CHAPTER THREE
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Dag Hammarskjold Institute (1975, p.7) development is seen as a big elephant with many aspects:
Development is about much more than economic growth that is, development is a whole: it is an integral, value loaded, cultural process; it encompasses the natural environment, social relations, education, production, consumption and well being.
Development is endogenous; it springs from the heart of the society, which relies first on its own strength and resources and defines in sovereignty the vision of its future with co-operating with societies sharing its problems and aspirations
Within church perspectives, the term is understood and defined according to the Vision and Mission of their existence. There are those who define development according to Evangelist Luke (4: 18 - 19) and or Prophet Isaiah (61:1 - 2) that is:
The Lord has chosen and sent me to tell the oppressed the good news, to heal the broken-hearted and to announce freedom for prisoners and captives (Luke 4: 18-19) The point of departure in this regard, being a person and this concurs with Clack (1991, p.36) who suggests that:
Development is not a commodity to be weighed or measured by GNP statistics.Itis a process of change that enables people to take charge of their own destinies and realise their full potential. Itrequires building up in people the confidence, skills, assets and freedoms necessary to achieve the desired goal.
This means development is a process of continual change, it is not straightforward or linear. It entails complexities, conflicts of interest and uncertainties. Within the SL framework, such complexities are known as 'development shocks' that of course might be man-made or natural shocks. Man-made shocks may include those related to the country's political instabilities and its economic and development policies whereas natural shocks include disasters such as floods, drought and plague. To manage the development process one therefore has to learn to work with uncertainty, subjective perceptions and values, flexibility and openness. The change process therefore is built on:
• A broader context in which we act
• A problem area or present situation which we want to change
• An objective or vision of the future that we want to achieve
• Choices about where and how we intend to move through time and
• Actions we want to be implemented.
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Another perspective of development is moral/spiritual, hence emphasis is given to the propagation of spiritual salvation. This is common to most of faith organisations.
Efforts are on the establishment of worshipping places rather than on boosting peoples' physical well-being (Narayan et al. 2000, p.229) and either they only focus on quick-fixes to programmes, such as attending to the sick, responding to disasters and feeding the needy which of course is part of the mission of the church. In the long run, however, this approach develops dependency and is contrary to an old Chinese saying that advocates: 'Do not give fish to a person but teach him / her how to fish. '
Based on the vision and mission of the ELCT and particularly on the vision and mission statements of the ELCT independent units (the 20 dioceses), the ELCT defines development as a change process that encompasses spiritual and material wellbeing (Mshana, 1986). This also agrees with the definition of the Bahai's on Development as reached out in their International Community Conference of 1996 which proclaimed that Development is:
An organic process in which the "Spiritual is expressed and carried out in the material world". Meaningful development requires that the seemingly antithetical process of individual progress and social advancement, of globalisation and decentralisation, and of promoting universal standards and fostering cultural diversity, be harmonised. In our increasingly interdependent world, development efforts must be guided by a vision of the type of the church and world community we wish to create and animated by a set of universal biblical values (Bahai, 1996).
The above V1Slon suggests that the church put people at the centre; after all, the strength of the church is the people. Contributing to such mission, Wilson (in Cochrane and West 1991) suggests that, the church, as an eternal organisation, should focus on humanity in totality. He strongly believes that:
Helping people to deal with the enduring of poverty in order to empower them is where the church must come in, but not in mere pity, as Christianity that focuses solely on the spiritual, which is not fundamentally concerned with human dignity and human well-being, is a ghostly Christianity (ibid. p.18).
Writing on the same topic, as was noted in the people's perceptions of the first Christian church as noted in Chapter One of this report, the first President of the United Republic of Tanzania, the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere said:
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Unless the Church, its members and its organisations express God's love for man by involvement and leadership in constructive protest against the present human condition, then it will become identified with injustice and persecution ... if the Church is not part of our poverty and part of our struggle against poverty and injustice, then it is not part of us (Nyerere 1973, p.214).
The above statements encourage the church to work for the benefit of the people.
How it has to be done, remains a paradox as the approaches and church models of proselytising such a development message differs from one church to another.
In some instances, development taking place can be measured by shifts in economic growth. Relative poverty and inequality within church members have also increased, thus making the idea of development standing like a ruin in the intellectual landscape.
Delusion and disappointment, failures and crime have been the steady companions of development.
To ease the planning complexities and to create a good picture of church development interventions, de Gruchy (2003) sees that development from a Christian perspective: it should be one that shares in the Trinitarian action of a God who seeks the well-being of creation. In other words development responds to both human spiritual needs as well as needs of work, bread, shelter and peace. Development then becomes aligned with spiritual growth that is built on Christian values such as compassion, servant hood, transparency, accountability, honesty, and integrity and that such development has to be of self-propelling, that is, it has to be sustainable with lasting impacts.