Empowering destitute people towards transforming communities

2.5Mission as liberation

It would seem that theologies of liberation, such as South African Black theology, evolved in protest against the inability in Western church and missionary circles to grapple with the problems of systemic injustice. Liberation theology calls for the removal of the root causes of injustice – and it often requires revolution (Bosch, 1995:435). Gutierrez argues that to know God is to do justice, and is to be in solidarity with the poor (1975:51).
Liberation theology also developed an understanding and perspective of “God’s preferential option for the poor”. These terms were formulated at the Latin Bishops’ conference in Puebla, Mexico (see Bosch, 1995:435). The point here is that the poor are perceived as the first people (though not the only ones) on which God’s attention focuses; therefore the church has no choice but to demonstrate solidarity with the poor. At the same time the poor are no longer viewed as the objects of mission, but as its agents and bearers. This mission is, above all, a mission of liberation (Bosch, 1995:436; Gutierrez, 1996:143-145). Gutierrez (1988:xxi) boldly adds to this notion by defining liberation theology as “an expression of the right of the poor to think out their own faith”.
For Matthey (2002:4), a major contribution towards the understanding of the Missio Dei as experienced in contexts of suffering is the emphasis that in Christ, God has demonstrated an intimate solidarity with suffering people. “In mission, people encounter Christ in the midst of those who suffer, be it from political oppression or economic or ecological disasters”.
Liberation theology strives to liberate and empower the marginalized, where they are in the position of being unable to gain access to the power structures and resources needed to change. This obviously challenges the church. If we truly understand Jesus’ identification with the poor, we will experience a conversion in the way we do theology (Bosch, 1995:437-442). In the words of Gutierrez (1975:50), doing missions by way of a liberating involvement with the poor would “place us in a different universe”. Liberation theology also poses the challenge of a need for mutual conversion, that would also include the rich; a turning from the idols of money, race and self-interest (Kritzinger, 1988:274-297).
Missions with the destitute must by implication be liberating. The latter are marginalized, and often virtually powerless to change their situation. In such a context we need a theology of liberation that constantly brings about empowerment and transformation in the midst of the destitute and that opposes systemic injustice. In a sense the destitute have become the most marginalized people of the world and they need liberation more than any others.

2.6Mission as hope in action

Hope has always represented an important theme of the Christian faith. Christian hope is built on the experience of God in action in the past, while at the same time yearning for the final future manifestation of the triumph of God. This hope therefore should also alter the way we view suffering in the present – for Christians live as people of hope. It is because God already rules and because we await the public manifestation of His rule that we may, in the here and now, be ambassadors of His kingdom (Bosch, 1995:506-508).
This hope manifests itself primarily in the present; it causes action today: hopeful action, because we are assured of God’s victory and action, through the ages, today, and in the future.
Taylor (2000:126-127) highlights the aspect of choice in regards to this hope. He states that by choosing to believe that the world offers possibilities (in other words choosing for hope), possibilities arise where otherwise they would not have done so. “By regarding the world we know, marked by the chaos of insecurity and the normality and persistence of poverty and injustice, as promising and then acting accordingly, the world becomes filled with (God’s) promise”. We do not reap hope as a reward or as a gift, rather, we create hope by choosing to do so on the basis of what God has done and is still doing today.
The destitute are in desperate need of hope, since most of them no longer have any expectations. However, they do not need a hope that is merely eschatological, that talks about eternal salvation when I die. Rather, they need hope in action today, a hope that God is working in my situation; God wants to be involved with me; there are ways in which my situation can change.
We might think that it would be next to impossible to discover hope while doing missions with the destitute, but we would be surprised: they share many testimonies of God at work in their lives in the past, testimonies that challenge us to conversion and which become the foundation on which present hope is built. Even in hopeless situations, God’s hope in action can be discovered: the destitute demonstrate this truism over and over again.

2.7Missions as prophetic dialogue

Bevans & Schroeder (2005:348) aver that mission today should first and foremost be characterized as an exercise of dialogue. In other words, the church called into being through this mission must be a community that not only gives of itself in the service of the world and the peoples of the world’s cultures but learns from its involvement and expands its imagination.
Mission, as participation in the mission of God, can only proceed in dialogue, and can only be carried out in humility (Bevans & Schroeder, 2005:348). However, this humility must be bold (Bosch, 1995:489). There needs to be a challenge inherent in or a dialogue, a challenge to conversion, individually on a personal level, but also collectively on a systemic level of social justice and healing. Also, true dialogue presupposes commitment. It does not imply sacrificing one's own position: it would then be superfluous. An "unprejudiced approach" is not merely impossible but would actually subvert dialogue (Bosch, 1995:484).
The prophetic aspect of this dialogue refers to the upholding of hope, present and future hope as manifested by God in our world, a hope discovered together in dialogue with others.
In terms of the destitute, missions as prophetic dialogue challenge us to continuously enter into a dialogue with the destitute, where we together seek to realize the hope of God amidst human suffering.