Download the article as a pdf file - Rethinking Mission

Can mission by an expression of
people’s experience of liberation?
Liberative mission in the context of poverty in Ghana
By Revd John Addo, a minister from the Methodist Church in Ghana and, at
the time of writing, a research student at Selly Oak Centre for Mission
Studies, Birmingham, England
Introduction
Doing mission has been the major preoccupation of the Christian Church since its inception. The
Church’s understanding, interpretation, praxis, and emphasis on mission has taken different forms
as she draws on particular contexts to make relevant her mission to humanity. This paper is a
response to one of the current missionary concerns of the Church that is ‘can mission be an
expression of people’s experience of liberation particularly the people at the margins and the poor
in Society?’ In addressing this concern, I will from my Ghanaian context, analyse the challenge of
poverty and the Church’s mission response in the light of the source of mission, the purpose of
mission and the Church’s liberation mandate as conveyed by missio dei and missio humanitatis
and the Bible. Liberation needs to be seen as a missionary objective of the Church drawing from
missio dei and missio humanitatis. These two mission theories will be held in a creative dialogue
to demonstrate mission as expression of people’s experience of liberation.
Mission, Liberation, and People’s experience explained
In the past mission meant propagation of the faith, expansion of reign of God, conversion of the
heathen and the founding of churches. 1 This understanding limited mission to salvation of souls;
but today, mission is seen as being ‚synonymous with movement. It stands for purposeful going
and doing.‛ 2 The purposeful going and doing understanding of mission brings into sharp focus the
need to identify the true purpose of Christian mission from God’s perspective and from our own
context. According to Bosch, mission involves ‚a sender, a person or persons sent, those to
whom others are sent, and an assignment.‛ 3 Mission thus implies fulfilling the assigned task of
making the purposes and intentions of God for humanity a lived experience for all, of which the
great commission and the great commandment work hand in hand. God's acts of love and
liberation in history reveals His intention for mission.
Liberation generally speaking is an ‘act or fact of gaining equal rights or full social or
economic opportunities for a particular group,’ 4 specifically to mission, liberation is an
‚understanding of the role of theology in moving from abstract to praxis, in which the actual
condition of the poor is the starting point.‛ 5 The definition highlights the role of theology for that
matter the Church in liberation of the poor in society; in this case mission becomes a tool of
liberation. Liberation as a missionary term was given full expression by Latin American theologians
particularly Gustavo Gutierrez.
According to him, ‚liberation expresses the aspirations of oppressed people and social
classes, emphasizing the conflictual aspect of economic, social, and political process which puts
1 David J.Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2006), p1.
2 Wilbert R.Shenk, Changing Frontiers of Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2003), p1.
3 Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, p1.
4 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberation (accessed on 28/10/11).
5 John Bowker, (ed) The Oxford Dictionary of World Religion (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1997), p577.
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them at odds with wealthy nations and oppressive classes.‛ 6 This suggests liberation as meeting
of aspiration of freedom, equity and prosperity. In effect, liberation is a missionary approach
emanating from the perspective of the poor and exploited intended to remove systemic injustices
and exploitation against them and bring fulfilment of life as God intended.
People’s experience basically implies their context demonstrated in historical realities,
social location, culture and philosophy of life which may or may prevent people from experiencing
the fullness of God’s love in their lives. Social structure in the world creates two groups of people,
those who experience suffering from exploitation and injustice and those who benefits from
exploitation and injustice. It is worrying that majority of the people in the world experience penury
while minority enjoy affluence, such is the case in Ghana.
The Challenge of Poverty and the Church’s mission response in the Ghanaian context.
Poverty is an undesirable reality that a section of Ghanaians having been experiencing.
Traditionally, it is a state of lack of basic material needs and infrastructure, emotional depression or
unfulfilled life. 7 The state of lack makes the poor vulnerable and bound compelling Sen to define it
as unfreedom. Sen asserts that poverty ‘robs people of the freedom to satisfy hunger,...or obtain
remedies for treatable illness, or the opportunity to be adequately clothed or sheltered, or to enjoy
clean water or sanitary facilities.’ 8 Indeed, poverty severely limits the choices that the poor can
make with respect to everyday living and put them under the sway of the powers that want them
poor.
In Ghana, it is estimated that over 28.5% live below the poverty line, 9 with poverty heavily
concentrated in the Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions. Research has revealed that
‘between 1992 and 2006, the number of the poor declined by 2.5 million in the South and
increased by 0.9 million in the North.’ 10 Rural Poverty Portal has noted a pervasive unabated food
insecurity and limited access to basic social services and safe water, bad roads, unavailability of
electricity and telephone services in many parts as manifestations of poverty in the three Northern
regions. 11 Beyond these, lack of school buildings compel some children to school under trees.
The corollary of these conditions has made rampant human trafficking cases, the
numerous kayeye 12 of Northern descent in the South, high school dropout and the several
chieftaincy and ethnic conflicts a regrettable feature of the North. These constitute real cases
of unfreedom, and injustice against the north. They creates crisis, bruise them emotionally and
denied them any imaginable comfort.
It is not their portion in life, neither is it a natural phenomenon nor the Will of God for the
people in the North to be poor; it was created by the political system and maintained by the
capitalist economy of the nation. It dates back to the colonial days where the colonial powers
neglected the North and concentrated infrastructure at the South because the North neither gold
nor timber for them to exploit. Successive governments and politicians have also paid lip service
regarding the development of the North. Instead of developing policies and programmes to
6 Gustavo Gutierrez, Theology of Liberation (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1974), p36.
7 Andrew Kirk, What is Mission? ( London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd, 1999), p99.
8 Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), p4 .
9 The World Bank, Data (Washington: World Bank, 2011). Available from:
http://data.worldbank.org/country/ghana (accessed on 11/12/2011).
10 The World Bank, Republic of Ghana: Tackling Poverty in Northern Ghana (Washington: World Bank, 2011),
pvii. Available from:
http://oneworldtrust.org/climategovernance/sites/default/files/publications/ebaines/Tackling%20Po
verty%20in%20Northern%20Ghana.pdf (accessed on 08/12/2011).
11 International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rural Poverty in Ghana(Rome: Rural Poverty Portal, 2011).
Available from: http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/ghana (accessed
29/10/2011).
12 ‘Kayeye’ means head porter. A person who earn a living by carries goods on the head from place to place for
money.
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on

develop the North, they have been keen at exploiting their misery to win electoral votes to gain
power. Like the Latin American experience, poverty in the North ‘instead of lessening is
aggravated by the methods of capitalistic production by private élite and exclusive ownership.’ 13
The capitalist economy of Ghana put the agrarian North in disadvantage position; their farm
produce are bought cheaply by traders who tend to profit from their sweat. They are exploited
again by the political elites and the wealthy capitalists who own huge cattle ranches who hire
them for very low wages. Again, lack of infrastructure makes northern regions unattractive to
industrialists. The economic system suffocates efforts of the poor at building dignified lives for
themselves; removing this limitation to their self-development effort is what should engage the
Church’s mission praxis.
The Church’s mission response to poverty in the North can be said to be unimpressive. The
Church which by her calling ought to be the light in this context of systemic poverty to ensure
liberation has not been emphasizing liberation in her mission praxis. She is busy with her
traditional soul winning and Church building mission while the communities and her own
members are being exploited. Poverty in the North requires real revolution to overcome. The
revolution to cease this poverty calls for liberation oriented mission by the Church. Liberation is
what missio dei and missio humanitatis emphasize as the Church’s mission mandate and purpose
of mission.
Liberation as the Church’s mission mandate in Missio dei and Missio humanitatis theories.
Missio dei and missio humanitatis give credence to mission as expression of people’s experience
of liberation. Analysis of both theories points the Church to a mission praxis which involves
liberation of the poor. Missio dei meaning ‘mission of God’ was coined in 1952 by Hartenstein in
his report after the Willingen mission conference (1952). 14 The Conference gave missio dei full
expression and meaning in mission history, excerpts from its minutes stated,
the missionary movement of which we are part has it source in the Triune God
Himself...the Father has sent forth His own beloved Son to reconcile all things to
Himself...through the Spirit ...in that perfect love which is the very nature of God. We who
have been chosen in Christ are by these very facts, committed to full participation in His
redeeming mission... 15
Hartenstein succinctly summarized it as
‘the sending of the son to reconcile the universe through the power of the Spirit is
foundation to the purpose of mission. The Missio ecclesesiae comes from the Missio dei
alone. Thus mission is placed within the broadest imaginable framework of salvation and
God’s plan for salvation.’ 16
Mission then was acknowledged as God’s initiative through His Trinitarian and love nature
in which the Church only participated in His redemptive purpose. That is the Father sending the
Son out of His love, the Father and the Son together sending the Spirit and Triune God sending
the Church. Missio dei concept originally held unto the ramification of the salvific work of God
regarding the kingdom. Before this term mission was missio ecclesiae that is mission of the
13 Leonardo Boff, Francis of Assis: A Model for Human Liberation(Maryknoll:Orbis Books, 2006), p44.
14 Richebächer, Wilhelm, ‘Missio Dei: The Basis of Mission Theology or a Wrong Path’, International Review of
Mission,Vol 92, 367 (Oct. 2003), Available from:
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=104&sid=4b586b5e-2d8f-40d1-
8384-0a8cf0a26270%40sessionmgr114 ( accessed on 20/11/2011).
15 Wilhelm, International Review of Mission,Vol 92, 367 (Oct. 2003), Available from:
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=104&sid=4b586b5e-2d8f-40d1-
8384-0a8cf0a26270%40sessionmgr114 (accessed on 20/11/2011).
16 Wilhelm, International Review of Mission,Vol 92, 367 (Oct. 2003), Available from:
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=104&sid=4b586b5e-2d8f-40d1-
8384-0a8cf0a26270%40sessionmgr114 (accessed on 20/11/2011).
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Church; 17 a notion that mission was Church initiated and that God will act only through the Church.
Missio dei came to challenge this assumption with the notion that God initiated mission and has
been in mission before the Church and does continue in mission even outside the Church. For
instance His act of creation and His redemptive action in the history of Israel predate the Church.
In missio dei, mission is understood to be God’s activities involving the Church and the
World in which the Church is called by God to participate. 18 It is the missionary God who has
commissioned the Church to do mission on His behalf. Missio dei ‚focuses on everything God
does in His task of establishing His kingdom in the entire World.‛ 19 The kingdom is explained to
mean the utopia that is achieved in the world, the ultimate well-being of the whole creation totally
liberated from any deficiency and influenced by the divine. 20 The mission of the Church therefore,
must be in accordance with His nature to realise His kingdom or purpose in the world. It
transcends evangelization of people to include those actions that bring ultimate good to everyone
particularly liberation of the poor.
The reign is also understood to mean the rule of God; Paul stated that ‚then comes the
end, when he delivers the reign to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority
and power‛ (1Cor 15:24). In engaging this scripture, Kirk argues that the kingdom is a life where
human beings are no longer subjected to destructive forces. 21 This implies freedom from all those
systems and experiences that enslave humans. Anything that reduces people’s self-worth such as
poverty, injustice and exploitation ought to be subdued to realise the reign of God in the lives of
people. In pursuance of the kingdom, the Church must have a mission praxis that removes
obstacles such as poverty to realise the kingdom in human life.
Missio dei also holds that the redemptive mission of God was through incarnation which is
action of praxis in solidarity with the poor. Accordingly, the Church participates in God’s
redemptive mission when she engages in ‘reflected-upon action and acted-upon reflection’
22 (praxis) from the perspective of the poor. Praxis confronts tradition, scripture, human experience,
culture, social location, and produces social change. 23 It is praxis which leads to liberation. Boff has
noted that liberation in its through sense will accomplish the fullness of salvation in Christ. 24 It
follows then that the Church’s mission must be liberation centred and deal with poverty which has
been identified as unfreedom.
God’s nature of love as enunciated in missio dei asserts mission as expression of people’s
experience of liberation. Atkins states that ‘whatever God is perceived to be like, the Church, if it
is true and faithful will, embody and emulate.’ 25 Kirk rightly pointed out that love as a nature of
God is not understood in abstract terms rather in action. 26 He considers the Trinitarian nature of
God as a community of divine persons maintained by love and a model for human community. 27
Love as nature of God encapsulate the well-being, peace, and liberty of all; the Church is required
in His love to seek the well-being of all through praxis that leads to freedom from injustice,
17 M. Thomas Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission (Nashville: Abingdin Press , 1999),
P63.
18 Bosch, Transforming mission: paradigm shifts in theology of mission, p391.
19 A. Scott Moreau, Harold Netland and Charles Van Engen, (eds), Evangelical Dictionary of World
Missions(Grand Rapids: Paternoster Press, 2000), p637.
20 Leonardo Boff, Church, Charism, and Power: Liberation Theology and the Institutional Church (London: SCM
Press, 1985), p1.
21 Kirk, What is Mission?,p29.
22 Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology (Maryknoll, Orbis Books, 2002), p72.
23 Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p72.
24 Leonardo Boff, When Theology Listens to the Poor(New York: Harper and Row, 1988),p80.
25 Martyn Atkins, Resourcing Renewal: Shaping Churches for the Emerging future (Epworth: Epworth Press,
2010 ), p17.
26 Kirk, What is Mission?,p28.
27 Kirk, What is Mission?,p28.
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poverty and restore people to full human dignity. Verkuyl shared the same idea when he said
missio dei is the fact of God being ‘actively engaged in the reestablishment of his liberating
dominion over the cosmos and all of humankind.’ 28 This means that the Church’s mission praxis
must manifest liberty and freedom to the bound, particularly the poor like those in Northern Ghana
who await liberation.
Another dimension of missio dei which informs mission as expression of liberation is its
ecumenical nature. In the mission of God the inclusive nature of God comes to bare; God
transcends all social, cultural, political, economic, race, and religious barriers. God seeks the wellbeing
of all His creation but does not do so through only one particular denomination or only
religion; He uses diverse denominations, religions and non-religious people. Bosch has observed
this, that ‘unity in mission and mission in unity do not merely serve the Church but...stands in
service of humankind and seek to manifest the cosmic rule of Christ.’ 29 Mission that expresses
liberation is thus a common task.
It is in the spirit of the inclusive nature of missio dei that missio humanitatis meaning
mission of human comes in to inform the Church’s mission as expression of people’s experience
of liberation. Thangaraj who coined missio humanitatis defines it as ‚an act of taking responsibility,
in a mode of solidarity shot through with a spirit of mutuality.‛ 30 He developed the theory as a
critique of Missio dei, according to him, missio dei cannot be the starting point of mission theology
because there is sizeable part of humans who live their lives without any reference to God for
example Marxists, secular humanists, Verdanta and Buddhists such people will be excluded in
missionary discourses. 31
In this sense missio dei is not inclusive enough, upon this, missio humanitatis presents
three approaches to mission: responsibility, solidarity and mutuality. 32 Drawing on the ideas of
Niebuhr, Kaufman, and Schweiker, Thangaraj explains responsibility as dialogical interaction
between human and others. He put responsibility within his definition of mission ‘being-sent-ness
or going-forth-ness’ 33 to establish that humans existence itself is missionary. One is sent to
respond to fellow humans and other creation in a responsible manner as against taking
responsibility. Responsibility implies ‘being-with-ness’ 34 and not taking-over-ness; for whenever
humans have taken over it tends to result in oppressor –oppressed relationship. In this sense no
one liberates the poor but the means is created for them to liberate themselves.
On solidarity, he explains, it is human’s recognition and value for other’s uniqueness;
‘interweaving structural relationship and willingness to work with and alongside the other.’ 35 It is
getting involved and working out the liberation together with the poor. Thangaraj maintains that
mutuality means ‘humans have mission to one another’ 36 and that hierarchical relation is
disrespect for mutuality. The argument of missio humanitatis put together is inclined toward a
mission in which the work toward liberation is done in mutual respect and committment. A critical
analysis of both missio dei and missio humanitatis pertaining to liberation from poverty reveals
that missio humanitatis extends what missio dei stands for. Missio dei does create consciousness
for liberation as missionary approach while missio humantatis offer some approaches to undertake
liberation particularly through its tenets of responsibility, solidarity and mutuality.
28 Johannes Verkuyl, ‘The Bible Notion of Kingdom: Test of validity for Theology of Religion’ cited in Andrew
Kirk, What is Mission?, p27.
29 Bosch, Transforming mission: paradigm shifts in theology of mission, p466-467.
30 Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission, p58.
31 Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission, p40 .
32 Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission, p49.
33 Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission, p51.
34 Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission, p54.
35 Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission, p55.
36 Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission, p57.
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Critique of missio dei and missio humanitatis
In spite of its positive impact on Christian mission Missio dei is critiqued for becoming a wide
ecumenical mantra that allows for all kinds of interpretation. For instance, Hoekendijk has
identified missio dei as ‘God’s mission with the diverse activities of God independent of even the
gospel.’ 37 Such interpretation render society more secular with limited committment to God and
little need of Church because it is presumed one can be out of religion and still undertake mission
of God. Originally Willingen (1952) and Hartenstein intended missio dei to preserve mission from
‘secularization and horizontalization and reserve it exclusively for God’ 38 contrary to the position
many theologians hold today. On missio humanitatis one can appreciate its all-inclusive mission,
however, it seems to downplay the fact that Christian mission is religion specific and that to talk
about Christian mission is to talk about God. If missio dei is the mission of God and missio
humanitatis is the mission of human and the human being is image of God then one cannot
practice any of the two outside of God.
Biblical Perspectives of Mission as Liberation
Beyond the theories, mission as expression of people’s experience of liberation is a biblical
demand. From the Bible God’s missionary action is demonstrated in His ‘preferential option for the
poor’ 39 and so worked accordingly for their liberation and restoration. Drawing from the Bible
God’s plan for His people is that there will be none poor (Deut.15:4) as amplified in rules such as
loans were to be free of interest (Exo. 22:25; Lev.25:35-37) and restoration of land to those who
were dispossessed (Leviticus 25:10). It may be argued that God demonstrated His preferential
option for the poor and desire for the well-being of all by intervening to redeem the Israelites from
slavery (Exodus 3:7) and by sending the Son to die to redeen all humans. This agenda of ensuring
the well-being of all is what informs missio dei to emphasize liberation through praxis. The Bible
reveals God’s acts of mission beyond His salvific work in Christ therefore as missio dei articulate
the Church better serves God’s mission in liberation oriented mission. The Church must have
unflinching solidarity with the poor and work for their prosperity.
The prophets of God stood against social injustice, 40 Gutierrez has noted that they
vehemently opposed leaders and condemned exploitative systems in societies that created and
took advantage of the poor. They condemned treacherous business and exploitation, coveting of
land, dishonest courts, slavery, unjust taxes, and unjust functionaries. 41 In the view of the
prophets ‘... to know God is to do justice’ (Jer. 22:13-17). This advocacy should inspire the Church
to speak for the poor and fight exploitative systems that are keeping Northern Ghana poor.
In New Testament, Jesus by His incarnation he emptied Himself(kenosis) of His riches
took the nature of a slave, became poor that we might be made rich (Phi 2:6; 2 Cor. 8:9). 42 He died
to set us free; Gutierrez maintains that ‘the cross and the resurrection are seal of our liberty.’ 43 On
the cross Jesus gets into the world of the poor and paved the way for liberty. His ministry
identified with poor and the marginalised and he brought hope to them (Luke 4:18). To Jesus, the
poor must be loved as ourselves. He called for direct engagement with the poor as image of God
in a sense that whatever good or bad done for or against the poor is done for or against God (Matt
37 Wilhelm, International Review of Mission,Vol 92, 367(Oct. 2003), Available from:
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=104&sid=4b586b5e-2d8f-40d1-
8384-0a8cf0a26270%40sessionmgr114 (accessed on 20/11/2011).
38 Bosch, Transforming mission: paradigm shifts in theology of mission, p392.
39 Bosch, Transforming mission: paradigm shifts in theology of mission, p435.
40 (Hos. 12:8; Amos 8:5; Mic. 6:10-11; Isa.3:14; Mic. 2:1-3; Ezek. 22:29; Hab. 2:5-6; Amos 5:7; Mic 3:9-1; 2Kings
23:30, 35; Amos 4:1; Mic 3:1-2; 6:12; Jer. 22:13-17; Neh. 5:1-12; Amos 8:6-7; Amos 5:11-12; Amos 5:7;
Jer. 5:27-28).
41 Gutierrez, The Truth Shall Make You Free: Confrontations , p293.
42 Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation, p300.
43 Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation, p300.
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25:43-36). By this the one who came to liberate demanded a mission of liberation from His
followers. The Church cannot do otherwise but to identify with the poor and seek their liberation.
Conversely, some argue that by the statement ‘for you always have the poor with you, but you
will not always have me’ (Matthew 26:11) Jesus admitted that poverty cannot be eradicated. This
argument leads to ‘conservative world-view’ 44 of poverty that holds that poverty is regrettable but
unavoidable, and a reality to be accepted. 45 Raja disagreed with this view when he stated that
‘Jesus did not say we should not do anything about poverty or the poor.’ 46 In agreeing with Raja,
the conservative view can be said to hold a limited view of what Jesus said.
On their part, the disciples of Jesus had much radical approach to deal with poverty. They
deemed conversion to the gospel as social conversion; 47 a conversion from individual to
communal well-being. They opted for communal living, no one claimed ownership of his or her
possessions (Acts 4:32-37). The Church is challenge to seek equitable distribution of resources for
all. However unsuitable this communal approach may seem in our contemporary context the spirit
of ensuring there is none poor among us ought to be sustained and the Church must spearhead
this. Like the apostles the Church should take practical action toward liberation of the poor.
Mission as expression of people’s experience of liberation
Having established liberation as the Church’s mandate in the light of missio dei, missio
humanitatis and the Bible; it is important to identify practical ways in which mission can be
expression of people’s experience of liberation of the poor in Northern Ghanaian. The Church’s
traditional approach to the poor has been to show intermittent social concern such as donating of
small amounts of cash or goods like used clothing, occasional medical outreach, provision of borehole
water for communities or providing school building. The difficulty is that these sporadic
interventions do not confront the structural issues like the social, economic, and political systems
which created and sustain the poverty in the North. Real liberation from poverty requires regular
and sustained engagement in ‘a range of complex processes and tasks.’ 48 In the spirit of missio
dei and missio humanitatis and the biblical preferential option for the poor a five broad interrelated
course of action are proposed to make mission express the liberty of the poor in the north. These
are ecumenical effort, education, investment, advocacy and prophetic role, and partnership.
First, ecumenical effort is crucial if mission can be expression of people’s experience of
liberation. The three umbrella Church organisations in Ghana namely Christian Council,
Pentecostal-Charismatic Council and the Catholic secretariat ought to come together and adopt a
common mission strategic plan for the North to deal with the political neglect and economic
exploitation. In collective mission the Church will have a bigger voice and huge resources to work
with. Kobia believes that the ecumenical movement ‚can accompany the poor in their struggles
by providing safe spaces for them to share images and metaphors, concepts and words capable of
revealing of what is emerging as people gain confidence in their ability to generate solutions to
their problems.’ 49 It is this space that the poor need to develop.
44 Sarah White and Romy, Tiongco, Doing Theology and Development: Meeting the
Challenge of Poverty (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1997), p37.
45 Sarah White and Romy, Tiongco, Doing Theology and Development: Meeting the
Challenge of Poverty, p37.
46 This statement was made by Joshva Raja at a lecture on 16/11/2011 at Queen’s Foundation for
Ecumenical Theological Education. I used this view of his because I think the conservative view on the
poor is too simplistic understanding of what Jesus said.
47 Boff, Francis of Assis: A Model for Human Liberation, p47.
48 U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, Faith-Based Organisation in Community Development
(Washington:HUD.GOV, 2001). Available from:
http://www.huduser.org/portal/publications/faithbased.pdf(accessed on 1/12/2011).
49 Samuel Kobia, The Courage of Hope: The Root for a New Vision and the Calling of the
Church in Africa (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2003), p199.
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Second, education as a strategy is required for both members of the Church and the poor
of the North to remove ignorance and illiteracy. Education of Church members will re-orient their
understanding of mission, make them conscious of the economic injustices against the North and
mobilise them to fight it. The poor need to be educated to be conscious of their oppressed state
and the oppressive systems. Education must be formal, informal and functional to impact literary
skills and to transform the affective and aptitude dimensions of their lives.
Third, with the north being agrarian communities the Church can invest in cooperative
farms and set up agriculture mechanisation centres by providing agricultural machines and
logistics whereby the poor peasant farmers can access.
Fourth, the Church’s prophetic and advocacy role must be strong. Sermons, community
meetings and civil demonstrations can be used to draw society’s attention to the injustices and
the exploitative economic system as well as governmental neglect of the North. The Church can
advocate for affirmative action and creation of alternative space for self-expression and selfdevelopment
in the North. She ought to help society to value and appreciate what the poor do by
providing just market for their labour.
Fifth, the Church can partner government, corporate institutions, Non Governmental
organisation and civil society to develop the North.
Liberation as a Missionary Approach
Liberation approach to mission is critiqued for emphasizing the Christian faith in terms of its
otherworldliness. 50 Its less recognition of the otherworldliness of the Christian faith has the
tendency to reduce to Christianity to a social concern. As a result liberation approach is criticized
of ‘immanentism and an evaporation of faith.’ 51 Immanentism is the view that God operates
directly in the universe. In as much as liberation from poverty and exploitation is Christian it should
be carefully balanced with evangelisation because both constitute the redemptive mission of God.
Liberation approach to mission has also been criticized for dwelling on the negatives in
Society. 52 It is argued that there are a lot of positive things in the Society yet liberation approach
chooses to highlight only the negatives mainly poverty and injustice.
Liberation approach is also critiqued for its selective reading of the Bible; 53 this is basically
due to its narrow view of Society. The Bible is a complete book and must be read as such. Despite
these criticisms, liberation approach is crucial if the Church is to fulfil its mission in Christ.
Conclusion
The Church is commissioned by God to participate in His mission (missio dei), a mission that
transcends evangelisation to emphasize liberation of the poor, marginalized and exploited by
confronting injustices in Society. In doing this, the Church is being true to the biblical perspectives
on mission and has a sense of responsibility, solidarity and mutuality (missio humantatis) with the
poor. Poverty itself is a construct of the social structures of society as reflected in the case of the
poor in Northern Ghana. The social structure mainly political and economic need to be challenged
by the Church to ensure the liberty of the poor. The Church’s mission rooted in the Bible and
informed by missio dei and missio humanitatis will uphold social justice for all. Mission, therefore
becomes an expression of people’s experience of liberation from poverty and marginalisation. The
future of mission must be a balance between social justice and evangelisation.
50 Andrew Kirk, What is Mission? ,p438.
51 Frostin, The Hermeneutics of the Poor- The Epistemological break in Third World Theologies, Studia
Theologica vol 39,(1985) p127-150 cited in Kirk, What is Mission?, p438.
52 Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology (Maryknoll, Orbis Books, 2002), p78.
53 Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p78.
8

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