Mission in the context of the poor with special reference to the Isipingo farm community, Durban.

• Main Author: Pillay, Jerry.
• Other Authors: Krige, W. A.
• Language: en
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Church and social problems.; Theses > Theology.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10413/6513

Mission is an ongoing process. It is essentially God's task of bringing the world unto Himself. Hence, mission must not come to a halt. However, the forms, principles and methods of approach in mission must be constantly assessed and re-evaluated. The changes in society will obviously warrant new missiological methodologies. The old way of "doing" missiology must become resilient enough to adopt itself to a new and changed situation. The change might be either positive or negative, either way the missiological approach must seek relevance. This is what this study hopes to achieve by paying particular attention to the situation of the poor. The central thesis of this dissertation is given in its title: "Mission in the context of the poor with special reference to the Isipingo Farm Community, Durban". It is our claim that Mission is an ongoing process. It is essentially God's task of bringing the world unto Himself. Hence, mission must not come to a halt. However, the forms, principles and methods of approach in mission must be constantly assessed and re-evaluated. The changes in society will obviously warrant new missiological methodologies. The old way of "doing" missiology must become resilient enough to adopt itself to a new and changed situation. The change might be either positive or negative, either way the missiological approach must seek relevance. This is what this study hopes to achieve by paying particular attention to the situation of the poor. The central thesis of this dissertation is given in its title: "Mission in the context of the poor with special reference to the Isipingo Farm Community, Durban". It is our claim that we come to understand the Kingdom as we hear God's call to us in the people and events of human history - in the critical and prophetic moments, the Kiaros of the now. Thus we recognise God's word in the poor who cry out for saving action on their behalf. We hear the message better when we find our place beside the poor, when we share the good news together. These people and events give us the message of the Kingdom today. The poor are the ones who suffer injustice through exploitation and oppression and bondage. Life is literally taken from them as they experience the concrete impact of sin. The poor are without recourse, and their resources are nonexistent. This world judges them to be beggars, destitute, burdens to the state. But the poor and weak of both the Old and New Testament are the referred of God and His justice; they receive the attention and compassion of Jesus. The poor are the persons open and receptive to God's gifts, dependent as they are on Him as the psource of life. On the basis of this biblical insight and the fact that the majority in South Africa are poor, it is our view that the church in South Africa should direct its mission efforts towards the poor. However, if the church is to do this then it is required to redefine its nature and structure. It has to bring itself in line with the ideals of the Kingdom of God (Chapter Five). Moreover, in this dissertation we argue the need for contextual analysis. We point out that we should not engage mission without first analysing the mission context. We then proceed to analyse the economic, social, political and religious conditions in Isipingo Farm, a poor sub-economic Indian community in Durban. Our intention here is to show how we can offer relevant ministry in Isipingo Farm after having determined the needs within the community. Our eventual aim is to posit some principles for mission amongst the poor in general. The intent of this study can be made even clearer in the purpose of each chapter: Chapter One attempts to do two things: Firstly, to present a broad view of mission, and secondly to argue for the need of the "contextualization" of mission. In Chapter Two we choose to look at a context. The context we choose is that of the poor. In this chapter we attempt to provide biblical justification for our choice. In Chapter Three we attempt to provide a socio-economic, political and religious analysis of a poor community (Isipingo Farm). Our aim is to show how one can relevantly minister in such a context after having ascertained the community's needs. In Chapter Four we attempt to look at the principles required for ministry in this poor community Isipingo Farm. How can we make our ministry effective and relevant? In the final chapter (Five) we attempt to redefine the role of the church in South Africa today, pointing out how such a view influences our strategies and methods of mission to the country's poor majority. What we attempt to present here is some new ways of looking at the mission of the church in South Africa in the perspective of the Kingdom, especially if we are to take the poor seriously. === Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1991.