BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
- POVERTY AND THE BIBLE:
A NEW CHALLENGE FOR AFRICA
Poverty and the Bible mean that we should look to people in the poorest
areas from the perspective of the church being present there. In those
very poor areas, the church is always present. The presence of the
church in reaching out to one another in brotherhood and sisterhood
can become the frontline of poverty alleviation. Jayakumar (2009:157)
explains this fully: “We have drawn some specific lessons from the mis-
sion history. We have noted that the missionaries considered that minis-
try to the poor and the oppressed was not an option but an imperative.
They served the poor with the vision and hope of bringing change. The
poor shared their vision and worked alongside and changes were taking
place in front of their eyes. In the past, the approach of certain mission-
aries to the culture in which they worked, helped the poor to overcome
poverty and oppression.”
Where the church is present, they should look after one another in
brotherhood and sisterhood. The church should be present in looking
after the poor and the ill. This does not mean that the responsibility of
those churches that has much and can help those in need should not
also be proclaimed. Concerning Mangaung, Krige (2008:166-178) makes
the very important observation that churches should transform from
local congregations into community based resource centres: “It is obvi-
ous that to change the mindset of church leadership, development prac-
titioners and volunteers from both the poor and rich churches towards
adopting a transformational-servant-community-outreach model will
need an extra injection of grace and commitment.”
Bediako (1996:187) calls for a holistic approach wherein the church as
primary agent of God’s activity in the world is dealing with issues of
faith and social questions with integrity. The churches living outside of
the informal settlements, usually mainline churches, with a lot of
means, should be very interested in helping the people in the informal
settlements with all that they can do.
Majawa (1998:269-270) proposes ten recommendations for the church to
get involved in Africa’s poverty:
i. campaign against poverty and unemployment,
ii. create awareness about neo-colonialism,
iii. denounce dictatorial regimes,
iv. spearhead integral development,