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Citation: Fletcher, Abigail. "Using a Discipleship/Reconciliation Approach
as a Strategy for Development." BA Honours (International Development), Tyndale
University, 2020.

***** Begin Content ******




Running head: USING A DISCIPLESHIP/RECONCILIATION APPROACH AS A STRATEGY FOR
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Using a Discipleship/Reconciliation Approach as a Strategy for Development

Abigail Fletcher

April 23rd, 2020

Supervisor: Jacob Winter

Tyndale University




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Table of Contents

Introduction .... 3

Chapter 1: Definitions and Literature Review .... 5
Chapter 2: Reconciling Relationships .... 20
Chapter 3: External Reconciliation .... 30
Chapter 4: Research and Findings .... 35
Chapter 5: Recommendations and Suggestions .... 56
Conclusion .... 63
References .... 65


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Introduction

	A teacher came up to me while I was visiting his school in Ethiopia and we began talking
about the church’s involvement with the school and his involvement with both. As he talked I
heard him get most passionate about a discipleship group that he ran for students and parents
who had graduated from his school. It was that his work to create disciples in a community living
in extreme poverty proved the reconciled relationships he had with God and the people around.
The way his students and their parents talked about this man was as a friend, not a staff member
or someone disassociated with them as people. We prayed together that day, for his ministry in
Ethiopia and the sibling churches and schools at ICCM.

	Poverty has been described many ways including material, psychological, and a struggle
between power relations. In 2000, the World Bank conducted a study titled, “Voices of the
Poor”, researchers asked people around the world what it means to be poor, and what is poverty.
Individuals from both Global North and South countries were asked and researchers began to
notice a trend between the answers of the two groups. People from the Global North mostly
defined poverty as the lack of material things such as food, clothing, clean water, and shelter.
Meanwhile, people from the Global South responded differently saying that poverty is about the
lack of power to make changes in livelihoods, choices, and broken self-esteem and confidence
due to the endless cycle of culture and physical conditions.

	In “When Helping Hurts”, Corbett and Fikkert explain how the way a problem is
perceived shapes the way a solution is designed (Corbett & Fikkert, 2009). For years Westerners
have treated the problem as the lack of material properties and have used physical resources as
the solution. It has only been in recent years that development actors have been devising
solutions that address issues the poor deem the most relevant to becoming sustainable.




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	This thesis argues that poverty is the result of broken relationships, chapter one will
redefine the problem and reshape the solution for the future while examining other key terms
including: identity, disciples, the ‘other’, and reconciliation. Chapter two will explore how
obedience is a step to discipleship, sacrifice as a form of reconciliation, and equality to
reconciliation. These dynamics will provide further insight into how reconciling relationships
leads to development. Chapter three will recount how the Biblical narrative relates to
discipleship and reconciliation in the development world. Chapter four leverage field experience
working for two Christian development agencies to show how working towards horizontal
identity between people is restored because relationships are reconciled. Finally, chapter five will
give recommendations for how a discipleship/reconciliation approach to development can be
implemented by churches, organizations, and individuals.




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Chapter 1: Definitions and Literature Review

	Chapter one will provide detailed definitions of key terms for this paper to ensure
continuity of meanings throughout the rest of the paper and to help explain the full extent of why
this approach to development is the most effective. This will be done through a literature review
of the topics being discussed later on to provide coherent definitions to work with throughout.
The five terms being explored are: poverty, identity, disciples, the ‘other’, and reconciliation. I
start by exploring multiple perspectives on poverty to provide insight regarding the varying ideas
the terms encompass and to narrow down the definition being used for the purpose of this thesis.
Based on this definition the other four terms are vital to a full understanding of the importance of
why this is the best definition. Understanding the reasons these terms are defined in such a way
will lay the groundwork for an expanded understanding of the relationship between discipleship
and reconciliation and why they are the best options for doing development work.

Poverty

	In development, the nature of poverty is possibly the most widely debated subject by
researchers and development workers alike. Three of the most coherent understandings of
poverty are: material, psychological, and power-based understandings of poverty. The first set of
definitions do a good job of categorizing poverty that help establish more accurate strategies for
development workers. The second poverty framework gives depth to what poverty feels like. The
third understanding works to give reason as to why poverty exists and why it is so difficult to
eliminate. Although all of these definitions have their place, this thesis defines poverty as a
system of broken relationships because it is biblically aligned and true to the understandings of
those experiencing poverty.




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	For a long time, development actors understood poverty as either relative, moderate, or
absolute. Absolute poverty is the most obvious form, “being below the minimum level of income
required for physical survival” (Haslam, Shafer, & Beaudet, 2012, p.12). The income line for
absolute poverty changes due to inflation and economies around the world, as of 2015 the
absolute poverty line is anyone living on less than $1.90 U.S. dollars in a day (World Bank,
2015); this number is altered to adjust for those living in urban poverty where living situations
are higher, and is called “real live poor” (Chen & Ravallion, 2007). However, this does not
change the fact that three-quarters of the world’s poor live in rural areas, making the $1.90 USD
number the main indicator of absolute poverty (Chen & Ravallion, 2007).

	Moderate poverty is when people are making the minimum or just slightly above the
minimum of the poverty line, and finally relative poverty compares people within a certain area
to determine a poverty line (Haslam, Shafer, & Beaudet, 2012). Relative poverty, “does not
threaten daily survival” but it usually disallows the individual to have the necessary income level
to “fully participate” in the society in which they reside (Haslam, Shafer & Beaudet, 2012, p.12).
Relative poverty can be difficult to understand because in many cases, people from Global North
countries living in relative poverty are still better off than the majority of people in Global South
countries.

	Material definitions of poverty are good for people who are unfamiliar with the field of
development to help better categorize the different ways poverty can look, and design basic
strategies tailored to more than one group. However, the definition still remains an outsider’s
perspective. Psychological definitions provide a deeper insight into what it feels like to be poor
from the poor themselves. In 2000, the World Bank conducted a study on how people defined




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poverty, specifically what it is like to be poor. It was found that the non-poor in both Global
North and Global South countries usually defined poverty as a lack of material things. In
comparison, the poor tended to define what it is like to be poor with far more psychological
impacts such as poor self-esteem, voicelessness, and no power or choice to remove themselves
from their situations (Narayan, Patel, Schafft, Rademacher & Koch-Schulte, 2000). These
definitions of what it is like to be poor changed the way development work was being done by
agencies and actors all over the world. Programs began to incorporate self-esteem building under
the name ‘empowerment’, so as to try to help alleviate poverty in a more holistic manner. Before
the World Bank released the results of their study Amartya Sen came out with a book titled,
“Development as Freedom”, which defines poverty as “the lack of freedom to be able to make
meaningful choices to have an ability to affect one’s situation” (Sen, 1999). When an individual
does not have the choice to go to school, get a job, or do other simple things, it can be
debilitating to not just their physical and social position but it can also affect their psyche. If you
are not poor and you do not live in poverty than it is nearly impossible to truly comprehend the
psychological effects that can occur. Jensen (1990) explores the effects of poverty on children
attending school, he says that poverty is a “chronic and debilitating condition” resulting from
“adverse synergistic risk factors...affect[ing] the mind, body, and soul” (Jensen, 6). He quotes
Saudino who reports that, “behavioural geneticists commonly claim that DNA accounts for 30-
50 percent of out behaviours, an[d] estimate that leaves 50-70 percent explained by
environment” (Saudino, 2005). If a child’s environment is dirty, without positive adult role
models, unstable, and a list of other adversities, then their brains will actually change from what
their potential is in an ideal environment. Jensen says that, “brains are designed to reflect the




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environments they’re in, not rise above them. If we want our students [or whoever] to change,
we must change ourselves and the environments students spend time in every day” (Jensen, 46).

	Recognition of the fact that poverty is equally, if not more psychological than physical, is
a big step for development scholars but still leaves the question of what causes poverty. Many
scholars have used the interplay between the powerful and the powerless as an explanation of
how poverty is enforced every day. Most famously, Marxist critiques of a capitalist system that
uses a cycle to keep the powerful in power and the poor powerless have been influential in
development (Prebisch). Marxist theories of power relations places blame on those in power as
continuing to use various strategies such as the barriers to education, and providing minimal food
for energy, as ways to enforce power structures (Prebisch). Though the Marxist perspective is
radical, many Global North countries enforce their power to continue making themselves
wealthier and the powerless poor. Viewing poverty as an unequal balance between the powerful
and the powerless is not always a popular opinion for those in Global North countries as it places
a greater onus on the rich to change their lifestyle rather than merely continuing to give top-
down, capitalist enforcing hand-outs.

	In development theory, Marxist critiques have taken the form of dependency theory that
poverty is created through dependency. Dependency theory assumes that one country’s internal
structures are connected to the success and failure of others. Santos (1970) describes dependency
as, “a situation in which the economy of certain countries is conditioned by the development and
expansion of another economy to which the former is subjected” (Santos, 1970). Because of this,
dependency theory necessitates the global cooperation of both Global North and South countries
in order to thrive. Like Marxist theory, wealthy Global North countries would need to change
their lifestyles in order to create equality between all nations.




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	All of these concepts help to understand the causes, psychology, and perpetuation of
point of view. The Bible talks a lot about poverty and what Christ-followers should be doing to
help those in destitute situations. Throughout the New Testament God commands the church to,
“look after orphans and widows in their distress” or else “their religion is worthless” and to not
be “accept[ed] as pure and faultless” (James 1:26-27). The Bible links all three dynamics as
important to being a follower of Jesus. Myers, neatly sums up the Bible’s explanation for
poverty,

	Understanding poverty as relationships that don’t work for the well-being of all is
	consistent with the biblical story as well. The scope of sin affects every one of the five
	relationships that make up our lives; our relationship with ourselves, with our
	community, with those we call ‘other’, with our environment, and with God. Each of
	these broken relationships find expression in the poverty systems. (Myers, 2011, p.144)

	Broken relationships “don’t work...isolate...abandon, [and] devalue” (Myers, 2011,
p.75) people, thus creating the psychological factors that drive the mobility of people in poverty.

Identity

	The field of development started studying identity to help understand reasons behind why
people stay poor, even if they may have access to resources to assist the upward mobility of their
socio-economic position. In the most basic sense, identity is the way a person describes and
understands themselves and that drives motivation. Religion, culture, tradition, and internal
factors are all things that can affect identity. Kanninen (2002) states that religion, at its best, can
be a “great source of inspiration, authority, [and] motivation.within any community”
(Kanninen, 97), and at its worst, it can cause division, violence, and hatred between people




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groups. Prilleltensky (2003) adds that “unjust and oppressive power relationships” can also mar
the poor’s “potential for agency... and individual sense of potency” (Prilleltensky, 2003). The
result of a lack of or marred identity is a “degraded understanding of. .vocation” (Myers, 2011,
p.178) which leads to poor self-esteem and confidence. In the context of education, Jensen
(2009), argues, “low-income parents are often overwhelmed by diminished self-esteem,
depression, and a sense of powerlessness and inability to cope” (Jensen, 2009, p.17). Feelings
which become inherited to their children creating a further cycle of poverty.

	However, identity is not always negative, in ideal situations, identity contributes to a
person’s connectedness in their community, themselves, and to God. Understanding self-worth
means knowing what you deserve including at the most basic level, food, clothing, shelter,
respect. The reconciliation of identity is vital to letting the poor know they are worth more than
their conditions. Some may argue that external factors such as colonialism, racism, inequality,
etc.facing the poor are more impactful to their well-being than simply identity. Although these
things are major contributors to the situations and conditions of the poor, marred identity is a
substantial factor as well because it is often internal factors that drive people to make steps
towards meaningful change in their lives.

	However, it is not just the poor who have a marred identity, part of the reason there is still
poverty is because the non-poor have a blemished identity of who they are. Without God there is
less reason for the non-poor to care for the poor because there is less rationale to nurture equality
between groups if they (the non-poor) will suffer.

Disciples




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	The concept of disciples and discipleship is prevalent throughout the New Testament. For
the purposes of this thesis, the approach being suggested is based on that of a Free Methodist
organization, ICCM, therefore it is important to give context to the theology of the Methodist
tradition. Jesus calls twelve men to follow him, creating the first biblical “disciples”. Biblical
discipleship has been studied for centuries, with theologians such as John Wesley and Dietrich
Bonhoeffer writing many works on the topic. A Christian approach to development must include
discipleship to assist sustainability of aid through loving and caring relationships, provide
accountability to both sides of the relationship to constantly strive for the best, and most
importantly, to spread the gospel message in the same way Jesus did, through living life together.

	This thesis will be using Methodist based theological definitions to understand what
discipleship means, specifically to the Free Methodist Church in Canada and around the world.
The notion of accountable discipleship is also important to this understanding.

	Discipleship plays a vital role in Methodist theology. Fletcher defines discipleship as “an
intentional and organic process of formation through loving relationships marked by
accountability, commitment, education, and encouragement to serve”, he goes on to say that the
primary reason for discipleship is to “help nurture vital Christian community, to foster proper
worship of God and to help believers participate in His mission” (Fletcher, 2011, p.iv). This is in
line with the way Jesus worked to build his disciples in the Bible. The literal translation for the
Biblical word “disciple” is “follower” and “learner” (Gundry, 2012, p.90). In the New
Testament, Jesus calls individuals to follow him, live with him, and learn from them through his
every day life. Fletcher’s definition broadens “discipleship” by taking Jesus’ actions and
methods into account and by recognizing Jesus’ intentionality in choosing a few people to be
disciples in a mentoring fashion. Fletcher places onus on members of the Church who are already




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followers of Christ to call others into a life of discipleship. Manskar also examines the role of
people who are already disciples of Christ and expands their role through the idea of “covenant”
or “accountable” discipleship (Manskar, 2000). Manskar explains covenant discipleship as a
means of “simply help[ing] people love God and love their neighbour... as people grow in their
love for God.. .Christian community is built (Manskar, 2000, p.10), Like Fletcher, Manskar
places high importance on discipleship as a means of building and nurturing Christian
community, both in and out of Christian circles. By Jesus’ example, part of discipleship is living
in community and holding each other accountable to difficult things in life. Bonhoeffer (1959)
explains a danger of living without accountability in a discipleship relationship, by stating how
“if the disciples make judgements of their own, they set up their own standards of good and evil”
(p.184), and thus live outside of God’s plan for their lives. He also makes the statement that
“discipleship means adherence to Christ” (Bonhoeffer, 1959, p.59), which in itself is a covenant
relationship and that “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ”
(Bonhoeffer, 1959, p.59). In Jenning’s writings on Wesley he notes that,” Wesley did not
imagine that Christianity was something that could be practiced by isolated individuals. It
required community.” (Jennings, 124). Therefore, since Christianity requires both discipleship
and community to properly function and fulfill its calling, then there must be a more intentional
and accountable process than the Church presently uses. Engel (1975) explains how in the Greek
used in the Gospels and the book of Acts, the word used to describe Jesus’ relationship with the
twelve is, “Mathetes”, which, “denotes a pupil and continuing adherent of his master” (p. 66).
This works with Bonhoeffer’s ideas that discipleship is something that requires “continued
obedience over time” (Engel, 1975, p.66), not just a month long course like many churches offer
today.




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	For the purpose of this thesis, discipleship will be understood using a compound of these
definitions and ideas. Discipleship is an intentional process built through a community that is
accountable to each other and adherent to God, for the purpose of furthering his Kingdom. This
definition is shaped by Methodist practices which uses small groups to build relationships with
others and with God (Jennings, 1990).

The ‘Other’

	The importance of defining the ‘other’ is because without conflicting groups there is no
need for reconciliation. However, as history demonstrates time and time again, there are many
conflicting people groups, often in conflict because they are viewed as the ‘other’ and not in
relationship with one another. The ‘other’ changes from people group to people group as it
describes anyone coming from a vastly different culture, ethnicity, religious, or social
background than oneself. To a white Caucasian female from small-town Canada, the ‘other’
could be a Syrian refugee family. This thesis will explore broken relationships as the creation of
fear of the ‘other’ and its relationship to identity.

	In his most full sense, the triune God is a relational being, “the Trinity [is] a community,
a fellowship. The persons of the Trinity related to each other and always have done.” (Miller,
2001, p.201). If humans are made in the image of God, then it can only be assumed that we too
are made to be living in a community, a fellowship, a kingdom. Myers (2001) explains how if
God’s “essence” is relational, then how Christians understand sin’s impact also has to be
relational (Myers, 60), thus pertaining back to the definition of poverty above as a set of broken
relationships.




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	To understand how being part of the ‘other’ ascribes someone to poverty, the topics of
injustice and prejudice must be considered. At the root of both injustice and prejudice is fear of
the unknown person or thing to the one holding the perspective. Gira (2013) states how, “fear of
others.. .dominates and leads to aggression, to protect ourselves from those whom we perceive as
enemies” (p.124), even if that person or group has never done anything to be considered an
enemy. Canada is a unique country in terms of feelings of fear towards the ‘other’. In many
cases, people do not see individuals as the enemy/’other’, but rather as a “collective entity, a
social, ethnic, or national group” (Houtart, 2003, p.117). This is because fear becomes diluted
when a relationship is built, making “other” individuals less frightening and more welcome to be
a part of the “normal” group.

	Many scholars discuss the concept of the ‘other’, especially in contexts about broken
relationships. As discussed above, if poverty is at its core the effect of broken relationships,
understanding the concept of ‘other’ is extremely valuable in developing a way to eliminate it.
Although there are obvious differences between groups of ‘others’, such as physical features,
verbal accents, and sometimes even mannerisms, Gira (2013) points out that, “thanks to dialogue
we begin to realize that ‘others’ are not ‘others’ because they are different from us, but simply
because of who they are.” (p.125). Cultural diversity is a major factor when discussing the
‘other’ as it is the influencer and motivator to its people’s actions. Skin colour and language are
obvious classifiers of the ‘other’ but cultural ideas can create a more internal affect on people
who are trying to fit in with the ‘normal’ people. Cultural ideas can lead to a person feeling
isolated and less valued than the ‘normal’, in turn possibly leading to feelings of psychological
poverty. By viewing people as ‘other’ from oneself, there is a division of equality that




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unintentionally leads to poverty through the relationship tension created by stereotypes and fear
of each other.

Reconciliation

	If (as I established above) poverty is psychological/relational, we need to reconcile. There
are two main ways to view reconciliation, through a secular or faith-based lens. Both agree that
reconciliation is a process of restoration, rehabilitation, and rebuilding between at least two
parties. However, the split comes in regarding the actors and means of reconciliation. The most
influential agencies who deal with reconciliation are Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
around the world. The specific name changes slightly in each country, however, each one works
to bring closure to mass conflict and human rights violations. In Canada, the commission works
explicitly with First Nations people groups to meet seven goals, and has a very specific definition
on how reconciliation is, “an ongoing individual and collective process, and will require
commitment from all those affected including First Nations, Inuit and Metis former Indian
Residential School (irs) students, their families, communities, religious entities, former school
employees, government and the people of Canada. Reconciliation may occur between any of the
above groups.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). This definition is
decent because it suggests who must be included in a plan of action, however, it fails to actually
say what the end goal is. With a vague definition like this it leaves the reader to make
assumptions on the end goal rather than being giving a clear understanding. Vague definitions
also make success difficult or impossible to measure as it can never actually be stated that said
goal has been achieved.




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	In general, secular development agencies and scholars seem to associate reconciliation
with forgiveness and restoring friendship, or at the very least, respect between the two groups.
For example, the Dalai Lama (2003) explained reconciliation as needing to, “appreciate that
genuine peace comes about through mutual understanding, respect and trust” (p.51), this is a nice
sounding definition however, it lacks the explanation as to who this “mutual understanding”
must come between and the means in which “respect and trust” can be mended. Gonella (2003)
provides an even more vague definition for the word simply stating that reconciliation is, “to re-
establish friendship between, or to settle or resolve” (p.39). In the three views above, there is not
a lot of depth to the truth of the word reconciliation. This is not to say that secular or non-
Christian scholars do not recognize the effects reconciliation can have on a society, Zartman
(2003) writes how reconciliation must take place in order for “rebuilding [of] society-
communal, national, or international” and although it is an “instrumental value”, it is not a goal
itself (p.107). For Zartman, and these other secular development scholars, reconciliation merely
is a step in the process of development.

	In a Christian perspective, reconciliation is much more than simply respecting each other
and rebuilding friendships. For Christians, reconciliation involves the transformation of a person
to be joined with God, and out of that transformation, seeking to restore broken relationships
with people. Because our understanding of poverty is that of broken relationships between God
and us, people and people, people and their environment, and people and themselves,
transformational reconciliation is the most important part to eliminate poverty. In order to
understand reconciliation as transformational, the first phase is to restore relationship with God.
Ott, Strauss, and Tennent (2010) explain reconciliation as “directional” (p.96). The vertical
reconciliation process has specific intent for God to “reconcile all things to himself” in order to




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build his church, which is a sign of his kingdom (Ott et al., p. 86). Ott et al. then argue that it is
only, “on the basis of vertical reconciliation, [that] horizontal reconciliation becomes possible”,
that vertical reconciliation is “foundational to horizontal reconciliation” as it is the “overarching
purpose” of why churches should even do development work (p.97). Once vertical reconciliation
is established, horizontal reconciliation is able to take place and is extremely important because
development work often helps to satisfy people’s basic needs, which allows them to be more
open to restoring interpersonal relationships (Pilario, 2013, p. 69).

	Reconciliation with God is the first and most important action before effective
reconciliation can happen between others and the environment. Interpersonal reconciliation is
different than reconciliation with God because unlike God who loves his people unconditionally
and forgives upon true repentance, people do not love unconditionally. Gruchy (2002) explains
that, “forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation are deeply personal processes, and each person’s
needs and reactions to peacemaking...may be different” (p.27), meaning that reconciliation
processes need to be tailored to specific situations, this includes expecting different time frames
for areas with more damage. Reconciliation is different than forgiveness because it expects the
overcome of “past alienation, enmity and hurt”, it also demands that those participating in the
process learn to “relate to the ‘other’ in the present” (p.27). The Greek word for
‘reconcile’/’reconciliation’ in the New Testament demonstrates this relation to the ‘other’ as it is
a “compound of the words ‘to exchange’, along with another word meaning ‘the other’ (Gruchy,
51). Gruchy describes this translation well,

	The words thus carry with them the sense of exchanging places with the
	other...reconciliation literally has to do with the way in which God relates to us, the
	human ‘other’, and in turn with our relationship to ‘the other’, whether understood as an




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	individual person or a group of people...process of overcoming alienation through
	identification and in solidarity with ‘the other’, thus making peace and restoring
	relationships. Reconciliation has to do...with God making us friends.” (51)

	The idea of “God making us friends” is important because it highlights the need for
reconciliation between God and humans as the first step. This idea also makes room for groups
of people who have never been in peace with each other to reconcile with the other, unlike the
secular definitions above that account only for a rebuilding of peace between people.

	Finally, once there is reconciliation between God, there can be reconciliation with the
environment. This stage can happen simultaneously with interpersonal reconciliation because in
some cases, exhibiting a restored relationship with the land may help people be more open to a
relationship with those making an attempt. A good example of this is in Canada where many
First Nations people relate to creation in a deeply spiritual way, and so watching ‘others’ destroy
trees, lakes, land, that is so valuable to their culture, can be extremely damaging. Through the
reconciliation of people and nature, especially in larger environmental efforts, standing with First
Nations people could create a vital bond and respect. Lopez (2009) states that, “reconciliation
looks for mutuality in protection and care” (p.61), this includes between shared common areas.
Fikkert and Mask (2015) make a case that the destruction of the environment leads to the
eventual increase in material poverty (p.99), meaning that through reconciliation with the
environment, poverty can be greatly lessened.

	These three areas must be restored in order for reconciliation to take place. Reconciliation
is restoration between God and humans, humans and humans, and humans and their
environment.




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Moving forward

	These definitions lay the groundwork for further evaluation between Christian
development programs as they help to determine the needs of individuals and communities
around the world, the next step is to answer the question how Christian disciples can enact
reconciliation in the world. Chapters two and three will outline what this entails, followed by
chapter four which will present a comparative analysis on practical examples of this
implementation.




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Chapter 2: Reconciling Relationships

	It is because of Jesus’ example of making disciples to reconcile them to him that
reconciliation through discipleship is possibly the most effective mode of development.
Reconciliation is so vital within every community the church resides. This includes both peaceful
and violent situations. In order to enact reconciliation, the church must create a discipleship
culture. This in turn requires an understanding of discipleship as an act of obedience to Christ,
that involves sacrifice, and ends in equality through the reconciliation between God, people, and
each other. This chapter explores these three dynamics of reconciling discipleship in the context
of development. This builds toward a comparative analysis of two Christian organizations in
chapter four and finally, ends with practical suggestions for the future in chapter five.

	As explained in chapter one, within faith-based development agencies, there are a variety
of different approaches, some more discipleship focused and others more focused on material
relief. The most important difference is that the Christian faith understands reconciliation first
starting between God and people; and without God in the picture, truly transformative
reconciliation between others cannot occur. It is for this reason that discipleship is such a vital
process within the church, disciples and disciple makers are living and learning to live like Jesus,
which at its core is learning to be reconciled with Christ.

Obedience as a step of discipleship

	Bonhoeffer (1959) gives a simple answer to those questioning their ability to be or to
make disciples, for him reconciliation with God is obedience. When you are “disobedient, you
are trying to keep some part of your life under your own control”, he goes on to explain that “is
what is preventing you from listening to Christ and believing in his grace. You cannot hear




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Christ because you are wilfully disobedient” (p.69), and if you cannot hear Christ you cannot
learn from him, thus separating yourself from him and being his disciple. Throughout the New
Testament there is talk about how Christ “reconciled us to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:18, ESV)
and “reconcile[d] to Himself all things” (Colossians 1:20, ESV). To do development work
without being reconciled to Christ is to limit the transformation that could occur through
discipleship and reconciliation with him.

	Once there is reconciliation between God and people, reconciliation can begin between
people, the ‘other’, and the environment. “Poverty is the world telling the poor that they are god-
forsaken” (Christian in Myers, 2011, p.129). Development work can be the vessel for forging
broken relationships between people and the ‘other’. However, cultural shifts to create
sustainable change cannot occur without transformative power that only comes from following
Jesus.

Sacrifice as a form of reconciliation

	Faith-based organizations have a model of perfect love thanks to Jesus and part of that
love is true sacrifice. Secular development organizations make goals with the intention to make
everyone as equal as possible in terms of living standard. Although this is an admirable goal it is
impossible without some form of sacrifice on both sides. An example of this mentality is the
materialistic consumption followed by dumping of the clothing industry in North America. The
way fashion trends change so quickly results in enormous waste from the previous season’s fads.
The waste from the previous season is often sent to poor countries for further consumption, once
again widening the gap of inequality between people. Not only does this consumption and
dumping cause harm in the Global North, but it also destroys culture and industry in the Global
South. I have a friend who recently launched a fashion line in Malawi called Mfumakazi, with




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clothing made from local materials and employed by local people, her goal is to one day be able
to grow the company enough to create more jobs, contribute to the economy, and share
Malawian designs even outside of Malawi. However, if you were to walk through the markets in
Malawi, the majority of the clothing being sold is donated from North America. When locals are
able to purchase ‘newer’ styles for the same price or less than traditional styles there is a
decrease of interest for local clothing, no matter how beautiful. In cases such as this, the secular
Western world wants their cake and eat it too. There is no sense of understanding the need to
sacrifice nor a desire to give up pleasure, it is a classic case of the tragedy of the commons. The
word ‘sacrifice’ assumes a relationship or a desire for a relationship with someone or something.
Using the example of ever-changing fashion trends in the Global North, if consumers chose to
stop purchasing a new wardrobe each season there would be a decrease in demand and
eventually waste by designers. Designers would need to find new ways to reuse and recycle old
materials to create a more sustainable future, as well as allowing local designers in Global South
countries to be able to promote their ideas to assist the economy and overall development of the
country. If poverty is about broken relationships, then that means a broken sacrifice, at least one
side of the relationship is not sacrificing in favour of the relationship. Many Christian
development organizations understand this because of Jesus’ actions on the cross and the most
effective ones do discipleship and promote reconciliation between people.

	Secular development agencies rarely expect sacrifice from Global North countries when
trying to eliminate poverty, they see everyone as “locked into a system” compelling them to
increase that which benefits them without restraint- “in a world that is limited”; a world in which
“the individual benefits as an individual from his ability to deny the truth even though society as
a whole, of which he is part, suffers.” (Hardin, 1968). An example of this is with the 17




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Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations. There are 17 ambitious goals that do not
have much of a plan for completion besides giving responsibility to individual countries to focus
on and make changes specific to their countries. There is no consequence to countries if they do
not participate or do not meet their targets. Because of this, a few of the major power countries
do not follow through with their commitments at the world summits. For countries like the
United States, taking a meaningful stance against numbers 12 or 13, responsible consumption
and production, or climate action (Sustainable Development Goals, 2015), would require a
significant amount of time, money, and effort that they do not deem as a priority to their people.

Equality through reconciliation

	This section will draw on examples of the trinity and the early church to demonstrate how
reconciliation leads to equality between people groups. Historically, the ‘other’ has been
imagined through fear rather than embracing the possibility of positive diversity. Fear leads to
injustice and often aggression, “to protect ourselves from those whom we perceive as enemies
(whether real enemies or not)” and sometimes in this defensive stance to “avenge what we
experience as unjust (whether it is so or not)” (Gira, 2013, p.124). In a perfectly reconciled
community there would be no inequality or ‘other’ because the first Christian example of
reconciliation is the trinity. In the trinity God is not alone, it is because of his relationship with
the Holy Spirit and Jesus that he knows love. Being a community, the trinity relate to each other
as a perfectly reconciled identity (Miller, 2001, p.201). There are no levels of importance in this
perfect example, which means that as followers and learners of the Trinity, disciples should also
be living a life with no levels of importance between people.

	The relationship example of the Trinity is vital for Christian development workers to
follow, if followed wholeheartedly by development workers then paternalism of charity-based




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development could be eliminated. One of the best examples of an equal community is that of the
early church as described in Acts. The disciples and the early church promoted a culture of
equality through the community that they built. Acts 2 paints a picture of this community,

	And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking
	of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs
	were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all
	things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and
	distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple
	together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and
	generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added
	to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47, ESV)

	Verse 44 explains this reconciled community well, “all who believed were together and
had all things in common” (ESV), no social structures dividing the church, both rich and poor sat
as equal in the house of God. The early church community nurtured a culture of learning and
teaching (discipleship and reconciliation with God), taking care of its members (reconciliation
with each other), and caring for the poor (development work leading to reconciliation with
others). Although this is still true of some modern churches, many tend to forget and are less
active in certain categories. The reason for this relates directly back to the definition of poverty,
broken relationships between people. Gruchy (2002) sums up the thinking of the modern church
well by saying that,

	There is a temptation to think of the politics of reconciliation as largely confined to
countries and contexts where violent conflict seems endemic. When we do so we fail to
recognize the extent to which the need for reconciliation is something that is pertinent in every




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human community where alienated and estranged people cry out for healing and a reason for
hope (p.12).

	We should consider reconciliation as a way of doing development because at the core of
poverty are broken relationships. The restoration of broken relationships from European settlers
such as the harm caused by residential schools in Canada, and the creation of relationships
between the global community need to be made as the starting point for development. In cases of
historical harms there is a more obvious need for reconciliation as there is discernable physical
and/or emotional pain for all parties involved. However, applying reconciliation to groups of
people who have not been connected through some sort of historical tragedy, there appears to be
no need for reconciliation. This is where our definition of poverty becomes crucial, because if
poverty is the result of broken relationships between people and God, people and people, and
people and their environment, and we were created to reflect the triune God, then even people
who are seemingly disconnected are inherently connected through the Kingdom of God. The
better question is not about whether reconciliation should be applied to development but rather
how can you reconcile people who are not aware they are in a broken relationship.

	When in a healthy relationship with someone there is a regular channel of communication
and deliberate support between each group. In healthy relationships, there is a sense of equality
between all parties involved and no feelings of subservience to one person or group. This is
demonstrated by the Trinity relationship and reflected by the early church as described in Acts.
These are the examples churches should be celebrating and being intentional about building.

Reconciling relationships through a discipleship culture and the Free Methodist Church in
Canada




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	This chapter has discussed the role of discipleship culture as a mode of reconciliation to do
development work. The question still remains how this affects the Free Methodist Church and
how the beliefs of the Methodist movement as a whole exemplify this discipleship culture in
order to do development.

	There is a wide debate in the evangelical sphere around the role of social concern in Christian
mission. The Methodist movement was formed out of a great concern for the poor and using
practical tactics to show the love of Jesus rather than social hierarchies and rules with which the
Catholic church was so entrenched (Free Methodist Church in Canada). John Wesley held a high
regard for the poor and spent the majority of his time reconciling himself with them (Jennings,
1990). What became the Methodist movement was known for its outreach and care for those in
poverty. Eventually the Free Methodists rose with pillars of equality within their doctrine. They
differentiated themselves from the Methodists by making statements of “frees”. There are five
original “frees” the Free Methodist denomination used to distinguish themselves from the
Methodist movement, they are:

1) Free for all to attend

2) Free seats regardless of socio-economic status

3) Free from the domination of sin

4) Freedom of the Spirit

5) Free from binding involvements outside the fellowship of Christian believers. (Free
Methodist Church in Canada)




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	These five “frees” are a reflection on the importance of social concern (development) for the
Free Methodist church. Wesley understood the need for physical concerns aligned with the
spiritual well-being of people. In 2019, the FMCiC added six more “frees” that are more
contextual to the world today, they are:

1) Free to follow God

2) Free to experience community

3) Free to hope

4) Free to collaborate

5) Free to be courageous

6) Free to pursue justice (Free Methodist Church in Canada)

	This was done to improve accountability for Christians, and renew the mission of the church
in a more contextualized manner. Part of the way to fuse these “frees” together was through
accountable discipleship (Manskar, 2000), which holds Christians accountable to committing
acts of mercy and piety as part of their Christian life. More traditional and legalistic sides of the
debate of social concern in Christian mission often argue that it is not through works that a
person gains salvation, rather through faith in God. This concept can become an excuse for the
church and Christians not to do development work. Although an individual’s personal salvation
may not rely on works of compassion, by not participating in acts of compassion they are not
truly following the example Jesus led. This is because Jesus took care of the poor, and he taught
his disciples to be like him. You cannot be a disciple of Christ without following his actions




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(refer back to literal definition of “disciple”). The six “frees” are in a sense calls to action to be
like Jesus and to expand mere belief into a discipleship relationship.

	In my experience working at a Free Methodist Church this past year, I have noticed that
one of the biggest challenges for the congregation is the establishment and development of
intentional relationships with both each other and global partners. During discussions with the
chair of the mission’s team I noticed that our relationships with so called ‘partners’ resembled a
sponsorship relationship rather than a discipleship one. Reconciling development work could not
be done because very few people in the church were aware of the partnerships and even fewer
were even slightly involved with them.

	One-way development agencies could have a greater impact on people is to focus on the
process of reconciliation as the leader for strategy. Charity models inherently assume division in
social structures with one group being better off than another, thus needing to look-down and
help the lower groups (Fikkert & Mask, 2015). This enforces a victim mentality rather than
empowering people to help others as beloved, equal people. In chapter four, I will contrast World
Vision’s development model with International Child Care Ministries model run through the
Free Methodist Church. I argue that relational models are more effective in long-term
development than charity models due to the bottom-up, empowering approach in giving, the
amount of long-term support through Christ-like relationships, and the support for local solutions
with international churches coming alongside to enhance solutions based on local suggestions.

	This comparison will demonstrate an evolution in what reconciliation meant in the past
and what it means today for the development world. In short, reconciliation used to be limited to
people and groups who were in conflict at some point. I argue that reconciliation needs to occur
between all types of broken relationships for effective development to occur.




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	In the next chapter I will further the discussion on how reconciled relationships within the
church can be used as a vehicle for doing development work to those external to the Christian
faith.




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Chapter 3: External Reconciliation

	Chapter two established reconciling relationships as the primary task of the Christian
disciple as well as the theological position of the Free Methodist Church. Chapter three is about
reconciling relationships externally from the church to the “other”. There will be a brief history
of marginalized groups, followed by discussion on the importance of holistic development, and
ending with equalization between disciples.

	People who fall into the category of people on the margin of society are often most
affected by injustice and poverty. The most vulnerable ‘others’ are often found in marginalized
communities, isolated from opportunities to move out of poverty due to their broken
relationships with people in power. Many people in power manipulate fear of others as a reason
for injustice and inequality; for example, political leaders often choose a group or a person to
blame for certain problems going on in order to create a commonality between themselves and
the people they are trying to win power over. This causes a cycle of ‘other’ groups enforced
through relations of inferiority/superiority complexes. Discipleship culture in churches provide
opportunities to encourage identity in Christ, confidence in His work, and can uniquely equalize
people.

Reconciliation throughout the Biblical Narrative

	Abuse of power over history has created division based on implied importance of groups
and individuals over others, resulting in broken relationships and leading to conditions of
poverty, injustice, and inequality. This started at the beginning of the Biblical narrative when
Adam and Eve ate the fruit causing separation between man and God. In the Old Testament there
are several instances of power levels both within Jewish culture and in the ancient world.




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Unequal levels of power are shown throughout the Old Testament within Jewish traditions that
are seemingly accepted, and even enforced by God. Unequal levels of power are not the cause of
broken relationships, rather, it is the abuse of power by people not listening to God that is the
issue. God placed people like Deborah and Moses in leadership positions over the Jewish people,
today they are remembered as valiant individuals who served God without allowing power to
overtake them. It is also important to remember the cultural influences the people of Israel faced,
the nations surrounding them all had Kings while they had a Judge, they were the ones who
begged God to be like the cultures around them (1 Samuel 8:4-6). This demonstrates the human
desire for domination and control versus stewardship and reconciliation. God respected their
desire and gave them Saul, who ended up succumbing to ways of the world. It wasn’t until Jesus
came as a baby in the New Testament that he fulfilled Jewish law and levels of inequality to be
replaced with a newly created institution called the “church” which grew with disciples of Jesus
himself. The church was the first place where equality between those outside of Jewish tradition,
Gentiles, were welcomed and encouraged to become equal through their participation in the
church.

	Reconciliation began with Jesus demonstrating life among others through his choice of
original disciples, dinner partners, receivers of miracles, and friends. By doing life beside Jesus,
the twelve disciples learned what it meant to become equalizers between those in religious
traditions and the most unlikely others. After Jesus returned to Heaven, the disciples under
guidance of the Holy Spirit, cared for people like Jesus had and the church grew (Acts 2:45-47).
The mindset of Jesus and the disciples was not merely to save souls, like many modern churches
now seem to focus on, but also to care for the physical needs of the people (more on this in
chapter five). This approach deemed “integral mission” by the modern church is similar to what




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people in the field of international development call “holistic development” (Padilla, 1985). In
saying this, Jesus’ method of caring for people thousands of years ago has become one of the
most popular methods of development today. At this point we can begin to see a trend, Jesus
starts by reconciling people to himself through discipleship, said people work to encourage a
greater discipleship culture within their church community whilst also expanding outwards.

Holistic Development

	Holistic development is a term used within both Christian and secular circles to describe
development that helps people reach their full “physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional
potential...regardless of race, sex, wealth, or ability” (UN, 2017). In 2017 the United Nations
Commission for Social Development began publicly “urging [a] holistic approach to end
poverty” (UN, 2017). Holistic development can be difficult because of the focus on relationships,
people and material resources when there are so many immediate needs that must be met. These
concerns are valid as crises occur regularly that cause a great amount of damage to all aspects of
holistic development. A discipleship/reconciliation approach focuses more on
transformational/sustainability. The more people are invested in discipleship relationships, the
more willing they will be to help those they are in relationship with when they are in crisis.

	Holistic development works to reconcile disciples to ‘others' by creating caring
communities for all people to grow in and eventually take over. Holistic development creates a
culture similar to the internal focused discipleship culture of the church, only rather than
focusing on current members, it reaches out to care for all types of needs of everyone.

	The discipleship community learns to reconcile with those external to their membership
through the establishment of holistic relationships, including caring for physical needs. As long




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as people continue to pursue relationships with Jesus there will be support in the discipleship
culture.

	Through the meeting of immediate needs of others, disciples equalize themselves by
exhibiting that they have the same needs in life and understand the necessity to providing for all
types of needs a person requires. Equalization means to think of yourself and treat yourself in the
same ways you would treat others. Equalization between people is counter cultural in every
society worldwide. Every society has some form of hierarchy between people, some being more
obvious than others such as a monarchy, while others have village elders. Having a church that
does not fall prey to a corrupted hierarchy is so vastly different than what people understand that
sometimes even members of the church place people on pedestals thanks to certain gifts such as
preaching or teaching. When Jesus came to earth he equalized himself with everyone in the way
he was born and raised. In Philippians 2, Paul talks about how Jesus “humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death” as an example to humans on how to equalize to each other. Early in
the chapter Paul writes about how Jesus first reconciled himself to the Father before he came to
earth to reconcile himself to us,

	In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who,
	being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his
	own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
	being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:4-7)

	Equalization of disciples is something the church as a whole needs to work on, but the
end result is a community all sorts of people want to be a part of. Equalization should not be
someone bragging but rather taking a humble stance to be like Jesus.




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	This chapter has argued that being reconciled with Christ leads to reconciliation with
others, eventually leading to personal connections between people that result in a deeper care for
people when they are in crisis. In chapter four I will present research comparing International
Child Care Ministries and World Vision Malawi in terms of their ability to reconcile with Christ,
each other, and others, be a disciple and actively disciple others, and finally their overall
effectiveness in their development efforts.




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Chapter 4: Research and Findings

Methodology

	This thesis has been working to prove that the most effective development approaches
stem from the reconciliation of relationships between God, people, and the ‘other’, followed by
intentional discipleship relationships between both sides. In the upcoming chapter I will present a
comparative analysis study between the development models of two different organizations. A
comparative analysis study is a good approach for this thesis because there are currently no
statistics on the topic of using discipleship and reconciliation as a means of development. Also,
participant observation of the various aspects of holistic development can be observed and
understood through field work and meetings with staff officials. The first organization will be
World Vision Malawi, an individual branch off of one of the most well-known faith-based
development agencies in the world, the second is International Child Care Ministries (ICCM),
which is a smaller faith-based development agency based out of the Free Methodist Church in
Canada. This is an appropriate comparison because both organizations have similar goals, work
with the same target groups (children), and use their Christian faith as a reason to do the work
they do. The biggest difference between the two organizations is the size and reach of their donor
base. World Vision Malawi has a significantly greater reach to donors because they are
associated with World Vision International. Whereas ICCM is much smaller with their main
donor base within the Free Methodist Church. I have completed internships with both of these
organizations (World Vision Malawi three consecutive months and ICCM one month in office as
well as three different country visits each one week long) and kept journals during my time at
each. During my time at both organizations I was also able to have many conversations with
main office staff, field staff, and participants of all countries. Due to the fact that I had limited




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time with each organization, I have supplemented by research with analyses of key documents
and statements from each organization. The research for this chapter will be based on the
mission, vision, and values statements, conversations with employees, and my personal
experience working with and visiting communities of both organizations. The research will
demonstrate the differences between a mainly material approach to development used by World
Vision Malawi versus the reconciliation/discipleship model of development used by ICCM. This
will be exhibited by the examination of four tactics used by development organizations, they are:
the approach used to give to communities, the length of support by the organization to the
community, the relationships between the community and the organization, and the formation of
the solutions chosen.

What is a charity model?

	A charity model of development depicts people as victims of their circumstances who
should be pitied. Critiques of charity models originate from academic research on people with
disabilities but can easily be applied to the field of development as both are presented with
challenging circumstances they must work to overcome. Retief and Letsosa explain that many
people in the disabled community (or developing world in this case) see the charity model
negatively since it often depicts them as “helpless, depressed and dependent on other people for
care and protection” (Retief and Letsosa, 2018). Although the effects of the charity model on the
people being “helped” are not the most effective in the long-term, the donors giving to the
charity model often do it out of compassion and desire to do something good. The intentions
behind charity models are often positive. However, this model also tells something about the
givers in this model. The desire to help is often mixed with a level of discomfort or uncertainty
to fully engage with those receiving the charity.




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	What does a charity model look like? In the broad sense it could look like most
development programs in the past 50 years. The main indicators that a project or program utilizes
a charity model are that there is one group or person that sees what they recognize as an issue,
and only offer free resources of supplies, money, and people to help solve the issue. When I was
working with ICCM in Haiti, one of the pastors told me that after the earthquake in 2010 the
world sent so many clothes to the country that the demand for Haitian made clothing was
eliminated. North American charity ended up destroying an industry that could have helped the
country’s overall economy in the long-run. Not only was an industry gone but a major cultural
artefact, traditional clothing, was replaced with North American trends. According to the pastor
North American “help” ended up creating a great loss of economic potential and culture. As
Corbett and Fikkert argue, in order to be truly helpful you have to step back and view the
situation through the eyes of the receiver (2009). A more positive example of the charity model
are disaster relief projects that enter to fulfill a specific need such as shelter for a refugee camp,
food after a natural disaster, or vaccinations and medical treatment after a health pandemic.
Relief works to relieve immediate suffering and provide the first step towards recovery. Charity,
like relief, is a temporary solution. This in itself is not a negative act to participate in, charity
becomes harmful when the givers begin to pity the receivers after a period of time has passed
and continue to provide temporary solutions.

	Although neither organization being analyzed follows a strict charity model, one does
follow a more material development approach. Thinking of this approach to development as a
continuum between purely relational and purely charitable, World Vision Malawi would be more
towards the charitable side, while ICCM would fall closer to the relational end. The difference
between a relational approach and a charitable approach is the end effects. With a charity model




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like discussed above the giving is not usually well thought through and results in harm to the
“helped” community. With a material development model the giving is thought through and
planned and the helped community is not harmed by the efforts in the process. The downside of a
material development model is that it does not establish ownership of the development projects
once the organization has left. In the following section I will compare and contrast between
World Vision Malawi’s material development model and ICCM’s reconciliation/discipleship
model.

Comparison of missions, vision and values statements

	An organization’s mission, vision, and values statements are its core motivators and
goals. Some organizations write broad, vague descriptions, while others are more specific. These
statements shape the mentality of the way the work is designed, planned, executed, and
evaluated. That is why this section will specifically examine the chosen words and wording of
both ICCM and World Vision’s mission, vision, and values statements. The table below contains
the three statements for each organization that will be referred to throughout the analysis.

Table 2: Mission, Vision, and Values Statements
 [ Please contact repository@tyndale.ca for Table 2 details. ]




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Table 2: Continued
 [ Please contact repository@tyndale.ca for Table 2 details. ]


Mission statements

	The first thing to make note of are the similarities between the two mission statements.
The most obvious one is the focus on children, the second one is less conspicuous and is related
to area. The two organizations are similar however, they use different strategies to approach the
issues.

	There were three major differences between the two mission statements. The first is the
assumed timeline, the second is the definition of care for the child, and the third is the end goal.
In World Vision’s statement they use the word “sustained”, which derives from the longer
development buzz word, “sustainability”. When development agencies use the term
“sustainability” they are referring to a community that can meet its current and future needs with




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little or no help, without barriers, and for the rest of time. World Vision’s mission statement uses
this word to explain the 15-year program model they use in their area programs. The goal is to
eventually leave the community with enough physical resources and knowledge on how to
maintain the lifestyle World Vision helped implement. ICCM follows a church model for caring
about people and instead used the word “developing” to explain their timeline. In this case
adding the ‘ing’ to the word “develop” is important because it assumes a continuing process as
the goal rather than one that comes to a stop. ICCM presumes that there will always be children
around that need “to grow their God-given potential”.

	The second difference between the two is the description of how the organization will
care for the child. World Vision makes their goal the “well-being” of children. This is a nice goal
but it is like saying a house is “livable”, something positive but can also have vast standards from
different people. At the minimum level well-being means meeting the basic needs of the
children. Maslow’s theory of needs contends that the needs at the bottom of the pyramid must be
met before the needs at the top could be met. World Vision does not include what level of “well-
being” they work to achieve, however it can be assumed by the work that they do that their main
focus is on the physiological needs of the child, followed by safety, and in some special cases
eventually making it up to the other levels on the pyramid if the 15-year timeline allows.

	Area programs have five basic areas that they work to develop, maternal and infant
health, education, water and sanitation hygiene (WASH), food security and livelihoods, and child
protection and advocacy. Some communities focus more on a few topics rather than all five, it
depends on the needs of the community as a whole. World Vision’s area programs are where
potential sponsor children are chosen from and are able to be sponsored until World Vision
leaves the area. Because the subjects of change are so large it is usually difficult to accomplish




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all five in the 15 years. WASH programs are typically easier to implement because people
recognize the need for clean water to survive, whereas a child protection and advocacy program
is about transforming a mindset. For example, when I visited the Chamba area program they had
a group of chiefs do a presentation on exterminating child marriages as part of a greater
initiative. Although the idea was excellent, teach the village chiefs to reject child marriages
because they have so much power, the execution of the chiefs presentation was nothing short of
horrific. In a review of the day later I wrote,

	As an organization entrusted to advocate for children, especially the most vulnerable
	children, WVM needs to ensure that any partner organizations do the same. The partner
	organization, does very important work and wanted to show off their success to the
	visitors. However, this was done in a way that exploited vulnerable girls by putting them
	on display under a sign reading, “Rescued from Child Marriage.. .Back to school”, in
	front of hundreds of their peers, and nearby village members. Part of this campaign is to
	de-stigmatize the girls going back to school and humanizing them instead of making
	them part of a statistic. By exhibiting the girls like a museum display, they are being
	objectified as something the Chiefs rescued, rather than someone who still needs
	protection. (Journal February 2019)

	Although the experience was terrifying for the girls being displayed, the story is a good
example of how difficult a change in a cultural mindset can be.

	ICCM does something uncommon for development agencies, they make it their mission
to achieve the top levels of the needs pyramid rather than the bottom. Rather than make the
physiological needs the main goal, they use the physiological needs to help enforce the other
points on their mission list. This is done by coming alongside the churches who do a lot of self-




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esteem, spirituality building and using those leaders as key figures in working to meet the
physiological needs such as education. Because churches and ICCM work together, it creates a
holistic system. In Ethiopia, the children attended the same church as their teachers, so there is
consistency within each sphere of the holistic development process for the child.

	The third difference between the two statements is the spiritual integration. Both are
Christian organizations and claim that their work is done out of Jesus’ commands and a love for
God and his children. In World Vision’s mission statement, they make no mention of God as an
inspiration for their work or as part of their goal in the future. This may be because World Vision
wants a larger scope of people to appeal to for donorship. World Vision’s appeal to non faith
based donors is significantly greater than that of ICCM, so keeping more vague of a profile
allows them to continue with their current portfolio of donors and expand more rapidly.
Whereas, ICCM has a main donor base of members of the Free Methodist Church so they have
less consequences of using God clearly in their mission statement. For ICCM, having a child
recognizing his or her God-given potential and stepping into that is the end goal, the top of the
pyramid.

Vision Statement

	World Vision uses one sentence to epitomize their vision and leaves it very open to
interpretation by the potential donor. The phrase, “life in all its fullness” makes sense for both
nonbelievers and for Christians because everyone has their own idea of what a full life could be.
ICCM has a very specific vision with a high focus on kingdom building and church. The vision
does a lot to explain the discipleship model they follow for their programming by explaining
how the intersection between churches and Christians together will be supporting each other.




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There is an obvious vision of not only discipleship but also reconciliation between the church
and others.

	ICCM’s “reaching hundreds of suffering children around the world” does not mention
God and could also be open to interpretation. However, the difference is that ICCM’s mission
statement, which is usually read first, is more outward about it’s Christian basis than World
Vision’s.

Values

	There are a couple things to notice about the two sets of values statements, first the
number of values in each, second the way the wording of similar values reflects each
organization’s perspective, and finally how these values are actually utilized in their greater
development programming.

	The second point is examining similar values and how the wording reflects perspective.
The set of words I found most interesting were “Christian” with “value people” (World Vision)
and “community” with “Image of God” (ICCM). Both organizations make a claim to faith but
the two values are distinct in the words they chose. This enforces my thesis about how building
relationships and encouraging discipleship are the best way to do development because of the
words chosen. The word “Christian” has many connotations with it due to the number of
denominations it attracts, some with highly different values in themselves. One example of this is
the controversy World Vision U.S received after establishing a policy around the hiring of
Christians in gay marriages in 2014. The organization hade changed its requirements allowing
people who considered themselves Christians yet were in a gay marriage to work for the
organization. Immediately after, they received extreme backlash from many churches across the




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country as well as influential academic Christians like Darrel Bock at Dallas Theological
Seminary who called this action, “an act of betrayal of the nature of the Christian community”
(Peralta, 2014). Although some churches accept people living in homosexual relationships to be
members of their denomination, there are many who do not, yet both claim to be Christian. By
World Vision using the word “Christian” with no denomination attached allows for a wider
potential donor base without compromising their faith. ICCM expresses their faith affiliation in
several values but the most pointedly being “image of God”. This is a Biblical statement said
from God to human beings during creation and reinforced throughout the rest of scripture. The
value “image of God” demonstrates an appreciation for faith whilst also placing an equality
between donors and receivers. There is a reconciliation method with this term because it is
reminding everyone that they are created in the image of God.

	There is a similar contrast between “value people” (World Vision), and “community”
(ICCM). Both are related to people, however there is a difference between being valued and
being a part of a community. Being valued can mean a multiple of things, from being accepted as
you are, to being valued for something you do. You can be a value to a company without being
valued as an individual. World Vision also uses the word, “partners”, which brings slightly
greater depth to their relationship with those they work with. ICCM uses the word “community”
which delves further into what it means to value people by inferencing an embrace of people.
Prioritizing community reflects a reconciliation orientation because an inclusive community is
one of the best indicators of a reconciled group, or at the very least, a community that is making
an attempt to reconcile. Placing “community” alongside “the image of God” you get the
definition of what church should be, people doing life together, pursuing each other because they
are all in the image of God. Using World Vision’s words, “Christian”, “value people”, “partners”




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and a fourth, “committed to the poor” demonstrate a division of otherness by separating
Christians from the poor.

	There was one word that both organizations used in their values, stewards/stewardship. It
is fascinating that this is the only overlapping word and for both organizations it is near the end
of the list. This word is a common value for Christian NGOs especially because many donors,
especially non-Christian donors want to know that their money is not wasted with the
organization. So by stating “steward” as a value, the organization is advertising this as a priority
and skill.

	World Vision’s values have a positive intent but follows a material model by dividing
between workers, donors, and receivers. Others are created through the language being used and
are then pitied upon by wealthier donors. ICCM’s discipleship/kingdom building model
encourages equality between every level in order to achieve the overall end goal to help people
realize their God-given potential.

Comparison of Tactics

Table 1: Tactics
[ Please contact repository@tyndale.ca for Table 1 details. ]




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Table 1: Tactics Continued
[ Please contact repository@tyndale.ca for Table 1 details. ]




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Table 1: Tactics Continued
[ Please contact repository@tyndale.ca for Table 1 details. ]




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Explaining the tactics

	For many development agencies the goal of development work is sustainability for every
community. Whereas with a discipleship model of development there is a genuine and desired
connection through a shared love of God and building His kingdom that there are supportive
relationships rather than partnerships with a set end date. At World Vision Malawi area programs
are set in place for 15 years. The average age in Malawi is 15 (WVM annual report 2018),
meaning that there is a high chance that the majority of the village was under the age of five
when World Vision Malawi first came to their village. This means that by the time World Vision
is scheduled to leave the area, the majority of the community will not remember a time or what it
is like for World Vision not to be involved with their everyday lives. With a majority community
who does not have memories before World Vision arrived, it would be terrifying to hear that
they will be transitioning out of the community and no longer providing sponsorship for
education, food, or medical care. During my second last week working at World Vision I
attended a week long sensitization training workshop on transitioning communities out of the
program. Part of the training was to enter a community and spend time with the members
evaluating the results of the work from the past 15 years. There were hundreds of people who
attended the meeting so we divided into groups, my group was asked to evaluate how they felt
World Vision had done with education specific programs before they revealed the statistics they
had taken to compare various indicators. The community members responded extremely
negatively, always voting in the bottom 50% of the expected results when in reality World
Vision’s statistics were very high. There was a disconnect between what the community felt and
what the organization told them was happening. After talking with my supervisor who was the
Director of Quality Assurance, she told me that this is a common occurrence with transitioning




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communities because they want their program to be extended to continue receiving aid and
support for people, if they vote highly then they know that World Vision will remove themselves
from the community permanently.

	At ICCM there is a connection more focused on relationships between the organization
and the communities, which results in a sustained partnership. There is an assurance to the
students and families that there will be support, not just financial but also from their church
community. The fact that ICCM does not set an end on their support brings a great deal of hope
to those it supports. Some may question the level of sustainability this leads to in the long-term,
but that is possibly the most significant difference between the charity model and the discipleship
model. Discipleship is a continuous process to become like Jesus, churches supporting and
encouraging churches is a Biblical concept that should be continued. The early church rested in
comfort knowing the assurance they had that there was a community surrounding them to
support them holistically whenever they needed. Rather than acting as a simply an agency,
ICCM is being the church. During a conversation with the National Director of ICCM Canada
she told me about specific examples of strong church communities in the Brazilian branch. In
Sao Paulo there are very high rates of drug trafficking in the favelas, many people are addicted to
various drugs and will use their children to traffic drugs to different places. The ICCM church
recognized the danger it was for children to be both in the streets and at home so they started a
youth centre for children to hang out at during times they are not in school. The youth centre
provides a safe place for youth to play, study, hear about Jesus, and to receive something to eat.
The church began the centre to care for the youth in their congregation and extended the
invitation to the rest of the youth in the community. The church ran the program by itself for two
years before ICCM came alongside to support the program and be a part of the church initiative.




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Results

	Thus far I have distinguished the difference between the charity model and the
discipleship model of development, followed by information from each organization to
determine who follows what. The big question is if the discipleship model of development truly
is the most effective and overall best for the church to follow. The discipleship model alone may
not be the most effective and overall best model to follow in certain circumstances, such as those
without a Christian faith-based background. This is because although relationship, reconciliation
and equalization between others is important, without reconciliation between people and God
there are significantly fewer reasons as to why people should be equal and not strive to get more.
Without God people are left to their own will to do good work, which can work for a period but
is not sustainable over long periods of time.

	The results for which model is the best for development work is complicated. For the
purpose of the results section I am going to divide development into two categories, short-term
development projects such as disaster and emergency relief, and long-term development like
community programs. The majority of the discussion will centre around long-term development,
mainly because only World Vision participates in relief aid and ICCM does not have a main
focus on short-term development projects. However, just because ICCM does not support short-
term development projects does not mean that the discipleship/reconciliation mode of
development cannot at all.

	According to the United Nations, long-term development includes “sustained economic
growth, a foundation for poverty reduction, and social development” (United Nations Economic




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Commission for Africa). The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 categories for achieving
long-term development. At the main office for World Vision Malawi in Lilongwe they have a
poster of the SDGs in the main room as a reminder of the goals they are striving to reach. Both
World Vision Malawi and ICCM are working on numbers 1, 2, 4, 10, and 17, due to the larger
amount of resources and generalized vision, World Vision does touch a few more of the topics as
well but because ICCM does not it does not make sense to compare them.

	“To end poverty in all its forms everywhere” (SDG1) is a broader goal that will not be
achieved by one organization. It is for this reason that organizations working and focusing on
different aspects of development are so vital. ICCM’s main focus is holistic development with its
main channel being education, World Vision Malawi is more spread out with five focuses.
Although more children and people are reached with World Vision’s program, the quality of
education for example is significantly lower than ICCM’s highly rated schools. Perhaps if World
Vision focused on fewer goals they would have more resources available to meaningfully tackle
an aspect of poverty. “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture” (SDG 2), both organizations offer a daily lunch to sponsored children as
a part of the donor fee. World Vision also does other hunger elimination programs through
agriculture training and provision of resources, ICCM does not provide other training programs
specific to hunger because their overall focus is more on education. However, they do recognize
that malnourished children will not be able to achieve their full potential so they chose to add
one meal into the sponsorship daily.

	The fourth SDG is the prominent focus for ICCM and World Vision, “ensure inclusive
and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. In
discussions with my supervisor at World Vision Malawi about education, the things she




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highlighted most in terms of their program were the quantity of schools they had. Malawi is an
interesting case because there are a lot of schools available, however they are often extremely
understaffed and have outrageous numbers of children in one class, making it impossible to have
quality education (Antoninos, M., 2014). I had the opportunity to visit one World Vision school
in Malawi called Wanje Primary School in Nkhoma, which is just outside of the capital,
Lilongwe. The school had four classrooms and 300+ kids, the youngest who actually did their
lessons in the courtyard between the classes. The school was able to teach very basic material but
the teachers could not go into great depth because of the size of their classes. When I was in
Ethiopia I visited three different ICCM schools, each of them the same quality. Canada’s
National Director, informed me that the schools were actually ranked some of the top in the
country. Ethiopia is not the only country in which ICCM schools are so highly ranked, and it is
obvious why, at the schools I visited in Ethiopia all of the classes were under 30 students, when I
visited ICCM schools in Haiti and Kenya the class sizes were all small with one to two teachers
for each class. The quality of education offered by the program is phenomenal and many students
graduate high school and continue on with post-secondary education. The wording of the fourth
SDG speaks the language of reconciliation using words like, “inclusive”, “equitable”, and “for
all”. Technically the Wanje school was inclusive and for all, but it lay more towards being equal
versus equitable. Children with different needs and disabilities were all in the situation, making
classrooms a difficult place for teachers to cover all material. Whereas ICCM were equitable to
its students and had a higher quality of education, they were not “for all” because the costs of the
schools are higher unless covered by a sponsor. The execution of this SDG goal demonstrates the
values of each organization. Reconciliation means equality between people, no division in
treatment, in some ways World Vision Malawi’s method of inviting everyone to school is more




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inclusive of this, however, reconciliation between people also requires intentionality in
relationship which is more prominent is ICCM programming.

	The final overlapping SDG is number 10, “reduced inequality within and among
countries”. Both organizations claim to make efforts to reduce inequality through various means.
World Vision Malawi uses sensitization workshops to introduce equality between various
groups. Although there is a closer level of equality within Lilongwe, in the rural communities
that World Vision works in there is still a long way to go. During a field visit to Nthondo there
was a time for a presentation by the community members to the World Vision staff, the women
were seated about 20 feet away from the presentation area on a hill sloping downwards in the sun
while the men were seated right beside the area under a tree in the shade. In my journal entry
recording the day’s events I also wrote about the way each gender treated the other,

	“When the women did a presentation they made sure to speak loud enough for everyone
	to hear but when the men did they spoke directly at the men with their backs to the
	women and so quietly that I could barely hear them despite being 5 feet away”.

	The other interesting thing about the situation was that the World Vision staff were given
chairs in the best viewing spot, which does not sound overly troubling because in Malawi
hospitality is a major value, however, the staff accepted the separation between themselves and
the groups. The staff also received separate meals from the rest of the community with greater
amounts of food, some staff even helped themselves to two or three sharing’s of the meal after
they had eaten the regular food with the community. At ICCM there was a completely different
feel when it came to equality, for example in Ethiopia, during the student’s presentation to us at
the end the teachers, students, ICCM regional and national staff, and our group all sat together in
the same area with the same standards. The kids showed affection to not just their fellow




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students but also their teachers, the ICCM staff and our group. Boys and girls were never
separated and there was an air of confidence in their approach to us. Although the areas
surrounding the ICCM schools treated people less equally, within the school community
everyone was the same. This relates directly back to the value of “image of God” being shown in
practice.

	In these two instances World Vision Malawi’s showed little reconciliation between
genders, staff, and age groups. After 15 years of being in the community there was still a need
for gender groups to separate and not just to be with those of the same gender but in a way that
treated one significantly worse than the other. The men chose the stop under the tree and at the
top of the hill while the women were in the sun on a downward slope, that is a division of people.
The second reconciliation issue was the staff, the staff were placed on a pedestal in terms of
seating location and food quality. The staff had an opportunity to be counter cultural in the way
they treated people in the community but chose to accept the seats and enforce that they have a
higher level of importance to the direction of the community than anyone else. Finally, the
children went last to receive food and were given the worst seats during the presentation,
showing them that their place is below everyone else. Even if children being thought of last is a
cultural thing, it is not a way to reconcile or love people.

	ICCM’s story showed reconciliation between genders, staff, and age groups. Everyone
sat in the same area, shared the same food, and there was not prescribed order to who ate first.
The staff gave priority to the kids presenting and one even sat on the floor. The humble approach
these people had to life and hospitality allowed for historically culture stereotypes to be
diminished in replacement of friendship between all.




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	In chapter five I will provide a framework for the challenges of implementing a
discipleship/reconciliation approach to development, followed by recommendations for various
Christian and non-faith based groups to put this approach into action.




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Chapter 5: Recommendations

	Chapter four explained how horizontal identity is restored through the reconciliation of
relationships. However, this approach is not without risk, and its practical application remains
imperfect. In this chapter I outline some challenges that a discipleship/reconciliation approach to
development may pose, along with recommendations for both churches, organizations, and
individuals to implementing a “reconciling” approach.

Investing in Relationships

	The previous chapter compared two different modes of development, a more charity
based method and a discipleship/reconciliation focused method. One of the most unique things
about the discipleship/reconciliation approach is the equalized relational aspect it promotes. In
the long-run this is an extremely effective approach as it gives confidence to those being helped
that they always have support, and it gives those on the giving side a greater reason to be
involved with development work as they have a personal relationship and reason to help.

	However, like every relationship, discipleship requires work. Part of accountable,
intentional discipleship is walking with people through everything, learning to trust them with
your troubles, and accepting that both sides have things to speak into the others lives. This can be
difficult when the parties of the relationship come from completely different worlds and
understandings of the other sides.

	One of the reasons so many organizations cannot make a transformational difference is
because of their short-term mindset. Gladys Wathanga, a worker for Tearfund from Kenya
stated,

	I know that when I go back to Kenya my church will still be there, but I don’t know




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whether my development organisation will be. They are in today and could be out
tomorrow, but the local church is there for years. (Chester, 2002, p.12)

	Chester (2002) explains how “the local church is not just close to the grassroots, it is the
grassroots” due to its outlasting presence in a community both before and after development
agencies are present (p.12).

	For non-faith based organizations to adopt a discipleship/reconciliation approach would
be significantly more difficult as the highlight is Jesus, however, the basic structure of
mentorship and partnership could be possible. The reconciliation piece would be more difficult
as true reconciliation needs to stem from a relationship with Jesus first. People are too tied to
their emotions and feelings to be able to fully and truly forgive and reconcile themselves as
equals to other people without Jesus. Without Jesus there is no reason to think about everyone as
equals because in the mind or human justice it is survival of the fittest in many places. In chapter
two we discussed how Christians understand sacrifice as necessary because of Jesus’ death on
the cross, and without sacrifice from all sides of a discipling relationship there will not be
sustainability. In the most obvious sense, if everyone in the world were to be equal and consume
materials at the same speed and amount as those in North America, both the planet and people
would be in irreversible trouble. Equal material resource is not development, yet secular
organizations promote a mentality that all people should be equal and those who already have
should not have to cease their lifestyle. This makes development impossible without God.

FMCiC

	The challenge for the current situation of the FMCiC with a discipleship approach to
international development is the lack of active connections with churches in different countries




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due to lack of engagement with ICCM. Coming alongside a church and supporting it as a
partnership is difficult without connections as there is distrust on both sides, and there may be a
misunderstanding of intentions without a clear connection between the two. Although not
impossible, the effectiveness of starting completely from ground zero as a single church is
questioned versus using resources like ICCM as a starting point.

	This leads to the first recommendation, rather than trying to build relationships
completely from the start, be more intentional about using the resources already offered to the
churches within the FMCiC. This is an incredible opportunity for ICCM as there are over 150
Free Methodist churches in Canada that they can appeal to and try to connect with the 13
countries they work in. The opportunity is there but the mentality of disciple making,
reconciliation between people groups, and general relationship building have not been promoted
enough within the Canadian churches, resulting in a decline in church attendance and missions
work both at home and around the world. Using already existing networks will help alleviate
some of the initial trust barriers between international groups and provide other practical
solutions such as translators to the participating churches on both sides.

	The second recommendation for the FMCiC is to be more intentional about making
disciples by teaching people and leaders demonstrating how to be intentional about disciple
making both within their local church and outwardly into the international churches. Establishing
discipling relationships within local churches is not only good for encouraging deeper
relationships with Christ, but also as a practice as forming relationships with international
churches. This can be done through small groups where members are asked questions similar to
Wesley’s 22 questions or something else that challenges the mind, heart, and actions of a person
every day. Wesley’s 22 questions are questions that are meant to guide people about how to




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check in with those they are discipling or being discipled by. Examples of these questions
include: “did the Bible live in me today? Do I give it time to speak to me everyday? Am I
enjoying prayer? How do I spend my spare time?” (Welch, 2016) Personalizing and humanizing
the people from both sides of the relationship creates a care, love, and desire to encourage and
help each other. Discipleship can happen unintentionally through natural means, however, the
most effective discipleship relationships come out of intentionality which means that in order to
practice discipleship people need to meet and have discussion about personal reconciliation with
God and how that is being played out in the world. If both sides are actively forging discipling
relationships with both their local churches and with their partner international churches, then the
development work will occur naturally as part of being a disciple is taking care of each other’s
needs.

Organizations

	Up until now the discussion has been focused on how Free Methodist churches in Canada
could improve their development strategies through the discipleship/reconciliation process.
However, this thesis argues that a discipleship/reconciliation approach is the most effective
overall, not just for the FMCiC. The next question is, how would a charity based organization
could move towards a discipleship based organization? Christian organizations should partner
with local churches and build intentional, discipling relationships with the leaders and other
members before deciding to ‘do development work’. With churches especially it is important to
show that the relationship is long-term and that it will be a continued support in order to build
trust. After a relationship is built over time, work with the church leaders to establish problem
areas in the community and from there work together to design a plan to solve the problem.




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Making sure both sides are providing equal prayer and resources to the project will allow
ownership for both sides.

	Using World Vision Malawi as an example, there are already many established programs
across the country so there is a relationship and a platform. World Vision is different from ICCM
in the sense that it does not work with local churches, but does employ Christians. World Vision
Malawi does work in some communities that are primarily Muslim, which poses another
challenge to working with the local Christian church.

	In order to make a discipleship culture in an organization like World Vision Malawi the
focus should start with the staff, there are many ways this can be done and should be evaluated
based on context before implementation. Although they do host chapel services and Bible studies
a few times a week there are few people who attend them out of desire to be near God, rather the
majority attend because it is a break from work and it is mandated within the organization. This
is demonstrated by the lack of people who attend the optional Bible study when chapel services
are not happening. Investing in mentoring relationships within the organization would be key to
changing the heart of why people choose to work at World Vision Malawi instead of next door at
Plan International. This could be done in a few different ways, one being that each department
set apart specific time for praying for each other, asking challenging questions, and checking in
regularly. The departments at World Vision Malawi usually range from 3-10 people which is a
good size for a discipleship group.

	Besides discipleship groups in the office, doing simple things such as sharing a meal,
dancing, and praying together, for Malawi, to do this regularly enough that neither side feels the
need to make their dance, meal, or prayer in a performance manner is key. Although it is difficult
for main office staff to go into every village, the area program staff live in or nearby each




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community and could host a monthly prayer, potluck style dinner, or music worship night. This
would bring communities together as well as create deeper relationships between staff and those
they are trying to help. Having a monthly meet-up could also be something that visiting donors
could attend where they could informally get to know the children and communities that they
sponsor.

	Christian disciples are equalizers between people because of their understanding of
sacrifice, desire to create meaningful relationships, and willingness to take care of their
neighbours. The world of development work needs these kinds of people to truly make a
difference in the future of the field.

Individuals

	Finally, if the church is a collection of members creating one body, then individual parts
and members need to be functioning fully as well. To start, development practitioners should join
a small group that is actually accountable and intentional about meeting and challenging each
other. Another thing that could be done is to approach someone whose faith is something you
aspire to and ask them to be a mentor. By spending time with someone solid in their faith and
actions it becomes more natural to act like them. Lastly, continue the discipleship process. The
church will fizzle out if there is not a continued cycle of disciple making that is intentional on
both sides. Begin taking time to invest in other people around you by caring for physical needs,
offering emotional support, and asking challenging questions.

Conclusion

	There are ways to implement a discipleship/reconciliation approach at the denomination
level, within organizations, and as individuals. Reconciliation begins with Christ and ends with




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others, by taking intentional steps to make disciples and follow the actions of Jesus while he was
on earth Christians will have a unique approach to the field of development as a whole.




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Conclusion

	As globalisation shrinks the world, the needs of the rich and poor are drawing closer
together. With countries in the Global North rapidly advancing, and countries in the Global
South struggling to keep up, a relational approach to development as presented in this thesis is
more vital than ever. My Ethiopian friend had an excellent grasp on the necessity of using the
church as the main vehicle to drive development in his community. He recognized that the
church has a unique opportunity to do development differently by reconciling itself with Christ,
His vision, and intentionally creating disciples in their congregations. A
discipleship/reconciliation approach is important to development because it encourages a
reconciliation deeper than merely between people, it reaches first vertically to Christ, then
horizontally to those in your inner community, out to your local community, and finally to the
global community. The discipleship portion also advocates for mentoring, accountable, and
deeper relationships between each category you are in reconciliation with.

	This thesis argued that poverty should be viewed as the result of a set of broken
relationships. Chapter one defined key terms and laid a framework for how these terms are
important for the following chapters, this included in-depth definitions of poverty, identity,
disciples, the ‘other’, and reconciliation. Chapter two argued that reconciling relationships
between people and God (vertical reconciliation) must come first as Christ is the perfect example
of true sacrifice, equality, and humility. Following vertical reconciliation, horizontal
reconciliation can begin with people internal to the church such as church members and the
surrounding local community. Chapter three continued the idea of horizontal reconciliations with
those external to the church community, the ‘others’. Discussion on how reconciled relationships
between Christ, people, and ‘others’ lead to kingdom building explained the importance of




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external relations and ways that encourages development. Chapter four presented my participant
observations and other research between World Vision Malawi and ICCM Canada, showing that
development strategies need to be more than a list of programs but rather viewed through a
holistic lens with a heavy focus on creating disciples. Finally, chapter five concluded with
practical recommendations to improving and implementing a discipleship/reconciliation
approach to development for organizations, churches, and individuals. Chapter five presented a
number of different topics that could also be the inspiration for the direction of future research
under this subject.

	By reshaping the way churches see the issues of global poverty will help to shape the way
they respond. My teacher friend in Ethiopia was the first person I met in the field who lived in
such a radically reconciled way with Christ and lived it out so passionately by taking intentional
steps to making disciples every day. When churches are able to align themselves with Christ’s
heart for all people, they will be able to truly show Jesus to the world.




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