational programs, healthcare, and other social support. Deel is also Senior Pastor of The Mission Church and serves as a consultant to multiple NGOs across the United States.

Trust First

If You're Curious About These Questions...

Listen to Trust First — Free Audiobook

Key Takeaways from Trust First

Learning Tools

Mind Map

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Trust First — Full Chapter Overview

Trust First Summary & Overview

Who Should Listen to Trust First?

About the Author: Bruce Deel with Sara Grace

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