What I love about our mission in Tanzania is not that we get to do some great stuff to help people there, but that we're helping churches be change agent in their communities.

Partnering with churches makes sense because it's an effective strategy for community development. That, and because I also believe in a God who want to use his church/people to be agents of transformation in our world. I believe in a God of mercy who loves justice and whose heart is broken by the plight of the poor and the suffering in our world. A God who entered into our suffering to redeem his broken creation through his Son Jesus Christ. A God who invites his followers to be his hands and feet and join in redeeming this broken world. That's a powerful reason to believe in the church as an essential element in community development. But I want to focus on why it makes sense to do community development through the local church from a practical perspective. Something we can all relate to regardless of faith or worldview.

Community development is most effective when it comes alongside people who are already trying to help themselves. It's empowering people who already have a vision and maybe even a plan and helping them achieve their goals. Sometimes a community might form a committee to address a particular issue. Like a community based orphan care center to give orphans an early childhood education and provide some respite for their extended family caregivers. Often churches are behind such community based initiatives. The local church is usually in a position of respect and influence. The church is aware of the needs in its community and it has a mandate to care for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the suffering. As an outsider it takes a lot of work to discover the story of a community -- who's who, the history of certain problems, what's been done, what's available, etc. That's why it makes sense to partner with a local influential organization that wants so see its community flourish.

Tearfund: The Church and Community Mobilisation Process from Aaron Koch on Vimeo.

This model for community development is what's exciting about the work we will be doing with Emmanuel International in Tanzania. Tearfund is an organization that has championed this model of community development and summarizes it as follows:

"Church and community mobilisation involves mobilising a local church to act as a facilitator in mobilising the whole community to address their own needs.

This approach is different from the ‘church mobilisation’ approach because, once the local church is mobilised, it becomes a facilitator rather than the provider. The local church seeks to envision and empower community members to identify and respond to their own needs, rather than meeting those needs for them. The local church therefore works with rather than for the community. The community is in control. The local church can provide ongoing support to the community, and the community may call upon Christian organisations for technical support where necessary." - tilz.tearfund.org

Umoja, which means ‘togetherness’ in the Swahili language of East Africa, is an exciting and transformational church and community initiative. It helps church leaders and their congregations work together with the local community to bring about positive change for the whole community.

Umoja helps local churches and communities build on the resources and skills they already have. It is a process that inspires and equips local people with a vision for determining their own future with their own resources." - tearfund.org

 

Most people in Tanzania are subsistence farmers. They grow just (not quite) enough food to feed their families. Many of them live in poverty. As a result, farming is not viewed as a profitable opportunity. Tanzania's youth don't necessarily aspire to be farmers. It's only a means to survival.

But what if farming could lead to abundance? If a career in agriculture could be profitable?

Agriculture can be an essential driver of economic development and an area of great opportunity for Africa's youth. However, most young people in the region do not see agriculture as a profitable opportunity. Photo by: The MasterCard Foundation on Devex

Increasing productivity and improving crop yields is essential for changing perspectives on agriculture and effective community development in Tanzania. By implementing conservation agriculture practices farmers can build the productivity of their soils through composting and mulching. By building up and taking care of the soil on their farms, the soil will become more fertile, maintain soil moisture, and protect the soil from the effects of the hot African sun and the torrential rains. Many farmers can't afford expensive chemical fertilizers but these fertilizers only feed their crops and do nothing for the soil. Improving the farmer's soil provides long-term sustainable productivity with minimal inputs. In addition, farmers can incorporate certain species of beneficial trees into their gardens through agroforestry and Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) to draw soil nutrients to the surface where they're accessible to crops, fixing nitrogen in the soil, and providing mulch, in addition to reducing soil erosion, providing a source of forage and fuel wood, etc.

These are just some of the practices that we might promote to help farmers in Tanzania realize abundance on their farms. You can be part of the transformation. Would you consider supporting our work among Tanzania's farmers?

read more...
devex: envisioning agriculture as a business for youth in Africa

Africa's beauty is rivaled only by her destitution, her richness in natural resources comparable only to the suffering of her people. Farming God's Way empowers farmers to break free from the bondage of poverty and make use of the natural resources that surrounds them. By empowering farmers to trnsform their farms into economiclly viable ventures, it moves farmers from sufficiency to abundance, from subsistence to surplus.

Last month we posted a diagram that showed the support we still need to raise before we can schedule our departure for Tanzania. Thanks to those who joined our Support Team in February, we are currently at 60% of our monthly support. We have another ambitious goal to get our support up to 75% by the end of March so that we can be on schedule to have all our support pledged by June!!

Would you consider joining our Support Team? Schedule a coffee with us if you want to learn more about our mission or download a support form to be part of what we're doing in Tanzania.