FOUR FEATURES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Rev Derrick Lau, Executive Director of MMS.

Over the past three decades, MMS has operated on a twin-pronged mission strategy of Church Planting (CP) and Community Development (CD). In the previous issue of Harvest Force, I shared that CD is primarily a ministry developed by the professionals and laity to bless the local community whom the Lord has called us to minister. The goal is to witness the transformation of lives in fulfilling the biblical mandate of loving God and our neighbours.

This second part of my article on Community Development highlights four key features that undergird our field entities and lend them their distinctive nature:

For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, (Isaiah 25:4)

INCARNATIONAL. The overarching strategy is to present Christ as God who took on human form and dwelt among men. This theological foundation hinges on expressing Christ’s presence among people with diverse needs, and more significantly, reaching the poor and marginalised in society. Just as Jesus had compassion on the people who were lost without God, and fed them bread and fish, our CD seeks to draw people to Christ. We believe that leading people to encounter the Living Christ through acts of love and kindness is a tangible form of presenting Jesus as the Incarnate One (cf. John 1:1,14).

IMPARTIALITY. As we mobilise resources to meet the socio-economic and spiritual needs of the people, we uphold the principle of impartiality. This suggests that a robust framework of assessment tools will be in place to ensure that the eligibility for receiving aid is fair and free from racial and religious biases. We value each person as created by God and to be intrinsic worth. We love because God first loved us (cf. 1 John 4:19).

INSTRUCTIONAL. In developing CD, we endeavour to provide resources to meet existential needs (such as food, water, and shelter). At the same time, we maintain that ultimately, there is a spiritual vacuum in every heart that can only be met through the grace and knowledge of Christ as Lord and Saviour. Paul reminds us, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28). And in this regard, we adopt a systematic mode of instructions for our missionaries and national leaders to get to know and understand the needs of the people and intentionally point them to Christ, their source of hope. Part of the instructional considerations is that of intentional capacity building by optimising the giftings of the recipients, equipping them with the end that they would become self-sustainable in the longer term.

INVOLVEMENT. CD is community-driven, though the initial set-up is supported and funded by churches and donors. The goal is to involve the nationals within the community itself to identify solutions and take ownership of them. CD focuses on equipping and empowering local leaders, rather than creating a culture of reliance and dependence upon foreign resources. This is a common strategy among mission agencies such as YWAM and OMF.

Local churches are mobilised to pray and provide human and capital resources for an effective and holistic CD engagement.

Local churches are mobilised to pray and provide human and capital resources for an effective and holistic CD engagement. This includes the ministry of evangelism, discipleship, and social concerns, to the building of a community where the love of God is expressed and experienced in a safe, nurturing and Christ-centred environment. Part of this engagement involves contextualisation. Darrell L. Whiteman states, “Contextualization attempts to communicate the Gospel in word and deed and to establish the church in ways that make sense to people within their local cultural context, presenting Christianity in such a way that it meets people’s deepest needs and penetrates their worldview, thus allowing them to follow Christ and remain within their own culture.” (cf. Contextualization: The Theory, the Gap, the Challenge. https://spu.edu/temp/ denuol/context.htm).

Currently, MMS is not structured for large-scale projects. We take small steps in assessing the needs of the people in the fields, and mobilise resources to equip and empower the nationals towards achieving selfsustainability in the longer term. Maybe in future, by the grace of God and with greater participation of Christian businesspeople and entrepreneurs, MMS will develop sustainability projects on a larger scale to help alleviate poverty and address issues such health, education, family life, and injustice.