Team Building 4

One of the first ‘realities’ to confront us in our team strategy formation was the poverty around us…it was actually our theology reflections that proved most helpful…

Missiology helps us to understand poverty as a complex web of broken relationships: with self, God, society, and the environment. Lack of education is complicated by lack of nutrition. Lack of social justice is complicated by unjust gods. Lack of self respect is complicated by the lack of understanding why Creator God made me…and on and on. Bryant L. Myers’ book, “Walking With the Poor” has a great many insights on this subject…

Thus without a strong theology of sin, comprehensive explanations for poverty are hard to come by as it is sin that distorts relationship…

Our team strategy attempts to understand poverty as God sees poverty…

Team Building 3

“In what reality do we find ourselves? What is God doing here? How can I participate? These are all questions that put the missionary in the “seat of learning” prior to “the place of teaching” which is as it should be.”

[Following is a summary of Brian Davis’ article] Cultural change brought about by western influence, causes a domino effect. Going from a “barter” economic system to a “cash” economic system has created a “change in realities” among the Kaonde tribe. Now they have a category for “poverty”.

“Changing realities are only a tragedy if our methodology has been elevated to the level of “doctrine” and is no longer “flexible”. In truth, “changing realities” is one of the most dependable constants. For the missionary, changing realities often offer us tremendous opportunity to teach a “new way of understanding reality”!

“…even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4. KJV

Thus our team strategy must reflect methods – derived from theological reflection – which cope with the present reality of the Kaonde tribe …”