by Naomy Rono, WCIU student
This “Reflection” is by a WCIU student responding a question about their personal understanding of the term, “international development.”
Read MoreBy Ralph D. Winter with Beth Snodderly
If Winter were living today, he might have asked, Is there is a future in mission for those the world now thinks of as “evangelicals”? Unfortunately, what the public is seeing from so-called evangelicals is not bringing glory to God.
Winter first reviewed the history of the evangelical movement in America that started with a theology combining both personal salvation and social responsibility that glorified God. During the early 20th century, evangelicals largely withdrew from efforts to influence society and focused almost exclusively on salvation and escape from this world to the next. But now, as Winter predicted, the evangelical world has again taken an interest in societal impact, although with mixed results.
Read Moreby Kumar Aryal
Corruption, lack of education, population growth, and natural disasters are the main causes of the persistent poverty in the Philippines. Evangelical Christians are visible in responding to poverty in the Philippines, but the majority of their programs and services meet immediate needs, which has the tendency to create dependency, instead of development, if continued over a long period of time. Evangelicals seem to have a very minimal partnership with the government, instead going directly to the poor to avoid a long government process, and not wanting government officials to pocket the money that should go to the poor. Compounding the inadequate evangelical response is that there seems to be a lack of collaboration among evangelical Christian churches and NGOs in responding to poverty in the Philippines.
This research shows that in addition to the four causes of poverty in Metro Manilla, there are four types of poverty. When economic, psychological, social, and spiritual poverty are addressed in an integrated manner, poor people will experience shalom, which is the goal of holistic development.
Read Moreby Brett D. Molter
Wherever there are communities of people living together, social injustice exists. One such social injustice existing in many of the world’s nations today is that of child trafficking. This article seeks to examine the plight of the talibé of Senegal in light of development theory and how it might address this most pressing social injustice issue. Furthermore, through exegeting Scripture, this article will address theological implications of engaging in social injustice issues and what followers of Jesus could be doing to aid in its eradication. Finally, suggestions will be given for future research concerning the plight of the talibé and how might the country of Senegal be further affected if this exploitation of boys is allowed to continue.
Read Moreby Paul Hiebert
If religion, anthropologically defined, is at the core of any lasting development, then what is the religion that drives programs of modern secular development? The answer is nationalism. The state does not speak for the cosmos, but for a community of people; it is inherently ethnocentric. … It is a secular religion that promises to satisfy human nature and succeed in its work. … National self-interest wins out over sacrifice for humanity.
Read MoreBy Kenton Moody
In this two-part reflection, a WCIU student doctoral student describes a few incidents showing some positive results, as well as dilemmas, resulting from his long-term commitment to a community dominated by violent gangs.
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