Community transformation has cultural, political and religious dimensions. In the case of Burundi, it is ranked 188/188 on the scale of the world’s poorest countries. The poor in Burundi have a fatalistic attitude towards poverty as a result of the unstable political climate, corruption and a climate of suspicion. The poor are cynical and have no hopeful future expectations. The resourcefulness of the poor having been muted. The Christian church of Burundi has developed a culture of dependency. The role of the church in the West has been limited to lifting the poor out of abject poverty. A creative use of available resources and the participation of the poor through the recognition of their own resourcefulness and stewardship is a sustainable approach to the alleviation of poverty. Newfrontiers churches have developed the approach of equipping the poor as a mission’s strategy to participate in the
A distinctively unique missional approach is advocated by Evariste Ndayirukiye in which the sole aim is more than the realisation of the resource fullness of the poor. It is to lift them into fully functioning members of the body of Christ and to have them involved in effective mission. In this approach the poor are empowered to become fully participating members of the church and in the
The method of ‘mission from the ground up’ was used by Schreiter (
The approach from the beginning of the 18th to middle of the 19th century was called ‘sharing what we have’ which means sharing the developments of Western civilization, namely education, health care, agricultural technology and all other developments with the focus on passages such as Matthew 25 – the parable of the final judgement – or in Paul’s injunction of Diaspora Christians to contribute financially to the church in Jerusalem (cf. Schreiter
The approach from the middle of the 19th century was ‘mission out of surplus’ that allowed for all Christians to participate in missions through giving (cf. Schreiter
The image of curds and honey (Is 7:15) symbolises the food of the poor (cf. Motyer
a striking nurturing image – the reality of many cultures and national identities can be, in God’s program for the renewal of creation, a life-giving resource, an opportunity for mutual growth and encouragement. (p. 17)
It is an image of nurturing and provision that, for the poor who struggle with basic nutritional needs, reflects the nature and character of God as the sovereign God who provides for their most basic human needs, is revealed by means of the riches of the pagan world that would become tributary to the advancement of the true religion (Is 60:16).
The image of milk reveals God as concerned with the day-to-day lives of the poor and involved in every aspect of human life. Missionaries taught that it is necessary ‘just to do evangelism and save people’s souls’ (cf. Corbett & Fikkert
The approach of Roy and Hartigen (
Bosch’s missional reading of Luke begins in 4:16–30 with Jesus’ ministry, applying the kingdom mandate of Isaiah 61:1–3 to himself. ‘Jesus’ contemporaries would have interpreted Isaiah 61:1–2 in terms of violent political liberation’ (Goheen
how God’s heart for the poor is not just to improve their circumstances, but to lift them into fully functioning members of the body of Christ and have them involved in effective mission. (p. 21)
‘Luke’s Gospel does not simply “patch up” the lives of the poor by lifting the poor out of poverty to a better lifestyle’ (cf. Ring
A mission’s model based on Maslow’s pyramid of needs (Ring
The empowering of the poor is the ‘prophetic mission’ of Newfrontiers church that is a prophetic voice in a critical moment (Kairos) in the history of Burundi. The vision is to help the poor to develop a sense of ownership, God-centred self-respect and self-esteem. The mission’s approach of Newfrontiers is prophetic in that the poor are empowered to envision an alternative future through recognising their potential and becoming agents of transformation. The vision of Newfrontiers churches is to help the poor identify their skills and available resources. It is more than an approach of solidarity with the poor through self-actualisation; it is the empowerment by the Holy Spirit to become agents of active mission in their communities. ‘It is necessary for people to have a sense of self-worth and dignity in the process of change’ (Bragg
Newfrontiers is a unique network of like-minded churches
The socio-spiritual context of the Newfrontiers Pentecostal-charismatic tradition has enabled it to identify with the ‘poor’, a characterisation that, in Pentecostalism, is ‘a religion
A common vision and mission’s identity of Newfrontiers churches was established by Terry Virgo (
The response of Newfrontiers within the UK was the one-year Act 2000 Initiative (cf. Ring
Though our (local) church was keen on missionary work, it was never taught that ‘He will bring forth justice to the nations … He will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law (Is 41:1, 4)’. (pp. 120–121)
The vision of Newfrontiers went through a titanic shift from simply serving the poor in its own ecclesiastical structures to serving the poor and needy of the nations. Prior to this, ‘missionary work consisted of isolated stabs at Satan’s strongholds’ (Virgo
The theological assumption that underlines Pentecostal-charismatic missions is, according to Ma (
any transformation of society begins with individuals, and a change in a person begins with his or her inner (in this case, spiritual) being. This inner change involves not only a conversion experience, but also an encounter with God’s reality, often through baptism in the Holy Spirit. (p. 31)
In the Newfrontiers approach, mission’s failure is defined as ‘falling short of the glory of God’ and its objective is ‘to take full advantage of his grace’ in order to achieve a life of fullness, and not ‘to fall short of its full potential’ and miss ‘the mark of God’s high ideal’ (cf. Virgo
Although a small country, Burundi is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. The population and availability of land resources places it in the same class as Japan and South Korea. Burundi (10 745 square miles), is slightly smaller than the State of Maryland in the US, but it holds nearly twice as many people – about 10 million, according to the UN Development Programme which is roughly 40 % more than a decade ago (cf. Keenan
The poor of Burundi have the perception of limited economic resources and equitable opportunities for obtaining the necessities of life, education, employment. This perception contributed significantly to the genocide in Rwanda and the 14 year civil war in Burundi. It shares in the past dire economic poverty of Rwanda: the unstable political climate in which there were little or no foreign investments and poverty interventions, and so, combined with an on-going unstable political situation in Burundi, it continues to be the breeding ground of the violence and war (cf. Nothwehr
The image of being weaned off milk in Isaiah is used for those who have been brought up and nurtured in the knowledge of God and sound biblical interpretation, to whom God reveals his message. ‘Whom will He teach knowledge? And whom will He make to discern the message? – Those weaned off milk, removed from the breasts!’ (Is 28:9). The poor are the ‘downtrodden’ those who have been ‘wounded in spirit’ (Is 66:2).
‘Water buffalo theology’ is theologically contextual in an approach Kosuke Koyama calls to be ‘sandwiched between’ the Bible and the culture. ‘Sandwiching’ or what Lygunda Li-M and Van Aarde (
In order to engage with those whom he wanted to be reached with the gospel, ‘Koyame decided to read the Bible as if he was standing alongside a water buffalo in a rice paddy’ (Mouw
must then engage in a two-way exegesis, working at two interpretative processes: they have to interpret the questions and the answers of the culture in which they find themselves, and then they must bring those questions and answers to the Bible, in order to interpret anew what God has to say about such matters. (p. 18)
In the book of Isaiah, milk is an image for a holistic and integral ministry to the poor that characterises the reformed scaffolding and approach to them. Central to the reformed scaffolding is also a community transformation approach.
In the book of Isaiah, the essential ingredients for a biblical perspective of the poor is developed in terms of characteristics such as righteousness and peace. Righteousness and peace are what God will give and accredit to the poor.
The announcement and proclamation of peace is accompanied by the declaration:
of its conditions, of which the principle one is the observation and fulfilment of the righteousness of God – no peace without righteousness (Ps 72:3–7; 85:9–11; Is 31:17)! (p. 76)
Isaiah identifies the absence of personal righteousness in the nation of Israel and the people of God which was a root cause of the exile. The reason for the failure of peace is a failure to pay attention to God’s commands. If Israel had paid attention then ‘Your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the rollers of the sea’ (Is 48:18). Peace, as described in Isaiah 66:12, is what wayward Israel experienced after returning to the Lord. It is expressed through the image of a baby who has obtained the essential nutrients and comfort from drinking from the breasts of its mother (v. 11), an intimate image of God as a nursing mother.
One of the biggest health problems of the poorest of the poor is that the mother’s milk does not contain the necessary nutritional value to stimulate health development and growth in the child, because the essential vitamins and iron is lacking in the mothers’ diets. A result is that the mental faculties of the child are underdeveloped. In Isaiah 66:11 the image of a child drinking from its mother is used for the restoration of Israel’s relationship with God. Milk is a source of spiritual nourishment (1 Pt 2:2–3). It is depicted by the image of a sucking child who gets satisfied by the mother’s comforting breasts: ‘that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom’ (Is 66:11 NASB). The image expresses the restoration of the nutritional value of the milk and it depicts the restoration of the former glory of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the only city that has been destroyed more than once
[…] and you will suck the milk of nations, and you will suck the breasts of kings, and you will know that I am Yahweh, your Saviour, and you’re Redeemer and your Potentate of Jacob (Is 60:16).
‘Potentate is his absolute power to do whatever he wills’ (Motyer
Brent L. Myers (
Poverty is a result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious and enjoyable. His ‘understanding of poverty as a result of broken relationships affected by sin within ourselves, with the community, with those we call other, with the environment, and with God. (p. 87)
‘He highlights the fact that both the poor and the non-poor undergo poverty since they are all made in the image of God, are fallen and are in need of redemption’ (Myers
Material poverty alleviation is working to reconcile the four foundational relationships
The images of ‘Rebuilder of the breach’ and ‘Restorer of paths to inhabit’ (Is 58:12) have in view the restoration of broken relationships. Yahweh ‘saw that there was no man’ (Is 59:16) to intercede. ‘He felt appalled that there was no one to interpose’ (Is 59:16). It was thus the righteousness of Yahweh that accomplished salvation for him, sustained him and interposed. It is because of the righteousness of Yahweh that believers can be called ‘Oaks of Righteousness’ (Is 61:3).
Buys (
Community transformation is the reversal of sin, the restoration of God’s order in creation, and God’s intent for humans to be full image-bearers of God.
Community transformation through a holistic response to poverty takes seriously the effects of sin over all of life and the earth – the sin of Genesis 3 that alienated men and woman from God, from self, form others, and from the environment. (p. 90)
He (Buys
the Hebrew worldview and understanding of life as a total unit, not divided into spiritual and material world. This dichotomy or separation between material and spiritual world is a product of the Greek worldview and philosophy of Plato. (p. 299)
In the Hebrew worldview, relationships are the highest, while alienation is the lowest (cf. Sunquist
Community transformation takes ‘a good look inside before thinking about looking outside’ (Buys
One way of doing so is to enter into a covenant relationship for change between communities: a Christian church, as a covenant community, enters into a covenant with the community in need. The biblical warrant for such a covenant is given in Isaiah 42:6c–7:
And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, a light for nations; to open blind eyes, to bring out the bound from confinement, from the house of restraint those inhabiting darkness. (Motyer
Isaiah talks about “the role of all believers as priests in the New Covenant in Isaiah 61:6, and about the Gentiles, ‘“I will take some to be priests, to be Levites”, says the Lord’ (Is 66:21). Such a covenant can affirm both spiritual and socio-political involvement. It is an extension of the Lausanne Movements covenant in which, ‘we affirm that both evangelism and socio-political involvement are part of our Christian duty’ (Buys
The restoration of hope and confidence is central to an intervention with the poor. The Pentecostal-charismatic approach of Newfrontiers is led and guided by the Holy Spirit. This approach, however, does not preclude a carefully structured intervention and the stewardship of human and financial resources.
The approach of Newfrontiers in its intervention is, in essence, to enter into covenant relationship with Evariste with the goal to empower the poor and disadvantaged and to become ‘Oaks of righteousness’ by enabling them to become fully functioning members of society. The poor have lost all confidence in their own ability. The humanistic solution is to restore the confidence in their own potential, but the biblical approach is to create a vision of new or renewed confidence in God. Newfrontiers endeavours to open the eyes of the blind through the gospel to see the resources God have given them (cf. Ring
He (Ring
There should be an eternal dimension which they are exposed to, for only the gospel can bring about the heart transformation that will truly lift people into a place of hope and fruitfulness. (p. 7)
Although it is not specifically expressed by Newfrontiers, the vision for the poor is to restore hopefulness and remove despondency, because the poor are caught up in a cycle of poverty
A suggested intervention model with the poorest of the poor has to transform the hopelessness and address the fallacy that the problem is fundamentally the result of having no resources. A shift in self-perception and the recognition of personal resources and talents is an essential process to restore confidence and hope. ‘People need self-esteem to be fully human’ (Bragg
Poverty alleviation is the ministry of reconciliation: moving people closer to glorifying God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation. (Corbett & Fikkert
Healing from the ‘dependency virus’ or escape from the ‘dependency trap’ requires new processes to ensure renewed thinking and behaviour. Many intervention models or approaches neglect to introduce new processes. Two fundamental processes are necessary and essential (
The poverty cycle and the cycle of restoration and renewal (own research)
These processes form part of the intervention strategy and the success of it will depend on the planning and implementation thereof.
Planning a ministry intervention with the poorest of the poor is essential for a high likelihood of success. In
The first includes matters related to integration of the ministry in the local church, leadership of the project, and the spiritual impact it can make. The second relates to practical issues specific to the ministry, such as handling finance. (p. 4)
The success of a poverty intervention will ultimately rest upon the exercise of stewardship and in the fulfilment of the biblical mandate of stewardship (Gn 2:15; Ex 19:4–6; Ml 1:6; 1 Pt 2:5; 9–10, 4:10–11; Rv 5:10, 20:6).
The planning of a strategy of intervention necessitates an understanding of the historical context, the history, an analysis of the situation, and community participation and ownership. The community intervention milk project of Evariste Ndayirukiye’s is a concrete example of such a community owned project.
Burundi’s first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. Ethnically Burundi is similar to its better known neighbour, Rwanda that also suffered from the conflict between Hutu and Tutsi tribes. The 12-year civil war killed an estimated 300 000 civilians and severely affected the country’s economic and social development. It was ranked 184/188 on the scale of the world poorest countries according to the UN scales of poverty after the civil war.
Families are caught in a cycle of poverty: declining food intake, stretched government services (education and healthcare), little to no access to job or markets to sell goods or services. Now there is also an issue of dwindling land resources for livestock and agriculture. The problem is that, although the majority of the Burundian population are farmers, they have been marginalised by economic and government structures, and represent one of the poorest countries in the world.
The issue was how to empower a community without leaving them dependent and keep them from making decisions on their own. ‘People cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves’ (Nyerere
The community identified the following areas of material need:
Income generation.
Improved health.
Children and education.
The availability of time to work the land.
Employment opportunities.
Restoration of the land to become more fertile.
The restoration of dignity.
The needs identified by the community are ‘the resources God had given them – the people, each with unique gifting’ (Ring
Training was presented to help the community learn about the resources God had given them and how to produce for market
In order to transform the thinking of the Burundian people a practical demonstration was arranged: two Ankole and two Friesian cows were placed in the same pen and provided with the same fodder. The community then observed the significantly higher milk yield of the Friesian. This demonstrated that whereas the Ankole produced 1–2 liters per day for a few weeks after calving, Friesian cows produced 10–15 liters per day continuously. The community was impressed, although the demonstration was received with initial suspicion.
What began as a small project to help eliminate some of the ‘useless’ cattle in order to salvage more land for agricultural development, has turned into a wave of entrepreneurial excitement. A cultural value of entrepreneurship was cultivated. Each of the 100 families in the community bought a cow with the help of a revolving credit scheme. Those who owned cows, employed local people to grow the elephant grass for which they are paid. This required that the cultural importance of the Ankole cow was changed and the cultural practice of cows roaming freely for grazing, damaging the agriculture was ended. In the past the Ankole cows needed to graze for hours and the herds were often taken care of by children who consequently missed the opportunity of education. Families were taught how to take care of the cows they have, and how to collect and make use of manure for fertilizer. They were taught how to care for the environment and the damage caused by overgrazing. The transformation model was based on the poor making use of the resources available to them to become agents of transformation.
The transformation has resulted in a large number of people in the community being transformed. The community itself took the initiative to plant a church and embraced the vision of transformation for others.
In an intervention with the poor, performing acts of kindness and the goodness of the Lord must take place in a spirit of the love and compassion. It is only then that our intervention is an expression of God’s love. The intervention of Evariste has had a compounding effect and influence on the Burundian society which has been extended beyond the 100 families of his village whose economical and spiritual well-being has been transformed. The ‘knock-on effect’ has had compounding transforming effect on society (
The ‘knock on effect’ of the grass roots community transformation initiative of BBAC (own source)
The vision was to see community transformation to begin to take place and the fatalistic attitude towards poverty transformed into a spirit of entrepreneurship – all this to empower the poor. The approach of self-actualisation through participation in the
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
The ‘poorest of the poor’ is defined as follows; ‘by looking at a person’s standard of living relative to others in the community or nation’ (Grigg
The exhortation is about Jerusalem with whom they will be ‘exceedingly glad with her … all you who mourn over her’ (Is 66:10 New American Standard Bible – NASB). She is compared to a ‘nurse’ you will ‘be satisfied with her comforting breasts’ (v. 11 NASB) Jerusalem will drink the milk of nations.
‘Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles’ (Is 60:16).
‘And thou shalt know’ (Is 49:23).
‘And thou shall suck the breast of kings’ (Is 49:23).
Servant songs.
Isaiah 61:8–9 indicates what the signs are of the ‘everlasting covenant’: an offspring, known among the nations, and recognisable as the offspring the Lord blesses.
The name
Virgo (
This amount was used to ‘kick start’ many missions’ works throughout Newfrontiers (cf. Virgo
In Isaiah 59:9–13 wayward Israel confesses her sins and is restored in her relationship to Yahweh. ‘And the wayward in spirit will know discernment, and the grumblers will learn gratitude’ (Is 29:24). Israel will learn to revere the name of the Lord and hold it in terror (cf. Is 29:23).
The Babylonian and Roman destruction of Jerusalem.
References to the ‘eternal covenant’ (Is 55:3).
The relationship with God, with self, with others and with the rest of creation.
Jeffrey Sachs (Buys
‘Development is still top-down with stronger state controls’ (Bragg
This community owned spiritual transformation.
‘The starting point of mission must be the unequivocal recognition of the