Runnymede Christian Fellowship, a church in Egham

Week 26 (25/06/2007)    Development through transformation 

Transformational development is about putting God in the centre of work with issues such as poverty, unemployment, social and political injustice, environmental problems and most of all, spiritual blindness. No programme can transform the life ofthe community in the way that God can!

Development implies the process of positive change. In the secular world, development is a traditional term for work to reduce poverty. However, in many people’s thinking, the predominance of material well-being suggested that a wealthy developed world had got it in comparison to the poor underdeveloped world.

Consequently, an often patronising and we know it all behaviour ruled in the development sphere. That, in turn, caused a massive loss of resources tied to the programmes that were based on a modern understanding of development economics.

The lending of funds was tied to conditions that often hurt rather then helped the recipient countries. The linking of development primarily with economic growth is a mistake that is recognised more widely now among development practitioners around the world.

Human life is not only about material well-being. Deprivation of political and civil freedoms, social injustice and spiritual repression contribute equally to the state of poverty we come across all too often. However, due to the sensitivity of involvement with such issues, they are often left out of the development equation. The avoidance of tackling the needs for social and spiritual transformation weakened the tools of poverty alleviation.

In order to address this weakness, the phrase holistic ministry was introduced. It was directed towards showing a concern for the whole person – physical, social, emotional and spiritual. Christian organisations increasingly used the term holistic, applying it to the ministry that treated all these dimensions. But then the term began to be used also by the secular development agencies and therefore could no longer serve as a definition of the distinctive nature of a Christian approach.

Spiritual well-being is an essential part of the welfare of individuals, communities and nations. Our Christian identity and faith shape our view of the development process. The faith-based (Christian) development perspective has come to be known as Transformational Development.