Christian Community Development
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| What is Community Development all about? |
| Community Development refers to a sustainable, well designed and structured process aimed at improving conditions in a specific community by means of a facilitator or change agent that facilitates a process. This is usually a person that is trained an equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform this task. We therefore would like to see Community Development as a structured approach that distinguishes itself from similar but less structured processes. The involvement of the community during all the stages is a key factor of the process. |
| What is Christian Community Development? |
| Community Development - In a Workshop |
| The workshop was designed to help churches and organizations to bring about positive change in their communities. The workshop, and therefore the manual can be tailor made and simplified for churches, community organizations and individuals according to their needs. The workshop will help you to avoid some of the common pitfalls in the process. Apart from traveling expenses and course material the workshop is presented at no cost for churches. |
| Community Development Workshop Manual - More Info |
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This manual was compiled as a guide to be used during the workshops. It is not intended as a stand alone manual but it can give direction to a discussion on the topic. It is not a academic workbook although the information was sourced from the academic literature on the topic, and supplemented by personal experience. Each module has handouts and practical excesses. A reference list is included in the manual.
Contents: Community Development Workshop Manual |
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The Principles of Christian Community Development
(From the American Christian Community Development Association (CCDA)) The desperate conditions that face the poor call for a revolution in our attempts at a solution. Through years of experience among the poor, I have come to see these desperate problems cannot be solved without strong commitment and risky actions on the part of ordinary Christians with heroic faith. The most creative long-term solutions to the problems of the poor are coming from grassroots and church-based efforts people who see themselves as the replacements, the agents, for Jesus here on earth, in their own neighborhoods and communities. Their calling is one of Christian Community Development, which is not a concept that was developed in a classroom, nor formulated by people foreign to the poor community. These are biblical, practical principles evolved from years of living and working among the poor.
The great question is, "How do we affirm the dignity of people, motivate them, and help them take responsibility for their own lives?" By beginning with the people's felt needs we establish a relationship and a trust, which then enables us to move to deeper issues of development. This idea of beginning with people's felt needs is what is called the felt need concept.
It is summed up in a Chinese poem:
Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have:
But of the best leaders
When their task is done
The people will remark
"We have done it ourselves."
2. WHOLISTIC: EVANGELISM & SOCIAL ACTION
The gospel, rightly understood, is wholistic. It responds to people as whole people; it doesn't single out just spiritual or just physical needs and speak to those. Christian community development begins with people transformed by the love of God, who then respond to God's call to share the gospel with others through evangelism, social action, economic development, and justice.
These groups of Christians start both churches and community development corporations, evangelism outreaches and tutoring programs, discipleship groups and housing programs, prayer groups and businesses. However, the next principle is an additional commitment that distinguishes this movement from traditional approaches. 3. RELOCATION: LIVING AMONG THE POOR
Living the gospel means desiring for your neighbor and your neighbor's family that which you desire for yourself and your family. Living the gospel means bettering the quality of other people's lives spiritually, physically, socially, and emotionally as you better your own. Living the gospel means sharing in the suffering and pain of others. How did Jesus love? "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Jesus relocated. He became one of us. He didn't commute back and forth to heaven. Similarly, the most effective messenger of the gospel to the poor will also live among the poor that God has called him to. By relocating, we will understand most clearly the real problems facing the poor; then we may begin to look for real solutions. For example, if our children are a part of that community, you can be sure we will do whatever we can to make sure that the children of our community get a good education. Relocation transforms "you, them, and theirs" to "we, us, and ours." Effective ministries plant and build communities of believers that have a personal stake in the development of their neighborhoods.
4. RECONCILIATION: PEOPLE TO GOD, NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR
Reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel. Jesus said that the essence of Christianity could be summed up in two inseparable commandments: Love God, and love thy neighbor. First, Christian Community Development is concerned with reconciling people to God and bringing them into a church fellowship where they can be discipled in their faith.
But can a gospel that reconciles people to God without reconciling people to people be the true gospel of Jesus Christ? Our love for Christ should break down every racial, ethnic or economic barrier. As Christians come together to solve the problems of their community, the great challenge will be to partner and witness together across these barriers. Christian Community Development recognizes that the task of loving the poor is shared by the entire body of Christ, black, white, brown, and yellow, rich and poor, urban and suburban.
5. REDISTRIBUTION: EMPOWERING THE POOR
When the body of Christ is visibly present and living among the poor (relocation), and when we are loving our neighbor and our neighbor's family the way we love ourselves and our own family (reconciliation) the result is redistribution. If we as God's people with resources are living in the poor community and are a part of it, our skills and our resources will be applied to the problems of that community. Bringing our lives, our skills, our educations, and our resources and putting them to work to empower people in a community of need is redistribution. Christian Community Development ministries find creative avenues to create jobs, schools, health centers, home ownership, and other enterprises of long-term development.
6. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The primary goal of redistribution is to restore the stabilizing glue and fill the vacuum of moral, spiritual, and economic leadership that is so prevalent in poor communities. This is most effectively done by raising up Christian leaders from the community of need who will remain in the community. Most Christian Community Development ministries put a strong accent on youth development, winning youth to Christ as early as kindergarten, following them all the way
through college with spiritual and educational nurture, and creating opportunities for leadership upon return to their community.
7. CHURCH-BASED
Nothing other than the community of God's people is capable of affirming the dignity of the poor and enabling them to meet their own needs. It is practically impossible to do effective wholistic ministry apart from the local church. A nurturing community of faith can best provide the thrusts of evangelism, discipleship, spiritual accountability, and relationship by which disciples grow in their walk with God.
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Phone: 041-9228308 . Fax: 041-9922956 . Email: outreach@global.co.za
Phone: 041-9228308 . Fax: 041-9922956 . Email: outreach@global.co.za
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