Transformsing Communities

I just finished teaching a course on "The Church and Development" at the bible school. I had 36 students - all adults, most were pastors, the rest were lay leaders or hoping to be pastors. The focus of the course is to teach sound developmental strategy (the right and wrong way to do things) yet in a way that brings it down to the level of the local church. Development and public health initiatives do not have to be huge, complicated programs. There are many things that local churches can do to promote and support health, but it can be a challenge to get pastors to think on a lower, more realistic level.
Towards the end of the course I had the students break into groups and discuss a problem, or a vulnerable people group, that they often see in their neighborhoods. They then had to come up with some realistic activities that their church, with its own resources, could do to have an effect on the issue. It was exciting to see what they choose:

• Educate their church and the surrounding community about tuberculosis and where to go for treatment.
• Reading classes for women in the community.
• A community educational program on malaria with a push for mosquito net distribution and a community clean up program (to clear away water reservoirs and grasses that attract mosquitoes)
• A program that would target teen-age mothers and teach them to read and how to sew.
• A program that targets Angolan refugees, who are mostly widows from the war. They would teach them "market Lingala", so that the women would be more self-sufficient in the marketplace.
  

Each program was integrated to touch not only the physical/social problem but to evangelize and disciple as well. I was so encouraged to see how the students had finally grasped the essence of the course - they could do something to address problems within their communities. And their efforts would not only help in the daily lives of the people, but would also serve as a means to show very tangibly the love of Christ.