Are Christian NGOs Different?
The article, “Faith in Development," written by Bryant Myers, Alan
Waites and Bruce Wilkinson in the winter/spring issue of the Georgetown
Journal of International Affairs, argues that the modern Western world
largely regards spiritual matters as separate from and subordinate to scientific
and material realities. Faith-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
on the other hand, embrace religion as a source of well-being as well as
an essential component of identity. They believe that the causes of and
solutions to poverty include the spiritual as well as the material. The
resulting distinct motivations translate into differences in organization,
administration, and function compared to non-faith-based NGOs.
Faith-based organizations believe in the spirituality of development.
In fact, faith informs the very definition of "development." Rather than
adhere to the Western world's definition of development on purely economic
or quality-of-life criteria, faith-based NGOs look for spiritual and moral
progress; the emphasis is on being more, not just having more. The cultural,
moral, spiritual, and religious dimensions of human life should not be
separated from the materialistic, economic, and scientific processes of
development practitioners.
Hence, many faith-based organizations are involved in the search for
a new paradigm for economic development that values solidarity and cooperation
as highly as it does wealth. Development that focuses only on the economic
or the material is inadequate. Rather, development must include the cultural,
social, spiritual, and political spheres, echoing the Hebrew tradition:
"Where there is no bread, there is no Torah, and where there is no Torah,
there is no bread.”
Faith-based organizations believe that development is a means to an
end, not an end in itself. The true goal is transformation. The focus is
not on transferring resources, building capacity, or increasing choices.
It is on changing people.
You can access and read the complete article on the Internet at http://data.georgetown.edu/publications/journal/1_4.htm.
