Browsing by Author "Celesi, Mawonga Phaphile"

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    Partnership towards self-reliance : back to God movement of South Africa as a case study of holistic mission
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03 ) Celesi, Mawonga Phaphile; Bowers-Du Toit, Nadine; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Poverty is an enormous challenge that the church and the world face today, and efforts are being made across societal sectors by mission and development practitioners to overcome it. If holistic mission and development are to be realised, the Church and development practitioners have to partner with the poor in efforts to help them achieve self-reliance. Poverty alleviation through diaconal means, such as feeding schemes and soup kitchens, is beneficial in development, but it is even more beneficial when this partnership translates into developmental projects that help the poor do things for themselves and be self-sustaining, expressing and demonstrating their God-given qualities and talents in society. This study aims to demonstrate how the two components of the gospel mandate, evangelism and social development, complement one another and make mission and development holistic, rather than working in opposition, which is detrimental to the gospel. The poor are affirmed as worthy partners in mission and development, while the Church is affirmed as a strategic partner in the poor's journey out of poverty. This effort advocates for the poor in this partnership to be afforded space and an opportunity to express themselves as worthy mission and development participants. As a result, the partnership ethos that guides the partnership between the Church and the poor is being looked at with the purpose of cushioning and shielding the poor in the journey, as people who often suffer in relationships with development partners. In this study, the Assemblies of God-Back to God (AoG-BtG) church is used as a case study of holistic mission to see how it was founded by Nicholas Bhengu and ministry colleagues to intentionally grow in a manner that helps the poor face the challenge of poverty through self-reliance means and initiatives. The AoG-BtG church has two development projects women's self-help initiatives and the youth education fund. Many in the development sector see women and youth as the face of poverty since they bear the brunt of poverty in society more than males, as a result, this study focuses on developmental initiatives for women and youth, and because this is a mission and development obstacle that cannot be overlooked. The objective of this study is to figure out how the Church can improve its efforts to tackle poverty through a partnership that features comprehensive strategies that help the poor to achieve self-reliance. The argument of this study in Africa is that the African context and philosophies, such as Ubuntu and Black Consciousness, should have an impact on the operations and conduct of the Church and developers, contributing to the comprehensiveness of mission and development. The Church that examines and takes the African context seriously cannot do so while remaining oblivious to the scourge of poverty and the need to address it, and any effort to address poverty should be done in partnership with the very poor who need assistance, instead of being done for them.