Chapter Four: The Social Presence of the DCC in the City of Durban
4.9 Analysis of the three social interventions
outcast is a ministry "unto the Lord". He is a registered religious worker and regularly visits the Westville prison (west of Durban) to advise and encourage inmates. Naidoo commented that "the time in which we live is filled with great physical need not only spiritual needs". He explained that Jesus also took care of physical needs and asserted that he believes that the church must lead, in the area of caring for peoples' needs. According to Naidoo, "the government needs to see what the church is doing in order to partner with the church and trust the church".
Naidoo revealed that Christians were generally not open to assist a ministry that targets the rejected and maligned people of society. He added that only when people find themselves or their own family members in need or trouble do they realise the importance of a ministry that assists people who are misunderstood and despised. Naidoo recalled being criticised and rejected by many pastors because of his choice to locate his work in the heart of the "red light district".
Naidoo dispelled all negative voices due to his belief that he had been prepared for this kind of ministry through events in his own life and that "this was the call of God". Naidoo does not earn a salary and personally raises funds for the monthly upkeep of the Place of Hope. The DCC owns the property and Llewellyn Roberts preaches at the Sunday services from time to time; apart from this, the outreaches at the Place of Hope appear to be fairly independent of the DCC.
Accessibility by public transport is crucial for people from the poorer communities and the urban underclass120 to reach such programmes.
4.9.2 Youth Investment
A study by Cook (2000), dealing with the 'churches role in the resilience of inner city youth, reveals that young people who negotiate their lives in church rather than a gang, have a "better chance of avoiding prison, early pregnancy, and the numerous other outcomes that limit their ability to achieve health and happiness" (2000:2). According to my recollection and observations Pentecostals and Charismatics have placed a great deal of their investment in the youth. Gifford (1998:347) talks about the Pentecostal reordering of society for the benefit of youth. The investment has paid out in terms of keeping youth out of trouble with the authorities and creating high-level church attendance among youth who become young adults. The vitality of the DCC and other Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in the city is due to the ability of the church to be relevant to young people. In the case of the DCC much has been done to speak the language of the youth and portray a fresh, young image. This has not been so successful in mainline churches where Sunday morning worship services are attended by a few ageing congregants. Being part of the Young Missiologist Group and the Young Ecumenists Group of the World Council of Churches, I have participated in significant discussions121, which have raised my awareness of the declining state of youth affairs in many mainline churches.
The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Samuel Kobia122, has lamented the contest between "the Bible and MTV"123. The following report of
120 People who are unemployed, under-employed and without family or government support.
The under-class is considered to be below the working class in the class hierarchy. See discussions on class in Chapter 6 and 7.
121 These discussions took place in Rome, January 2005, and Porto Alegre, February 2006.
122 Kobia in an address to the Student Christian Movement of India in February 2007. WCC update: Between the Bible and MTV, see http://www.wfn.org/2007/02/msg00138.html
1 3 MTV stands for Music TV, an exclusive music channel for young people showcasing the latest popular music and delving into the lives of the pop celebrities and their assets. MTV is broadcast across the world in different languages.
Kobia's address reveals the potential crisis that may face ecumenical churches should the youth continue to drift away from the church.
Young people are the target of much modern media, while churches struggle to communicate to them, Kobia affirmed. "Even in the so- called Christian countries, the majority of the youth are Biblically illiterate but well-informed about the latest MTV programmes," he said, referring to the US-based music television network targeted at adolescents and young adults. The church risks "losing the younger generation to the infotainment industry". As a consequence, Kobia believes, and "unless something drastic is done now, the church will lose a whole generation of leadership," with dire consequences for the ecumenical movement. "Without the strong involvement of the youth in the church, the ecumenical movement will have no future,"
the WCC General Secretary underlined.
Most Pentecostal and Charismatic churches and the DCC in particular do not appear to be in immediate danger of losing a whole generation of their leadership. The strategy of the church, which is to become as appealing as possible to the youth who represent not only the churches' future but also the churches' present, is proving to be successful in retaining youth in the church.
Kobia would do well to investigate the strategies of churches such as the DCC when it comes to youth retention.
4.9.3 Hope124, the love of God and HIV and AIDS
Hope is a key theme in the ethos of all three interventions. People are given hope through counselling and encouragement in a group, personal or congregational setting. In the case of the DCC Hope Center Clinic it is significant that the new vision statement does not use the word "hope" but instead refers to the love of God as the message that needs to be realised or conveyed to the clients. According to Ruele in (Phiri125 2005:8) one of the questions that HIV/AIDS sufferers ask is whether God loves them. The inclusion of the love of God marks an important shift in the vision of the DCC AIDS clinic.
The alteration in the vision statement may be appropriate since I believe that, The theme of Hope is discussed more fully in the next chapter.
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while hope is important, the simplistic theology of hope in the context of crippling HIV infections and AIDS related deaths needs to be interrogated and reinterpreted in the light of the devastation caused by HIV and AIDS.
Concerning the preaching of abstinence, Phiri (2005:8) questions the churches' insistence on abstinence in the face of unrelenting HIV infections. For Phiri, (2005:8) the church is not "winning" with this message and the church in Africa must take a critical look at its interventions and statements concerning HIV and AIDS. In the case of the DCC, abstinence is marketed only alongside the power of God to sustain such restraint. From my observations, people seem to require God for the healing of their disease and not so much for the power to resist harmful behaviour. I believe that the DCC's adoption of the ABC approach, which includes both abstinence and the condom options, is realistic and at this point, the only sensible approach. The DCC's presence in the health sector does demonstrate the love of God to people who have deep physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
4.9.4 Maslow's hierarchy of needs126 and the DCC interventions
It is appropriate to discuss Maslow's hierarchy of needs at this stage in order to establish what human needs are being addressed by the DCC interventions. According to Maslow, human needs comprise the following, in order of importance:
1. Biological and physiological needs: air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, safety needs; protection from the elements, security, order, law, limits, stability. In the case of the interventions this level of needs is being addressed to some extent. The Place of Hope addresses needs pertaining to shelter, safety, limits and stability. In the intervention Youth Xtreme the issues of
126 See Feldman (1994:130). Maslow's original Hierarchy of Needs model was developed between 1943-1954, and first published in Motivation and Personality in 1954.1 it has served as the basic model of human needs till the present newer adaptations have been made in later years.
safety, limits and stability are dealt with. The Hope Center Clinic also meets biological needs since it is concerned with health and longevity.
2. Belongingness and love needs: family, affection, relationships, esteem needs. All three of the DCC interventions meet this level of needs, which constitutes the strength of the three interventions since individuals who pass through these programmes are co-opted into the DCC community and develop a new-found sense of belonging.
3. Self-esteem, achievement, independence, status, prestige, responsibility.
The addressing of this need is the speciality of the DCC interventions through offering hope and encouragement.
4. Self-actualisation needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. The interventions aid and contribute to self-actualisation by helping people to look beyond their present circumstances and envision a life of possibilities and greatness.
4.9.5 Mission and evangelism
During the period of my interactions with the three social interventions I was made aware that the underlying purpose of each intervention was mission and evangelisation. There were constant references to "winning the lost" or
"reaching the people" during discussions with those in charge of the programmes. This impulse stems directly from the evangelistic drive, which emanates from the church leadership. The church makes clear that it is not a social welfare organisation, it is a church, and as such is concerned with the core business of the church, which is "souls".
The motivation models127 for mission in the case of the three interventions include the Great Commission model, the Compassion model, the Resource- Responsibility model, and the Doxological model.
See James (2000).
4.9.5.1 The Great Commission Model
This model is derived from the text found in Matthew 28 and in the present case refers to the DCC's emphasis on "preaching the gospel", which underpins all three of the interventions. The preaching of the Gospel is their main purpose since such preaching is considered to be the primary reason for the existence of the church. The DCC believes that the Gospel has the power to liberate people from their burdens, sickness and shame and guide them towards an abundant life. According to the DCC, simple attending to physical and social needs will not be in the best interests of a person who needs salvation, hope and faith and Christian community to survive in an increasingly dangerous society.
4.9.5.2 The Compassion Model
The use of this model is evident in the case of the DCC Hope Centre Clinic where the compassion of Jesus for the crowds is used as a theological justification for the clinic's work. This compassion is inspired by the life and ministry of Jesus to individuals, families and entire cities. The compassion of Jesus himself serves as a key ingredient for the community ministries of the DCC. Though this compassion can become paternalistic, in the present context I have witnessed kind acts of caring, listening, empathy and understanding being demonstrated by the workers at the clinic and the other interventions.
4.9.5.3 The Resource-Responsibility Model
This model refers to the sense that people who have been "blessed" (to use the DCC and wider Pentecostal/Charismatic term) with resources are responsible for giving back or blessing others. The common expression used at the DCC to explain the resource-responsibility model is to be "blessed to be a blessing".
The church is certainly blessed with an above average resource capacity and while it does invest in the interventions in terms of human resources, physical space and finances, I believe that there is room for much more to be done to channel church resources into the expansion and effectiveness of the interventions.
4.9.6 The characteristics of community ministry
The social interventions are considered as ministries in the DCC. Hence it is necessary to discuss De Beer's (1997:54) basic assumptions in developing community ministry in order to assess the urban ministries of the DCC. The assumptions are that the ministry should be ecumenical, contextually aware, communal, holistic, creative, transformational, and nurturing.
In terms of a community ministry being ecumenical, De Beer (1997:5) sensibly suggests that the reason for a shared vision for the city is not only the biblical mandate of a united church but the logical reason that the challenges of the city are simply too vast and demanding to handle alone. In the case of the DCC the three social interventions are in limited partnerships with local government and business but there does not seem to be any kind of notable cooperation between churches in order to amplify the positive contributions of the three ministries to the city. The ministries are proudly marketed as DCC initiatives.
While it is admirable that the interventions are being conducted they would certainly display more reach, leverage, and productivity if other churches partnered with these ministries. This would then mean that the DCC would not be able to claim full credit for the ministry and I am not so sure that this will occur in the near future. The primary reason for the lack of ecumenical collaboration is that of the doctrinal differences between the DCC and other churches in the city. These differences keep the churches separate and suspicious of each other, at the expense of the needs of the people of Durban.
In terms of collaboration with other Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in the community ministries, this takes place on a limited, unsustained basis with nothing of any significance to report.
De Beer describes the strength of churches working together in a city for the benefit of the gospel and the city, as working together in order to accord prophetic witness more credibility and a firmer voice. When churches stand together on issues of injustice they can have a stronger presence and a more
effective voice. Churches, which collaborate, with other churches can do more than when they operate alone. In addition to this, evangelistic programmes can be facilitated with more integrity and sustainability.
De Beer's next point, pertaining to contextual awareness, is crucial. In the case of the three interventions there are strong signs that the church has taken up the specific contextual challenges of HIV/AIDS, youth mentorship, and offering refuge and rehabilitation to the poor. From my observations it became apparent that the coordinators of the three interventions possessed excellent practical hands-on experience of their ministries at grass-roots level. I am of the opinion that studies in contextual social analysis, research skills and urban ministry would revolutionise the present ministry outcomes128.
Ministry in partnership is De Beer's next suggestion since isolation from the rest of the city will not aid the progress of the ministry. De Beer (1997:15) succinctly describes the role of paternalism in the lack of effectivity in urban ministries:
Paternalism, classism, racism, and sexism also keep the church chained to traditional forms of ministry, which often make them ineffective in our rapidly changing cities. We look down on the very people who might lead us out of our captivity into new places and methods of doing ministry in the city. With paternalistic attitudes we prescribe rather than listen and in the process we lose very meaningful interlocutors (discussion partners) who could have opened new insights and avenues to the church with regard to ministry. The powerless, the poor, the handicapped and the marginal people of the inner city should not be dismissed as we engage with the city and reflect on ministry in the city. We need their inputs and involvements as we plan and act in the city.
De Beer 1997(1997: 17-19) lists urban-suburban, local-global, shared ministry, women and diversity, multi-cultural, mixed income coalitions, church community alliances and inter-religious partnerships as examples of ministry in partnership for effective and efficient urban ministry.
An excellent tool for the tracking, study, and evaluation of a community ministry is the praxis cycle. See Holland and Henriot (1983).
Power struggles and personality clashes and ideological differences have taken their toll on the DCC AIDS clinic. The image of Christian community ministry suffered a major setback when the clinic patients found that there was a legal battle over their files. Sadly, the people who are already suffering became caught in the crossfire of church politics at its worst.