Episode 26 of the LOVE JUSTICE podcast: "Charity Without Impact is Dead" with special guest: David Bronkema | hosted by Hannah Munn | LoveJustice.NGO
In this compelling episode, host Hannah Munn speaks with Eastern University professor David Bronkema and Love Justice founder and CEO John Molineux about moving beyond good intentions to measurable impact. They explore how well-meant charity can sometimes cause harm—and why excellence, effectiveness, and stewardship must be at the heart of justice work. Through honest reflection and practical insights, this episode calls listeners to reframe charity as a bold, intentional, and accountable pursuit of change that truly matters.
David Bronkema is a professor in the College of Business and Leadership at Eastern University and holds the Eastern University Templeton Chair for Christian Service through Entrepreneurship. He is a core faculty member in the Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership program and teaches courses in leadership theory, qualitative research, global leadership, advocacy and public policy, and fundraising. David has been with Eastern University since 2006 and received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2010. Before taking on his current position at Eastern four years ago, David served in two other roles at the university: as director of Eastern University’s MBA in Economic Development and MA in International Development, and as dean of Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University.
David’s formal education includes an M.A. in International Relations and a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from Yale University. His Ph.D. dissertation explored the history of Protestant missions to Latin America and the legacy of those missions for international development work by Christian nongovernmental organizations. David’s publications and talks have explored the intersection of business, civil society, faith, and justice, with particular interest in spiritual metrics, Business as Mission, religion and development, community development and advocacy, evangelical approaches to engaging the development field, and the informing of anthropological theory from a faith-based perspective. He is coauthor of Advocating for Justice: An Evangelical Vision for Transforming Systems and Structures (Baker Books, 2016) and coeditor of On Knowing Humanity: Insights from Theology for Anthropology (Routledge, 2017). David is also cofounder and coeditor of the journal Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy.
David grew up in Portugal and Italy in a missionary family, and after graduating from Swarthmore College in 1983, he spent the next five years in Honduras working with a Honduran Protestant community development organization and with peasant, labor, and human rights organizations. In 1998, David joined the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), coordinating programs first in Central America and then in the Andean region. During his time at Eastern, David has helped create and facilitate a conference on measuring spiritual impact and a Business as Mission collaboration group, and he has served on a variety of boards and as an advisor for development agencies and conferences, currently chairing the Accord Research Alliance steering committee.
He is married to Robin, and they have three children and one grandchild: Emily (married to Ty, with daughter Haven), Jacob (married to Jordan), and Josiah.
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Chapters
(00:00:02) - Love Justice: Charity Without Impact is Dead(00:01:37) - Mentor David Bronkema on the Podcast(00:03:57) - David on Impact in Charitable Work(00:08:24) - John and David on Charity Without Impact(00:10:35) - John 3:8 Charity Without Impact Is Dead(00:16:08) - Non-Profit Accountability: Intent rather than Impact(00:20:00) - In the Bloodletting of Charity(00:22:41) - Love Justice: The Way of Impact(00:27:41) - Getting Out of Defensiveness(00:29:33) - The Need for Participatory Evaluation(00:30:37) - Will Love Justice Validate or Verify Our Impact?(00:38:24) - Will Impactless Charity Be Bad?(00:42:35) - The Criteria for Meaningful Impact(00:45:33) - Importance of the Impact Mindset(00:48:53) - The Surprising Impact of Science(00:54:21) - What Kind of Inner Character Is Needed to Commit to Measuring(00:57:07) - David on the Holy Spirit(01:00:43) - John on Perpetual Persistence(01:05:48) - The Importance of Hearing Critical Feedback(01:07:45) - The default expertise of the Love Just International(01:11:13) - Reformation in the field of Charity(01:13:49) - What Would That Happen If the Church Fully Adopted Isaiah 58(01:17:02) - John on the Misquoting Isaiah 61
South Africa