Principles of Development

January 27, 2007 by will.krzy.

I just finished with my course here in Quito that was put on by Wheaton Graduate school. It was called principles of development and was taught by Dr. Steven H… who is currently a missionary doctor in rural Bolivia. The course was attended by about 45 people involved with HCJB’s Community Development program and two christian Ecuadorian government development workers. It was extremely valuable material and I’m very glad for taking the course. It was taught in Spanish but there was an English translator. I did join spanish speaking discussion groups which was about 30% of our time so I did have some practice speaking and learned some new vocabulary relating to development.
The course was based on the book “Walking with the poor,” by Bryant Myers which called for a more holistic approach to development. It criticized the common approach to development as a means to solve the poor’s lack of material possessions and education. It promoted an approach that sought to understand the human being as multi-dimensional person, attempting to make people realize that the spiritual aspect of humans can’t be ignored.

It had many other much finer points that are worth mentioning. He calls for a redeeming of relationships as a kingdom response to the powerlessness of the poor. A redeeming of our relationship with the poor, a redemption of the poor’s relationship with God, with themselves, with their community (direct community, and authoritative community - meaning hierarchy of power and the rich). This biblical model of justice really struck me as very important. It makes me seriously question our countries view of justice. But anyway… there is a lot more to the book.

The Harrison family was kind enough to let me use the internet connection here at their house. I took some pictures of their house to show what a typical quito house looks like. It is very typical because it reminded me of many of the houses that I lived in while I was here.

So long for now. I hope to do another update soon. Love you all.

Will

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