Development Consultation
April 6-7, 2001
Searcy, AR
These are some of the responses of the forty participants
to six questions that followed presentations by Drs. Hiebert, Cox,
Black and Smith. The responses have been condensed to reduce
repetition and similar comments have been grouped
together.
Question 1: How would you characterize the balance
between relief and development ministries in Churches of Christ at
the moment?
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At
least 80-90% of our efforts are relief, not development.
We
are crisis-oriented and tend to give to things that touch our
hearts (earthquakes, hurricanes, famine)-we are operating on
emotions not with well thought-out intentionality.
We
are doing a lot of relief with some movement toward development.
But we lack a common language. It is difficult to communicate
(between relief, development and other kinds of ministry) when we
do not have a common language.
We
have done lots of hospitals and schools, but most are "long term
relief projects" rather than agents of preventative
medicine.
We
have been dedicated primarily to problem resolution rather than
prevention.
Since we do not have a governing body, we do not stay
abreast of the latest trends (such as development). Because of this
lack of organization, we are slower to catch on.
We
do relief really well. We are afraid to give up the control in
order to do development. We can maintain the power in relief.
Development is also more time consuming so we don't do
it.
We
tend to "hit and run."
We
still maintain our American attitude that we are in control. We
need to step back and ask ourselves if we are doing a good job. Are
we creating dependency? We do not want to do things that will not
help for the long term.
True
development requires us to relinquish control and that is
difficult.
Development requires us to trust natives and their capacities.
Right now in El Salvador we are holding on to funds because we are
not sure the Salvadorans can do the job like we want it done. On
the other hand sometimes we "lay hands on" folks too quickly. If we
help disciple true Christians we will be able to trust.
Development requires long-term workers, so we do little of
it. Churches in America want fast results, just like in church
planting.
We
tend to measure our efforts quantitatively-how many teeth have we
pulled, how many patients have we seen. That's relief, not
development.
Large amounts of money are infused because of lack of
developmental procedures in place.
Relief is dependent on money. Money-raising. Development
is different-perhaps a bit more nebulous.
Inner-city ministries will be dependent on development in
the future. We practice some relief, but we must be
community-based.
Relief is a door opener. Once the door is open we work
from the inside out at the grass-root level.
A
church planting mentality of letting others do it for themselves
can lead us to development.
Question 2: What steps could we take to educate
our churches about development?
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Train the church to see and analyze good models of
development projects.
Educate our church leaders to recognize that the church is
more than local needs, but rather must be a "world
vision".
Impact the preachers of the local churches, who are the
mouthpieces, with the concepts of development ministries. Ministers
are bridges of relationship, linking needs of people to resources.
Must influence them first.
Educate our churches and leaders to be able to see that
people have different needs, understand what development is and how
those relate to evangelism.
We
should learn from national organizations and groups, such as CCDA
(Christian Community Development Association); next conference is
in Dallas.
We must educate people who head our major organizations, both
formal and informal power bases in our churches as well as our
educational institutions. We must educate our missionaries before
they go out. Most of the missionary education is happening through
the universities.
If
some of the schools could reach out to missions committees and
elderships that would help. At weekend seminars. Maybe get one or
two elderships and churches to be model communities regarding
development.
Create a 13-week study of relief and development for
Sunday school classes.
Get
more involved in the workshops and lectureships for
education.
Create a program like Echo in Florida, or SIFAT in Alabama
(Methodist) that is tied to the university to learn water
development, agriculture, etc. Start a Heifer Project-like program
at Harding (on the school-owned farm). Require students to attend
it as a course and set up special weekend and summer programs for
deacons and elders.
Rotating a development ministry conference between our
Christian colleges.
Educate the people in our missions department first. The
missions teachers are probably more open to development
humanitarian education rather than relief as it seems to dovetail
more with indigenous principles.
Research to find out the best education programs for
development. Let's not reinvent the wheel.
Newspapers and magazines can help educate our
congregations. Key will be repetition of the subject of
development. The way that things are reported affects the way we
see the work overseas. Brotherhood papers are not being promoted
like they once were.
Church bulletins might be a source of
education.
Video presentations, power point presentations to help
promote. Videographer in CA. might be willing to do a video. He has
his own equipment. Ted Parks is the contact.
Address the trend toward short term missions, defining
role, impact, and limitations and its relationship to long term
mission and development.
Don't ignore the available cultural insights of those
already with experience in the area.
Provide information on-line information.
We
need to incorporate development in all of our missions
classes.
Those involved in relief and development ministries must
become ambassadors who preach, teach, take others to give
testimonials, taking others to the inner city, mission field, etc.
to observe.
Educate about funding. Set time limit on funds given to a
project. Then slowly decrease funds and stick to it. Raise up new
people with new mind-sets.
Missionaries are the primary people to educate. First
educate missionaries, then let them educate the church.
The
greatest untapped resource in the church are our businessmen. Many
times they can accomplish with a few phone calls what we have no
idea of how to do.
Look
at an entire generation as our time-frame for educating.
Provide more apprenticeships, internships, short courses
with hands-on training.
Question 3: How can we kindle a passion for
Development Ministries and involve more Christians?
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GENERAL
Pray to the Lord of the Harvest!
Right now we have 3 long-term MDs and less than 20 nurses
for 1 year or longer on the mission field.
Seeing, putting a face on, contact with those who have
already shown that it can be done, and how it is possible. I.e.
mentors.
Lack
long-term deep commitment. That problem can't be separated from the
question of commitment to long-term missions, in general. We
consider a 5-year term missionary as "long-term."
We
need to provide some positive examples. Opportunities for churches
and individuals to see success. Look for successful models in
development and missions in general.
We
have been deluded by short-term syndrome. We think, "We've done our
part but can still enjoy our creature comforts."
McMissions-short term involvement is defined as "missions."
Participants may say, "I've done the mission thing."
The
good should not be the enemy of the best. Must instill long-term
mission.
Can
we pick particular places for short-term efforts that will develop
a vision for long-term vision?
Short-term missions is a key. It exposes people to other
cultures and the seeds are planted.
But a lot depends on how short-term mission trips are organized.
Planning in advance and preparation make a big difference in the
outcome of future missions. Need more orientation for short-term
campaigns. Short-term missions should be redefined. They should not
replace long-term.
Nothing fuels passion like a passionate person. We should
talk about the passion more to others. We should share our
stories.
CONGREGATIONAL
Congregations are a key to developing missionaries.
More
peaching and teaching the biblical concept of emptying
yourself.
Make
it clear how evangelism and developmental ministries may be
integrated.
Encourage the "pioneer spirit".
Encourage those in the church to utilize their own
personal talents instead of relying only on "professional
missionaries" to do the job. Recognize the value of a "lay person"
to such ministries.
Encourage those in later life to dedicate themselves to
changing their life styles to be involved in mission. (Like the
fledgling "New Horizons" effort directed by Ira and June
Hill).
Disseminate the information among the churches, not just
in the universities.
We're not in competition with local ministry. If we are
involved in meaningful ministries here, we can be challenged to
work in similar ways abroad. Must develop passion at home in order
to develop passion abroad.
Need
to focus on those who are about to retire or to take early
retirement. Instill passion in mid-life career people.
Start with children-kindergarten-instill a vision of
mission.
Overseas experience for teens can become tourism for
Jesus-there is much we can do to involve them locally. Teens need
to earn the right to go. S. McArthur (Irving, TX) were only sending
7-8 teens who met the requisites.
Who
are our heroes? What about the heroes and heroines of the faith?
Our children are losing those models.
Our
young people have a tremendous volunteer spirit. How can we channel
it? There is a positive something to start with.
Establish a missions learning center in your local church.
I.e. Two rooms that are converted to mission points. Starting with
5-year olds and teaching them culture and about the church. Egs.
Webb Chapel (Dallas), Sixth and Izard (Little Rock), and Westover
Hills (Austin). Remember that people make decisions about what they
want to do in life early.
Missons camps.
UNIVERSITIES
We can now be more inclusive and include other disciplines in
recruiting for development.
Train people in more than just preaching. Less
specialization, more broad training.
Plant a seed by health care missions minor and vocational
ministry major.
Don't expect the preacher/teacher to have all of the
development skills. Our mission teams tend to comprise just
preachers/teachers. We need to send all of the various skills and
blend them on a mission team.
We
need to communicate between our schools to find good visiting
missionaries.
Perhaps this vocational training is at odds with our
liberal arts schools. There might be a cooperation with other
institutions.
Research! Research funding is weak among us. Universities
do get some money for research. Also need release time from other
duties to do research. New emphasis on would require indoctrination
on wide scale. We could seek funding from individuals. Realize that
people get turned off by the term "research."
Must
involve people before they are caught in the money trap. Eg. the
Mormon model of setting priorities for youth. Address the "traps"
that keep people from going including educational debt, housing
debt, etc.
Question 4: What are some practical ways we can
encourage and assist those who have already decided to go to the
field?
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Many
missionaries caught in the quagmire of dependency and paternalism.
How to undo some of these situations is a problem.
As
part of a furlough send the missionary to a center where they can
be educated.
Use
internet courses or audio tape courses to teach our existing
missionaries on the mission field.
Provide retirement for missionaries and university
educational scholarships for missionary children.
Help
develop some university-level training in developmental
fields.
Question 5: What are some reasons for the
successes and failures of the Haiti Christian Development Project
(HCDP)?
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GENERAL
REACTIONS
Need to rethink what is success and failure. Are we evaluating
these things too soon?
What
could actual evaluative research teach us? Lessons we could learn
from it? (But don't fall into the trap of studying things to
death.)
We
need to move toward more parachurch organizations including
research organizations (though research is difficult to
fund).
Must
have the humility to evaluate both negative and positive, and to
eliminate approaches that do more harm than good in the
long-run.
An
over-concern for what we are going to report moves us from what we
really need to be accomplishing. How will it look to our donors?
How should we measure success? Are we using the wrong
yard-stick?
Sometimes we value the product more than the process.
Process is important. We need to learn to suffer with the poor
rather than handing them a solution in terms of money. In the
process, relationships are developed, world views are
changed.
We
can't let our "failures" make us negative or deter us from
proceeding with our projects.
Perseverance can become a model that dispels fatalism.
Success is hard to measure in western terms.
Too
often, we (foreigners) define the problem. We offer solutions. But
we don't deal with real needs in a credible process involving the
people.
We
tend to quantify in order to give the impression of
success.
We
need to examine the reasons we do things. We need to control our
emotions and not just work off impulses.
We
tend to analyze problems and do problem-solving. We are
results-oriented and that has positive and negative
sides.
We
need to build on the idea of community. Redefine success as you
succeeding and then helping others to succeed.
SUCCESSES
The training Pacius received at SIFAT
Emmanuel is a good local leader with integrity, even
though Emmanuel was chosen by Americans, not by the local
church.
David (Smith) was intentional about moving from relief to
development and the process is continuing.
David and company are in it for the long-term.
There is a good connection between the short-term model
and the long-term project.
Local ownership of the school. School is independent.
David has learned to say no.
It
has survived because it is theirs---ownership concept.
Cooperative funding; eg. road building project, etc. in
which some funds are foreign and some are local.
Persistence and flexibility of supporters.
Relationship-building concepts.
FAILURES (AND
QUESTIONS)
Farm, as it was presented, has impacted community, but it seems
like secular development, or simply social development.
Need
to address spiritual warfare (since the farm is located in a voodoo
stronghold).
Financial partnership is important to ownership. Giving is
the key. There must be American money coupled with local resources.
What is HCDP giving now? A bridge has been built, funded from
Little Rock with the labor being Haitian.
Accountability is the key? How was the money handled? we
must trust the local accountability structures.
One
problem is the lack of an American who can speak their language and
know their culture. This is not a model that we want to imitate due
to this.
Need
to allow the locals to initiate projects based on their concept of
what might be valuable. Needs to be more local
empowerment.
Question 6: What are some good models of
development?
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GENERAL
COMMENTS
We need a relief and development network for sharing resources. How
about Missions Resource Network? They could help assemble a group
of people. Do they have a section for development
information?
Development is not something that happens through an
agency. It happens on the local grass roots level.
Any
good church planting can be seen as development in that redemption
and lift occurs and life skills are taught.
There seem to be little focus on urban (not "inner city")
development
MODELS
LISTED
Predisan (Guatemala). health wellness outreach. If a village wants
a clinic they must build a church facility, etc. Training for
health care,
Jellico, TN (Drs. Bruce and Dale Woodall and
friends).
Central Dallas Ministries does good development, but church
connection seems weak. Full community development cannot be done
without the church being in the middle of the entire process
transforming lives at the world view level.
Memphis Urban Ministry has affected 1000-1500 on the
outside with 100 in the church.
Development seen in the way the inner-city members themselves
organized a recent clothing effort. One big difference in Memphis
inner city is that the missionaries are there full-time serving as
a bridge between the donors and the local population. Some guys
buying up lots in the inner city and grow crops and selling. Also
micro-enterprises--second home-based jobs to add income.
In
Shakawe, Botswana a basket project was established then handed off
to another organization. The women were empowered to sell baskets
and therefore had money for clothing and shoes, bus fares,
etc.
Joseph Langat in Kipsigis (Kenya) to grow plantain bananas
and passed it on to the members of his church. Preached and prayed
and planted plantains.
Agricultural models in the Giriama of Kenya.
Well-drilling in Ghana (Traverse City, Michigan). Started
well-drilling project in 1987; raised the money for drilling; World
Vision did the first 15 wells, then Traverse City bought their own
equipment. The training from WV was so much more elaborate and
expensive. Church turned the work over and the oversight to the
large eldership of a local church in Ghana. This is "focused
development" that expanded to a larger base. Traverse City supports
six church planters who work with 200 congregations.
Ghana --primary health care training each year. The
students then establish clinic in their villages and become
self-sufficient.
Jos,
Nigeria, a preacher training program where preachers spend half
days in training and half days in vocational
apprenticeship.
Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya, ministry to street children
which takes in street kids, give them a shower, tea, lunch and
teach them Bible and also skills in various areas.
Impact, Houston, inner-city megachurch model (whereas PUMP
in Portland and MUM in Memphis are more neighborhood
based).
Micro-loans projects among women in Uganda; Oneal
Tankersley in Eldoret (Kenya); David Johnson at Faulkner
University.
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