Tag: economic development

  • Jesus Knew . . . And We Are Made New

    06.10.11 | Comment?

    by Chris Gough

    I have been a Christian my entire life, and I am starting to come to an at least hazy realization that Jesus actually knew what he was doing.

    I am not referring to the part where he would have preferred a different path than the cross, or how he had some sort of special understanding of the women at the well or even the foreknowledge of Judas and Peter’s denials. I am talking about his revolutionary conquering of the world through service.

    Galatians 2:10: “Do not forget the poor!” Peter says to Paul as they part ways. It is his one piece of advice, but Paul doesn’t need it. His response: “This was the very thing I was eager to do.” Somehow, Peter, the rock of the church, and Paul, the first and probably greatest theologian, understood that service to the poor was mission critical.

    What wasn’t said by Peter was, “Do not forget the poor, they really need our help.” Hmmm. I suppose he also didn’t say lots of things . . . but this particular hypothetical is something I have been thinking about. After all, there a lot of poor. A majority of the world’s population land below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day. Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats clearly implies that those who care for the poor are caring for Jesus and are saved, but the very next story in scripture implies that that is not the whole picture. A woman pours expensive perfume over Jesus’ feet, and the disciples remark that it could have gone to feed the poor (They remembered the parable!). But Jesus responds, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:8.  Poor disciples . . . they almost had it! Do we get it? Do I get it?

    It’s easy to get discouraged or disoriented in our faith; probably because faith requires testing. When we do not face tests, we question the value of faith, and when we question the value of faith we question its surrounding principles. And pretty soon we are in the massive flow of the world’s typical flimsy wisdom.

    I haven’t fully grasped scripture’s implication that Christ is seen clearest among the poor. It is all over God’s Word. So when Jesus’ own example was one of service, we find an unconventional, revolutionary worldview of service.

    “Do not forget the poor!” Peter got it, and so did Paul. So, put your faith to the test. Step out and see if God’s hand will transform. We could see this with the rich, but it is cloudy; credit could always go to their network, their resources, their education. The poor are clearer. In their stories God receives full credit, and the presence of His hand is unmistakable.

    So when Jesus proclaims that he has come to set the captives free, and then washes the feet of a “nobody,” we have to stop and acknowledge that this is an eternal wisdom at play. As we serve and care for the poor, we encounter God; and we will find that in it all, our own poverty is revealed and WE are made new.

    Jesus knew what he was doing.

    Note: Chris Gough is a worship leader at Bethany Community Church and taken a lead role in creating the Spilling Hope Compilation Volume 2, available for FREE download here: http://www.spillinghope.org/compilation-2. So check it out! Also, Spilling Hope Compilation Volume 2 artists will be performing a variety of live shows around Seattle in the coming weeks. Seryn will be at Sunset Tavern next Wedneday June 15 (http://www.serynsound.com/), Jubilee will be playing TONIGHT (Friday) at Skylark (http://livejubilee.org/calendar/), and Cahalen Morrison and Eli West will be at The Tractor Tavern Sunday, June 12 (http://cahalenandeli.com/).

  • Thoughts on Health & Economic Development, from World Relief

    06.02.11 | Comment?

    “How Can a Church That Cares About Health Change a Community?” by Maurice Kwizera

    The World Health Organization (WHO) uses a broad definition of health “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

    In Rwanda, WR is partnering with many local churches committed to address people health in broad sense – but with a definition that includes “spiritual health” as well.

    Before I share about their work, here are a few facts about health in Rwanda:

    Health Facts for Rwanda:

    ● 43% of households in rural area are headed by women, widows, or children.

    ● 19% of children under 5 are malnourished.

    ● 1 in 5 children will die before their 5th birthday – most from curable and preventable disease.

    ● 3% of adults have HIV/AIDS.

    ● Life expectancy is 52.7 years.

    Churches are well positioned to minister to the health needs of the vulnerable: more than 2/3 of the population attend church at least once a month. Churches are in the remotest areas where access to health care and information can be poor. The community trusts in church leaders and church members in general; any health initiative from them is recognized as a crucial component in successful delivery of health services.

    A church delivers health services with remarkable cost effectiveness: Churches are able to use their volunteers and influence to cascade information throughout the community in a short amount of time. Rwanda has many health success stories on this:

    Maternal and child health: In one district where World Relief empowered 2,800 church volunteers and 350 church leaders in community mobilization for maternal & child health, more than  29,000 households were regularly visited  twice a month for health education. As a result, the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets increased from 3% to 70% in the target population, severe malaria cases in district Hospital decreased from 570 cases (2003) to 108 Cases (2006), and annual death cases due to malaria among children under 5 years of age steadily decreased from 30 to 0 within a period of five years.

    HIV/AIDS prevention: World Relief worked with the local churches from which 5,800 peer educators were selected, equipped with knowledge and tools and then committed to the education of youth on HIV/AIDS. After 5 years, more than 373,000 youth aged 12-24 years were reached with knowledge and life skills for HIV prevention through small groups regularly meeting at church.

    Fighting stigma & traditional beliefs: Word Relief has also worked throughout the country to help churches overcome the stigma of AIDS and be a leader in the community at accepting the sick for who they are.  Also, church are fighting traditional beliefs and encouraging people to go to hospitals instead of “traditional healers.”

    Where a local church cares about health, a holistic healing is brought to the community.

    Photo: A volunteer from a local church helps weigh a baby as part of a nutrition and child survival intervention in Rwanda.

    (Maurice Kwizera is the community mobilization manager in WR’s Child Survival program and has previously served as manager of WR’s HIV/AIDS program.)

    ~~~

    “Why Is Economic Empowerment More Important Than Giveaways?” by Pascasie Nsanzabozwa

    We’ve all heard the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” As cliché as it sounds, the concept of giveaways versus economic empowerment is a huge issue in development work. In Rwanda, there are many people with serious and urgent needs and sometimes we just don’t have the ability or resources to take care of the root causes of their poverty.

    As we try to follow Jesus’ example of having compassion on the vulnerable, we instinctively want to help that immediate need as we are able. However, handouts are not going to create a sustainable skill and often rob those we try to help of the self-esteem and independence they could achieve from learning how to improve their economic development.

    “Savings for Life” groups in Rwanda are mobilized by church leaders. WR’s role is to train volunteers from these churches in how to train these groups to save.

    So how do savings groups work?

    1. 15-25 community members are mobilized by local churches to form groups.
    2. Groups meet weekly and each member deposits their weekly savings (usually less than $1) into the group savings fund.
    3. As the fund grows, members borrow from the fund to start small businesses.
    4. A social fund is set aside as an emergency grant for members who experience crisis.
    5. Group members add to savings between meetings using daily savings.
    6. Loans are repaid with interest and the savings fund grows even more!
    7. At the end of the 9-12 month cycle, each member receives their savings PLUS a portion of the interest collected. (They use these funds to pay school fees, buy livestock, and start small businesses.)
    8. The group then decides to disband or begin a new cycle. (Almost all continue for several additional cycles.)

    Because the church is involved, members learn more than how to save in these groups; they form relationships with others who are trying to lift their families out of poverty. Over time, they grow to love and trust each other.

    I visited a group last week called, Twitezimbere which means “let’s prosper.” The 20-member group, almost all of whom are women (78% of the program’s clients are women), are growing in unity.

    Hadidja, a Muslim member has been welcomed into the group. She has been inspired by how the group members, most of whom are Christians, love each other.

    Another women’s husband has been hospitalized for the past three weeks, and the group decided to donate the social fund to his family and spend time together weeding his cassava fields.

    These examples of compassion and caring for people who might have been strangers 2 months ago, is truly moving.

    These savings groups are giving a ministry to churches to empower people to help themselves – rather than making them dependant on support from outside.

    Photo: A savings group gathers at a weekly meeting to contribute to their savings fund.

    (Pascasie Nsanzabozwa is the economic development manager at WR Rwanda.)

  • Churches Growing Good Fruit

    05.28.11 | 1 Comment

    by Myal Greene, World Relief

    I have two guava trees in my yard. One I call, “the amazing guava tree” the other one . . . well . . . it’s not so good . . . actually it’s just bad.

    Looking at the trees you probably couldn’t tell them apart. That is until you taste a guava from each tree.

    Perhaps a trained agronomist could tell them apart by examining the roots, trunk, and branches. In my case everything I know about agronomy – I learned from Jesus:

    “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit” (Matthew 6:43).

    Now, I know Jesus wasn’t giving a lesson in how to grow guavas. He was talking about how our outward appearance is a reflection of our beliefs.

    At World Relief, we apply this principle to our work and how we measure impact. We recognize if you want to make a sustainable change in someone’s life you need to do more than just address the condition of poverty (the bad fruit) but minister to the whole tree.

    The metaphor of a tree is helpful in understanding transformation. A person’s beliefs are like the roots. This is the source of all nourishment of the tree. Beliefs influence their values, and then the values influence behaviors.

    Behaviors like branches produce the fruit or consequences of our life. Just like tasting guavas, the consequences of poverty can be seen.

    - A malnourished child

    - Someone suffering from preventable disease

    - A family living in economic poverty

      These things all break our heart. Instantly we want to “solve the problem” – buying food, giving medicine, or paying school fees.

      This approach is like adding sugar to sour fruit. It may make it taste sweet now – but the tree will keep producing bad fruit. Worse yet – people could become dependent on your help.

      We believe there is a better way.

      Let me explain using the example of our economic development program. As people believe God’s promises of hope for the future, they begin value God given dignity over dependency. They practice the behavior of saving resources for the future. As a result, their families are impacted – school fees are paid; small businesses are started with saved capital; medical treatment is affordable when illnesses arise. (The diagram below will help explain in a bit more detail.)

      Many times outside organizations will enter a community with projects focused on the consequences of poverty. You might notice immediate change, but after a few years it becomes hard to see lasting impacts. Local churches are better positioned in the community to lead transformation that targets the whole tree.

      Wednesday, Clemence Nkulikiyinka shared about how we measure church empowerment.

      We also measure impact in the community. We want to see families moving from disease, hunger, and poverty to health, food security, and opportunity. When the church is at the center of these efforts, the most vulnerable move from brokenness to restoration.

      In upcoming posts, some of my colleagues will share how this happens related to health and economic development. They’re not agronomists either, but they understand what a fruitful life is.

      Note: Diagram Adapted by Stephan Bauman from Lifewind’s “Good Roots, Good Fruit” model contained in their “Community Health Evangelism” curriculum.

       

      (Myal Greene serves as manager of program and resource development at World Relief Rwanda.)

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